Research Engineer for Innovative Concepts and Smart Technologies

A Career at HARMAN Automotive
We're a global, multi-disciplinary team that's putting the innovative power of technology to work and transforming tomorrow. At HARMAN Automotive, we give you the keys to fast-track your career.

• Engineer audio systems and integrated technology platforms that augment the driving experience
• Combine ingenuity, in-depth research, and a spirit of collaboration with design and engineering excellence
• Advance in-vehicle infotainment, safety, efficiency, and enjoyment

About The Role
As a Research Engineer for Innovative Concepts and Smart Technologies, you will be a member of a global team for "Innovative Concepts Product Reliability" to realize high reliability standards in R&D to enable a smart, robust and sustainable product development aligned to the requirements of reliability and manufacturing. In this role, you lead and propose internal and public funded research projects and support the optimization and streamlining of existing workflows globally. You will report to the Director of the team for "Global Innovative Concept Product Reliability."

What You Will Do

• Acquisition of national and international public funded research projects:

• Identification of relevant topics to overcome the state of the art in test field and laboratories as well as potential benefits and calculation of return of invests (RoI).

• Support the transformation process SMART with digitalization to a sustainable and reliable product development (DE/DV/PV) with suitable projects.
• Communication with potential partners and preparation of proposals on national and international level.

• Independent administration and professional management of the proposal process.

• Managing research projects (R&D) in the field of Automotive, which includes:

• Communication with team members and external research partners.

• Problem solving for complex research and technical tasks independently.
• Interaction with relevant internal resources for public funded research projects as well as the external project supervision.
• Handling of research-oriented working packages in these projects.

• Internal reporting and presentation of status and technical information to management / group director / internal and external stakeholders and evaluation of completed projects in terms of knowledge gain and economic added value.

• Realization, implementation and communication under consideration of Automotive HARMAN strategy and guidelines of project acquisition and results within the company; tracking progress and benefits, identifying further potentials, showing best practices for HARMAN's products and recommending technologies and processes.

• Establishing a network with research institutes and universities as well as Automotive HARMAN to raise awareness for upcoming technology trends and future products:

• Technology Scouting with respect to their potential, challenges & technology readiness level.

• Global cooperation with other teams and internal global stakeholders (e.g. Hardware Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing and Software Engineering) to multiply knowledge gain and identify further synergies for reliability-driven research projects.

• Independent planning of technology events and days to publicly present research results and smart technologies.

• Internal projects within the team of "Innovative Concepts Product Reliability" to improve, streamline or establish existing and new workflows.

What You Need To Be Successful

• Minimum of Master's degree in engineering (Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Material Sciences or similar).
• Minimum of 5 years of professional experience in public and funded research projects, experience in product quality, product lifecycle and development as well as reliability and methods for their control, testing and analysis.
• Experience in project management, ideally of funded research projects.
• Experience in lead of research teams and supervising students.
• Experience in mentoring and teaching technical knowledge to colleagues.
• Knowledge of a programming language (e.g. Python) as well as Microsoft applications.
• High analytical skills while solving complex problems.
• Structured and result-oriented working style, awareness for costs, time planning and quality in projects, as well as passion for new technologies.
• Ability to work in a team with internal/external and interdisciplinary teams.
• Business fluent in German and English.

Bonus Points if You Have

• Experience in the manufacturing sector, design for manufacturing, especially in the Electronics or Automotive sector.
• Experience in Six Sigma (Black Belt), data science, simulation and/or machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI/ML) applications.
• Experience in publishing of research results and presenting these for an international audience.

What Makes You Eligible

• Willingness to travel within Germany & internationally on demand (around 10-20%).

What We Offer

• Flexible work environment with a culture encouraging work-life integration and collaboration in a global environment.
• Access to employee discounts on world-class HARMAN/Samsung products (JBL, Harman Kardon, AKG etc.).
• Extensive training opportunities through our own HARMAN University.
• An inclusive and diverse work environment that fosters and encourages professional and personal development.
• "Be Brilliant" employee recognition and rewards program.
• Work on best-in-class emerging technologies and an atmosphere that motivates you to give your best.