Value Optimization Engineer - Mechatronics
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Oct 7, 2026. First seen by Alion on Oct 6, 2026.
About the Role
We are seeking a results-driven Value Optimization Engineer - Mechatronics to lead total cost management, design efficiency, and competitive benchmarking for electro-mechanical vehicle systems.
In this role, you will apply Value Analysis / Value Engineering (VA/VE) principles to complex mechatronic assemblies-including actuators, smart sensors, electronic control units (ECUs), motor-driven mechanisms, power closures, and electronic climate/chassis actuators. You will collaborate across Product Engineering, Purchasing, Manufacturing, and Tier-1 suppliers to identify design simplification, PCBA/hardware optimization, component consolidation, and material cost-out opportunities without compromising quality, functional performance, or system reliability.
Key Responsibilities
VA/VE Idea Generation & Teardowns: Lead physical and virtual teardowns, design benchmarking, and cross-functional cost-reduction workshops targeting electro-mechanical systems, actuators, motors, and electronic hardware modules.
Cost & Trade-Off Analysis: Evaluate technical and commercial feasibility for cost-out ideas (e.g., PCBA component rationalization, motor sizing optimization, plastic vs. metal housing substitution, connector standardization, and harness reduction).
Business Case Execution: Develop detailed cost models and ROI analyses (piece cost vs. tooling/re-validation expense) to build compelling business cases for executive approval and engineering implementation.
Supplier & Cross-Functional Alignment: Partner with Tier-1 mechatronics suppliers, Design Release Engineers (DREs), Systems Engineers, and Purchasing teams to drive joint value-creation projects and manage design updates through engineering change management systems.
Design for Manufacturability & Assembly (DFMA): Evaluate mechatronic assemblies for DFMA opportunities, reducing part counts, simplifying automated assembly steps, and optimizing test/calibration cycles in production facilities.
Validation & Compliance Verification: Coordinate with validation teams to ensure value-optimized designs maintain compliance with functional requirements, ISO 26262 functional safety, and automotive EMC/EMI standards.