Senior Software Simulation Engineer

The Factory Design & Simulation team is seeking a contract Simulation Engineer (Discrete Event Simulation) to support early manufacturing engineering and throughput architecture for a new product ramp at a production facility.

This role focuses on building and analyzing discrete event simulation models to guide factory and line design decisions prior to RFQ and detailed design phases. The engineer will collaborate with cross-functional teams-including Body General Assembly Paint Battery Drive Unit and Material Flow-to validate capacity size buffers and identify bottlenecks impacting launch and ramp performance.

Key Responsibilities:

• Build discrete event simulation models (FlexSim preferred) for manufacturing and material flow use cases (e.g. inter-shop buffers ASRS sizing AGV flows shop overspeed trade-offs).
• Translate high-level factory requirements (demand shift patterns product mix FPY MTBF/MTTR) into simulation-ready inputs and scenarios.
• Run scenario and sensitivity analyses to:
  • Confirm line and shop net Jobs Per Hour (JPH) against targets.
  • Quantify overspeed OPR/TEE and buffer requirements.
  • Evaluate Jobs Per Shift (JPS) regularity and risk envelopes.
• Summarize findings in clear decision-focused reports and presentations including trade-offs related to throughput risk and space.
• Collaborate with layout material flow and industrial engineering teams to align simulation assumptions with production requirements and constraints.
• Follow established discrete event simulation standards for model structure naming documentation and handoff.

Job Requirements

Required Qualifications:

• 3 years of experience in automotive manufacturing engineering (e.g. body paint general assembly battery drive unit or material flow) with direct ownership of discrete event simulation projects.
• Expert-level proficiency with Autodesk FlexSim.
• Demonstrated experience modeling:
  • Multi-line assembly systems with buffers and rework loops.
  • Stochastic systems (failures repairs variability in process times).
  • Throughput capacity and bottleneck analysis.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing KPIs (JPH JPS OEE/TEE MTBF/MTTR WIP buffer sizing).
• Ability to clean structure and validate input data; define scenarios; and clearly communicate model assumptions and limitations.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to translate complex simulation outputs into concise actionable recommendations for non-technical stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Familiarity with FlexScript C or Python for custom logic and simulation tooling.
• Experience supporting greenfield factory design or major capacity expansions including launch and ramp phases.