Principal Automotive Cost Engineer / Consulting Lead

Wolfsburg, Germany
Full Time
Experienced
This posting represents an advanced recruiting initiative to identify highly qualified candidates or consultants for a strategic engineering role within our European division. While immediate hiring may vary based on business timing, we are proactively building a pipeline of top-tier talent to support upcoming client engagements and growth initiatives.

Role Summary
The Principal Automotive Cost Engineer / Consulting Lead is a senior, client-facing role responsible for delivering advanced manufacturing and component-level cost intelligence to global automotive manufacturers across the United States, EMEA, and APAC regions. This position supports both solution development and ongoing client delivery, working with geographically distributed client teams to drive consistent, high-quality outcomes across regions.
The role leads consulting engagements that span component and commodity cost estimation, Design-for-Manufacturing (DFM), Design-to-Cost (DTC), sourcing strategy, and lifecycle cost optimization. In parallel, the position serves as a technical and strategic leader for Galorath Automotive Consulting Solutions, integrating Galorath’s cost-engineering platforms into client workflows, enabling global client teams through training and advanced support, and contributing to industry thought leadership.
The successful candidate is effective operating at part-level technical detail and executive decision altitude, while supporting global delivery, regional adoption, and continuous improvement of Galorath solutions worldwide.

Core Responsibilities

Client Consulting & Cost Engineering Delivery
  • Lead automotive consulting engagements focused on:
    • Manufacturing and assembly cost estimation
    • Component and commodity-level should-cost analysis
    • DFM/DFA and Design-to-Cost initiatives
    • Sourcing strategy, make/buy analysis, and supplier negotiations
  • Develop defendable, transparent cost models across:
    • Individual parts and sub-assemblies
    • Component families and commodities
    • Systems, platforms, and vehicle programs
  • Support cost-informed decisions from early concept and design through launch and steady-state production.

Component & Commodity Cost Expertise (Generalized)
  • Build and maintain cost models for automotive components and commodities, including:
    • Materials (metals, plastics, composites, electronics, textiles, etc.)
    • Manufacturing processes and routings
    • Purchased parts and supplier-provided assemblies
  • Establish and normalize:
    • Material cost tables
    • Process and cycle-time assumptions
    • Regional labor and overhead benchmarks
  • Perform comparative cost analysis across:
    • Design alternatives
    • Suppliers and sourcing regions
    • Manufacturing processes and levels of automation
  • Support purchasing and supply-chain teams with target costing, cost breakdowns, and negotiation support.

DFM / DTC & Cross-Functional Engagement
  • Partner with Engineering to evaluate cost impacts of:
    • Design changes
    • Material substitutions
    • Tolerance and specification decisions
    • Manufacturing process selection
  • Identify primary cost drivers and communicate tradeoffs clearly to engineering, manufacturing, finance, and program leadership.
  • Influence decisions before cost is locked into the design.

Galorath Product Integration & Advanced Client Support
  • Lead implementation and integration of the SEER suite (e.g., SEER-MFG, SEER-H, SEER-3D, SEER-SEM) into client environments.
  • Configure and calibrate cost models aligned to:
    • Client manufacturing realities
    • Data availability
    • Decision maturity
  • Provide advanced technical support to clients, including:
    • Model validation and troubleshooting
    • Assumption development and refinement
    • Executive interpretation of results
  • Act as a feedback conduit between clients and Galorath product teams to inform roadmap and feature evolution.

DFM / DTC Tool Ecosystem Leadership
  • Apply and benchmark Galorath solutions alongside other major DFM/DTC and cost-engineering platforms, including:
    • Siemens digital manufacturing and PLM tools
    • aPriori
    • FACTON
    • Boothroyd-Dewhurst (DFMA)
    • Comparable commercial or internal cost-engineering systems
  • Advise clients on tool selection, integration strategies, and cost-engineering maturity progression.

Client Training & Enablement
  • Design and deliver client training on:
    • Galorath tools and methodologies
    • Parametric and process-based cost modeling
    • Component and commodity cost analysis
    • DFM/DTC best practices
  • Train engineers, cost analysts, and program teams to independently apply cost insights to real decisions.
  • Mentor client teams toward sustainable, long-term cost-engineering capability.

Industry Thought Leadership
  • Contribute to Galorath’s automotive thought leadership through:
    • White papers, blogs, and technical articles
    • Conference presentations and industry panels
    • Client webinars and executive briefings
  • Represent Galorath as a trusted authority in automotive cost engineering, DFM/DTC, and cost-informed decision-making.

Technical Capabilities
  • Advanced experience with:
    • Parametric, analogical, and bottoms-up cost modeling
    • Learning curves, yield loss, scrap, rework, and overhead modeling
  • Strong understanding of automotive manufacturing processes, including:
    • Machining, stamping, casting, forging
    • Injection molding and composites
    • Manual and automated assembly
  • Ability to interpret CAD models, engineering drawings, GD&T, routings, and BOMs.
  • Familiarity with ERP, PLM, and MES environments common to global OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers.

Qualifications
  • Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Manufacturing, Mechanical, Industrial), Finance, Economics, or related field; advanced degree preferred.
  • Demonstrated success in senior, client-facing consulting roles supporting automotive OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers.
  • Strong executive-level communication, facilitation, and presentation skills.
  • Full professional proficiency in German and English, with the ability to operate effectively in a technical and business environment, is required.
  • Minimum of 10 years of automotive industry manufacturing cost estimation experience, encompassing:
    • Production-level manufacturing cost estimation and cost engineering
    • Component and commodity cost modeling and should-cost analysis
    • Cross-functional engagement with Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Purchasing
    • Application of DFM/DFA and Design-to-Cost principles in automotive programs

What Success Looks Like
  • Clients rely on Galorath as a strategic cost-engineering partner, not just a tool provider.
  • Component- and system-level cost visibility influences decisions early.
  • Galorath platforms are embedded into client workflows and decision processes.
  • Client teams are trained, enabled, and independently effective.
  • Galorath’s automotive credibility and industry leadership continue to grow.

Place of Performance
  • This role is based in Germany and requires frequent travel to client locations, primarily within Germany and broader Europe.

Join Galorath and Become an Employee Owner!

We offer a great benefits package including:

  • Competitive Compensation
  • Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) - our contributions are significantly greater than most companies throughout the country.
  • Medical Insurance
  • Dental Insurance
  • Vision Insurance
  • Company-sponsored Long Term Disability
  • AFLAC Voluntary Benefits
  • Flexible Spending Accounts (dependent & healthcare)
  • Paid Vacations, Holidays, and Sick Leave
  • 401K Plan

To learn more about Galorath, please visit us at http://www.galorath.com.

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