About Kerr Industries

If you value creativity, are into cars and electronics, appreciate a fast-paced work environment, and need interesting work to keep you focused, then you will fit in well at Kerr. Our specialty is modifying brand new vehicles into police and emergency vehicles. In fact, we upfit more police vehicles than any other company in North America and we continue to focus on growing our business. Founded in 1952, Kerr Industries has a strong North American presence with operations located in Texas, Chicago, Michigan and Oshawa. We want motivated, ambitious people who put the needs of our customers first, like a challenge, and never lose focus on quality and deadlines. If you share our passion for providing innovative solutions to complex challenges, we want you on our team. For more information, please visit www.kerrindustries.com.

About the Position

The Design Engineer is an integral member of our diverse engineering team that will be responsible for the development, drafting, and design of wiring harnesses and Bills of Materials used in each of our vehicle build projects. Reporting directly to the Engineering Manager, the role's key focus will be in compiling and creating BOM's and Harness Designs in a timely manner to meet overall project and production requirements. The Design Engineer will interface with facility management providing technical upfit guidance as needed to ensure that customer vehicles are completed to company standards and meet customer specifications.

Responsibilities and Duties

• Creating accurate bills of materials for the company's automotive manufacturing projects. This includes preparing complete vehicle configuration BOMs while selecting automotive products, ensuring that the products integrate with the vehicle systems.
• Maintaining and updating the bill of materials as required by processing engineering change orders and updating the ERP system.
• Interacting and collaborating with other departments (Sales, Supply Chain Management, Production, Project Teams) as required to ensure BOM development and design activities align with project needs.
• Designing and drafting automotive wire harnesses for emergency vehicles that integrate with vehicle systems and third-party products.
• Drafting parts and issuing drawings for production, in addition to controlling drawing revisions and engineering changes.
• Providing technical and diagnostic support for issues as they arise during production
• Performing root cause analysis, investigation and managing non-conforming products, and issuing quality notices
• Support and conduct training sessions to ensure there is understanding of processes.
• Writing standard operating procedures (SOP) and process sheets and communicating any process changes to production.
• Assisting the Continuous Improvement Projects
• Performing additional duties as assigned.

• Post-secondary graduate with a technical degree, diploma, or certificate in a related technical or engineering field. Higher consideration will be given to those with an Electrical or Mechanical Engineering background.
• Previous experience in automotive manufacturing preferred.
• Previous experience with designing and drafting automotive wiring harnesses and sheet metal parts using relevant software such as Zuken, Solid Edge, Solid Works or equivalent is considered an asset.
• Ability to design parts and manage projects from concept phase through to the prototype phase and then serial production. Previous experience working with project management software is considered an asset.
• Previous experience with design of electronic components, wiring and printed circuit board design is considered an asset.
• Working knowledge of ERP systems and BOM product structures.
• Organized and detail-oriented with the ability to balance multiple projects and assignments simultaneously.
• Proficient communication and interpersonal skills, both written and verbal.
• Possession of strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Creative ability to identify potential process and product improvements.
• Ability to collaborate with others to complete projects.
• Limited travel to the US may be required
• Skilled using Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
• Experience managing multiple and complex projects.

Kerr Industries is committed to providing a workplace free from discrimination or harassment. We expect every member of the Kerr community to do their part to cultivate and maintain an environment where everyone has the opportunity to feel included and is afforded the respect and dignity they deserve.

Decisions related to hiring, compensating, training, evaluating performance, or terminating are made fairly, and we provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified candidates and employees. We examine our unconscious biases and take responsibility for always striving to create an inclusive environment that makes every employee and candidate feel welcome.