Simulation Engineer (DES)

Job: Simulation Engineer (DES)
Duration: 6+ Months
Location: Remote - Michigan
Travel: Yes - Must be able to travel in the first month of onboarding for 1 week to Normal, IL - additional Travel based on projects.

Job description:
Role Summary

Client Factory Design & Simulation team is seeking a contract Simulation Engineer (DES) to support early manufacturing engineering and throughput architecture for the R2 ramp in Normal.
This role focuses on building and analyzing discrete event simulation models to guide factory and line design decisions before RFQ and detailed design.
You will work closely with Body, GA, Paint, Battery, Drive Unit, and Material Flow teams to validate capacity, size buffers, and identify bottlenecks impacting R2 launch and ramp in Normal.

Key responsibilities

• Build discrete event simulation models (FlexSim preferred) for manufacturing and material flow use cases in Normal (e.g., inter shop buffers, ASRS sizing, AGV flows, shop overspeed trade offs).
• Translate high level factory requirements (demand, shift pattern, product mix, FPY, MTBF/MTTR) into simulation ready input assumptions and scenarios.
• Run scenario and sensitivity studies (Experimenter) to:
  • Confirm line and shop net JPH vs. targets.
  • Quantify overspeed, OPR/TEE, and buffer requirements.
  • Evaluate jobs per shift (JPS) regularity and risk envelopes.
• Summarize results in clear, decision focused reports and slide content for ME and program leadership (e.g., options with trade offs on throughput, risk, and space).
• Collaborate with layout, material flow, and industrial engineering to align DES assumptions with real PORs and constraints.
• Follow DES standards and libraries for model structure, naming, documentation, and handoff.

Required qualifications

• 3+ years experience in automotive manufacturing engineering (e.g., body, paint, GA, battery, drive unit, or material flow) with direct ownership of discrete event simulation projects.
• Expert level proficiency with Autodesk FlexSim
• Demonstrated experience modeling:
  • Multi line assembly systems with buffers and rework.
  • Stochastic behavior (failures, repairs, variability in process times).
  • Throughput / capacity and bottleneck analysis.
• Solid understanding of manufacturing KPIs (JPH, JPS, OEE/TEE, MTBF/MTTR, WIP, buffer sizing).
• Ability to clean and structure input data, define scenarios, and explain model limitations and assumptions.
• Strong communication skills: can condense complex simulation logic into concise recommendations for non simulation stakeholders.

Preferred qualifications

• Familiarity with FlexScript / C++ / Python for custom logic and tooling in DES.
• Prior work on greenfield factory design or major capacity upgrades (launch and ramp).