Job Description
The Role
The Flint Assembly Material Handling Engineer is the technical owner for material movement systems at Flint Assembly, with a strong focus on safety, automation, and continuous improvement. The role designs, implements, and sustains autonomous material handling solutions and supporting processes to ensure stable, efficient, and safe delivery of materials to production. In this role, you will collaborate closely with Plant GSC, Plant Safety, Plant Production and Maintenance, Manufacturing Engineering, and Autonomous Robot Center teams to ensure that the right parts are delivered to the right place at the right time.
What You’ll Do (Responsibilities)
Champion a zero-injury culture, embedding safety into all material automation design, implementation, and operations.
Ensure automated material handling systems protect product quality.
Serve as the primary technical owner for automated material systems.
Lead implementation and sustainment of autonomous material handling projects, including commissioning, validation, and hand-off to operations.
Design and continuously improve dock-to-point-of-use material flow to enable automation and reduce handling waste and ergonomic risk.
Create, maintain, and optimize material handling layouts to support current and future automation.
Participate in launch and change management activities to ensure material automation readiness for new models, options, and suppliers.
Define, maintain, and enforce standardized work for material handling processes and automation projects, including change control and readiness reviews.
Use data from production and fleet systems to identify issues, perform root-cause analysis, and implement corrective and preventive actions.
Apply structured problem-solving methods to resolve recurring safety, quality, and throughput issues related to material handling and automation.
Support daily operations by troubleshooting material flow and automation disruptions, restoring flow, and implementing sustainable fixes.
Coach and train floor teams on the safe, effective use of material automation and equipment, including start-up/shutdown, recovery, and escalation.
Represent the Flint Assembly Team in cross-functional meetings and huddles, communicating status, risks, and countermeasures.
Partner with external suppliers to resolve system issues, plan upgrades, and improve fleet reliability and lifecycle cost.
Drive cost-reduction and productivity improvements through automation, route optimization, and continuous improvement projects.
Your Skills & Abilities (Required Qualifications)
Minimum 3+ years of experience in automotive or high-volume manufacturing, ideally in assembly, material handling, or a closely related environment.
Demonstrated project management experience, leading cross-functional material handling or automation projects from concept through launch.
Experience in manufacturing, automation, or material handling within a high-volume production environment, with proven use of data and structured problem-solving (e.g., 5-Why, fishbone, PDCA) to improve processes.
Working knowledge of material automation, material flow design, line-side presentation, warehouse/storage strategies, and containerization, with proficiency in Microsoft Excel and other analytical tools, plus experience using layout tools (such as AutoCAD or similar) to create and update material handling layouts.
Demonstrated commitment to safety, ergonomics, and quality in material handling designs, with effective communication skills, ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced production environment, and willingness to work flexible hours to support production schedules and launches.
Must be able to work on a rotating/flexible shift (1st, 2nd or 3rd), as well as overtime and weekends, as needed.
What Can Give You a Competitive Advantage (Preferred Qualifications)
5+ years of experience in automotive or high-volume manufacturing, ideally in assembly, material handling, or a closely related environment.
Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain Management, or a related technical field.
Prior direct experience owning or supporting material automation systems, including implementation, optimization, or sustainment.
Knowledge of lean manufacturing and continuous improvement methodologies (e.g., value stream mapping, 5S, standard work).
Experience leading cross-functional improvement projects that delivered measurable results in safety, quality, cost, or delivery.
Strong influencing and collaboration skills, with the ability to align multiple stakeholders around material handling solutions.
Demonstrated ability to simplify complex problems, make data-driven decisions, and present recommendations in a clear, concise manner.
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