CAE Crash and Safety Engineer

Job Description

• Crash Safety CAE Engineer:

• This is a contract position for a Crash Safety CAE Engineer in Auburn Hills, MI. The role involves developing design strategies to meet crash safety targets at the vehicle, system, and component levels, ensuring compliance with global safety regulations and consumer rating protocols.

Responsibilities

• Lead vehicle design development using CAE, balancing all applicable global vehicle safety requirements.
• Build and maintain full vehicle and system level CAE models following best practices, ensuring high simulation fidelity and results accuracy.
• Perform CAE simulations for dynamic and quasi-static crash scenarios, including frontal, side, rear, pedestrian, occupant, and crash avoidance events.
• Improve structural performance and efficiency with minimized weight and cost (topology, joints, weld/adhesive, gauge, lightweight materials, etc.).
• Summarize simulation results in a clear and actionable format for development teams.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Program Management, and other engineering teams (Studio, Body, Trims, Electrical, Electronics, Manufacturing, etc.).

Qualifications

• Bachelor's, Master's, or Ph.D.: in Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline.
• 8+ years: of experience in full-vehicle crashworthiness and multi-physics CAE simulations.
• Strong knowledge: of global regulatory vehicle safety standards (AIS, ECE, FMVSS), consumer safety ratings (US-NCAP, Euro NCAP), and insurance ratings (IIHS, RCAR).
• Strong understanding: of structural mechanics and energy management in crashes based on first-principles physics.
• Experience: in developing crashworthy structures, occupant restraints, exterior and interior systems.
• Proven ability: to correlate the CAE results to physical test data and calibrate virtual models to reflect real-world performance.
• Proficiency: in LS-DYNA, ANSA, PRIMER, HYPERWORKS; familiarity with ADAS active safety simulations and AI/ML-based CAE tools is a plus.
• Experience: working on multiple vehicle platforms, including Electric, Hybrid, and Autonomous Vehicles.
• Strong communication skills: with ability to present results and influence cross-functional design decision.