Electronics Cost Engineer

The Software & Electronics Cost Engineer is responsible for developing, validating, and defending cost estimates for automotive software, electronics, and connected vehicle technologies throughout the product development lifecycle. The role acts as the technical bridge between Engineering, Purchasing, Finance, and Suppliers to ensure competitive cost targets while maintaining product functionality, quality, and performance.

This position leads cost engineering activities covering embedded software, ECU-based systems, cloud/off-board applications, vehicle electronics, and supplier tooling. The role requires a deep understanding of automotive EE architectures, benchmarking methodologies, cost modeling techniques, and cross-functional stakeholder management.

Key Responsibilities:

• Analyze technical specifications, software requirements, architecture diagrams, and system designs from vehicle level down to module level.
• Develop detailed cost models for automotive software and electronics programs.
• Validate supplier quotations, engineering assumptions, labor estimations, development efforts, licensing costs, and tooling investments.
• Define and defend cost gaps through fact-based analysis and credible technical evidence.
• Work closely with Engineering teams to identify optimized technical solutions balancing functionality, quality, timing, and cost.
• Lead competitive benchmarking activities for software, hardware, electronics, and connected services.
• Conduct supplier technical reviews and plant visits (GEMBA) to validate manufacturing and development assumptions.
• Analyze competitor architectures, features, software stacks, ECU distribution, and development approaches.
• Perform Design-to-Cost (DTC) assessments and Cost Optimization of Technical Solutions (C.O.S.T.).
• Evaluate alternative architectures, software strategies, and technical trade-offs to reduce overall lifecycle costs.