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Senior Occupant Safety Engineer

Troy, Michigan, United States

We’re ALTEN Technology USA, an engineering company helping clients bring groundbreaking ideas to life—from advancing space exploration and life-saving medical devices to building autonomous electric vehicles. With 3,000+ experts across North America, we partner with leading companies in aerospace, medical devices, robotics, automotive, commercial vehicles, EVs, rail, and more.

As part of the global ALTEN Group—57,000+ engineers in 30 countries—we deliver across the entire product development cycle, from consulting to full project outsourcing.

When you join ALTEN Technology USA, you’ll collaborate on some of the world’s toughest engineering challenges, supported by mentorship, career growth opportunities, and comprehensive benefits. We take pride in fostering a culture where employees feel valued, supported, and inspired to grow.

Overview : 

  • Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Automotive Engineering, Biomechanics, or related discipline.
  • Minimum 8-10 years of experience in Occupant Safety Engineering, Crashworthiness, or Automotive CAE Safety Analysis. 
  • This position is focused on the development, validation, and optimization of virtual occupant protection systems for frontal and side impact crash performance. 
  • The role involves developing and maintaining high-fidelity LS-Dyna occupant safety models, evaluating occupant injury performance, and optimizing restraint systems and interior components to achieve regulatory, consumer information, and internal safety targets. 
  • The engineer will collaborate closely with Safety Structures, Interior Systems, Chassis, Testing, Design Release Engineers (DREs), and suppliers to ensure occupant protection performance is achieved throughout vehicle development.
  • This position requires deep expertise in automotive occupant safety, restraint systems tuning, crash simulation methodologies, and North American safety regulations, along with the ability to drive cross-functional technical decisions throughout the product development lifecycle. 

Key Responsibilities :

  • Occupant Safety CAE Development 
  • Develop and maintain occupant protection CAE models using LS-Dyna 
  • Support frontal and side impact simulation activities throughout vehicle development 
  • Ensure CAE models accurately reflect the latest vehicle design and CAD releases 
  • Maintain correlation between component-level and system-level CAE models 
  • Occupant Performance Analysis 
  • Assess occupant injury performance across all required crash configurations 
  • Evaluate vehicle performance against internal safety targets, FMVSS requirements, US-NCAP, and IIHS protocols 
  • Analyze simulation results and identify opportunities for performance improvements 
  • Develop recommendations to improve occupant protection outcomes 
  • Restraint System Optimization 
  • Optimize airbags, seatbelts, steering columns, seats, instrument panels, and interior trim systems 
  • Tune restraint systems to achieve regulatory compliance and top consumer ratings 
  • Develop occupant protection strategies across multiple crash scenarios 
  • Support development of occupant safety scorecards and performance targets 
  • Cross-Functional Engineering Collaboration 
  • Work closely with DREs and suppliers to ensure component models are properly correlated 
  • Support integration of restraint and interior component models into complete vehicle simulations 
  • Collaborate with Safety Structures teams when vehicle structural performance impacts occupant safety targets 
  • Partner with Interior, Chassis, and other engineering organizations to resolve performance gaps 
  • Physical Test Correlation & Validation 
  • Support crash test planning and execution activities 
  • Collaborate with testing teams to ensure simulation assumptions align with physical testing results 
  • Participate in test reviews and correlation activities 
  • Refine simulation models based on physical test data 
  • Program Delivery & Technical Leadership 
  • Support occupant safety development throughout all program phases through SOP 
  • Maintain quality and accuracy of occupant protection models 
  • Provide technical guidance regarding occupant safety performance and simulation methodology 
  • Support resolution of complex safety and crashworthiness challenges 

Profile:  

  • Experienced occupant safety engineer with strong crash simulation and restraint system expertise 
  • Analytical problem solver capable of translating simulation results into engineering decisions 
  • Strong understanding of occupant injury mechanisms and protection strategies 
  • Comfortable collaborating across multiple engineering disciplines and suppliers 
  • Detail-oriented with a strong focus on model quality and simulation accuracy 
  • Self-driven and capable of managing complex development activities independently 
  • Effective communicator able to present technical findings and recommendations clearly  

Must Have:  

  • 8-10 years of experience in automotive occupant safety engineering 
  • Strong LS-Dyna experience for occupant protection and crash simulation 
  • Experience with occupant safety development for frontal and side impact events 
  • Experience tuning and optimizing:  
  • Airbags 
  • Seat Belts 
  • Seats 
  • Steering Columns 
  • Instrument Panels 
  • Interior Trim Components 
  • Strong knowledge of:  
  • FMVSS 208 
  • FMVSS 214 
  • US-NCAP 
  • IIHS 
  • Experience developing and maintaining occupant safety CAE models 
  • Experience correlating CAE and physical crash test results 
  • Experience working with cross-functional engineering teams and suppliers 
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities 

Good to Have: 

  • Humanetics CAE dummy model experience 
  • Experience with Primer 
  • Experience with ANSA / META 
  • Experience with HyperWorks 
  • Experience with LS-PrePost 
  • Experience supporting vehicle launches from development through SOP 
  • OEM or Tier 1 automotive experience 
  • Experience working in startup or fast-paced vehicle development environments 
  • Knowledge of global safety regulations beyond North America 

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, genetic information, or pregnancy.

Please beware of job seeker scams and see this important notice on our careers page for more information about our recruiting process.

Compliance Notice: Alten USA is a federal contractor subject to the requirements of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) and Executive Order 11246. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.

Drug Screening Requirement: As a federal contractor, Alten USA maintains a drug-free workplace. All candidates selected for employment will be required to successfully complete a pre-employment drug screening as a condition of hire.

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