Cost Engineer

Mobius is an early stage social business working to enable mobility across Africa by transforming its automotive market. We recognise that appropriate transport is a key enabler to socio-economic development in deprived communities across the developing world and aim to unlock this vast potential by designing, manufacturing and selling a new vehicle for Africa, starting in Kenya.

Description

We are seeking a minimum two year commitment from an exceptional early career Cost Engineer to lead the overall vehicle cost management process for a new vehicle that will form the basis of our main product offering into the African market – a truly unique opportunity to create impact on a global scale. The role will require a close working relationship with the venture's CEO, Supply Chain Associate, Design Engineer, and Automotive Designer. Specific duties include, but are not limited to:

Cost Engineering

1. Provide guidance to the Automotive Designer and Design Engineer for proposed new or modified designs to achieve required function at minimum cost.
2. Develop cost estimates and projections for multiple vehicle commodities on Exterior and Interior; including Power Train, Chassis and Electrical. Utilise information ranging from written assumptions, sample parts, CAD models and engineering drawings.
3. Maintain feasibility of engineering approach for low volume production tooling and limited in-country resources. For example, steel stamping presses will not be available at initial production. Utilise in-country equipment and materials and adapt approach to the low-tech resources available.
4. Gather details and compile data to estimate all production costs considering raw materials, labour, equipment, tooling, for estimations.
5. Maintain all tooling and product cost information to assure the timely availability of data required for decision-making and to ensure conformity with budget directives.
6. Liaise with manufacturing plants and suppliers to assure most economical tooling, processing and operations that will contribute to profitable production.
7. Undertake competitive vehicle benchmarking to provide input for future model development.
8. Perform Value Add / Value Engineering. Generate cost reduction ideas through identification of process/product efficiencies that will reduce overall costs. Work with all stakeholders to achieve cost reduction targets.
9. Support Supply Chain Associate in specific sourcing work involving critical costs and engineering considerations; including analysis and trade-offs of functionality versus cost.
10. Support Design Engineer and Automotive Designer on broader engineering duties relevant to the development of current and future vehicle models.

Project Management

1. Lead and facilitate cost review sessions. Report risks and opportunities of cost status on a weekly basis.
2. Take ownership of projects; plan milestones, timelines, budgets, resources and identify potential risks to deliver engineering aspects within agreed completion dates.
3. Be proactive regarding task completion and periodically advise wider team on project status, timing, resources, issues, and ability to deliver on-time with excellence.
4. Ensure adherence and compliance to general automotive industry engineering standards and best practices; maintain structured and versioned data outputs daily and backup data weekly.
5. Work as an active member of the team, ensure effective communication between colleagues and positively contribute regularly to meetings and briefings.

Qualifications

An ideal candidate should combine outstanding quantitative skills with excellent interpersonal and communication skills to work effectively with a multidisciplinary team. They should be rigorous, pragmatic, details focussed and on-the-ground solution oriented – not overly academic.

Required

• Bachelor degree (minimum) in Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Industrial Systems Engineering, Engineering Management or similar
• 3.4 GPA or higher from a top university worldwide
• 1-2 years of automotive-related experience
• Ability to read and understand design and manufacturing drawings
• Ability to evaluate and provide cost data on components in their commodity including direct material, direct labour and tooling costs
• Practical knowledge of VE and VA techniques and strong financial awareness
• High level of design awareness
• Ability to navigate CAD models in CATIA
• Passion for prototype development and a pragmatic attitude
• Ability to adapt to a dynamic working environment and work within a diverse team
• Extreme patience and a good sense of humour
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills to work effectively with others
• High level of analytical and problem solving skills
• Ability to self manage; taking ownership of projects: budgeting, work planning, resource management and reporting

Desired

• Masters degree (or higher) in Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Industrial Systems Engineering, Engineering Management or similar
• 2-5 years of automotive-related experience
• Proficiency in CATIA, SolidWorks, Unigraphics or AutoCAD
• Solid knowledge of vehicle parts and subsystems and knowledge of part interaction
• Fluency in Kiswahili (the national language of Kenya)

How to apply

We are always looking for exceptional individuals who share our vision and possess the skills and attitude necessary to make a valuable contribution to our work in Africa. If you are qualified and interested in joining our team, please apply online at www.mobiusmotors.com/join-us.