Senior / Staff Manufacturing Engineer - Body (Body-in-White)

The Manufacturing Engineering team at Zoox bridges the gap between vehicle architecture and scaled, physical production by planning, developing, and implementing our advanced assembly lines. We thrive on a collaborative culture marked by openness, innovation, and supportive technical problem-solving to help make cities safer, smarter, and more sustainable.

In this role, you will collaborate with cross-functional engineering groups to shape long-term production strategies, optimize manufacturing environments, and scale our autonomous vehicle assembly. We are looking for an engineer who loves to learn, takes technical ownership of key assembly processes, and is excited to directly impact the deployment of our autonomous fleet.

This position requires ~25% travel.

In this role, you will

Develop and implement automotive body assembly equipment, tools, and scalable manufacturing processes.

Lead block planning and concept factory layouts to optimize footprint, material flow, and utility routing.

Collaborate closely with Vehicle Engineering teams during early design phases to influence product architecture for Design for Manufacturability.

Define and validate core body assembly processes, serving as a technical resource for dissimilar metal joining, structural adhesive dispensing, mechanical fastening, and automated framing.

Create and maintain detailed process documentation, including process failure mode analyses, control plans, and standard operating procedures.

Act as a primary technical liaison with external equipment integrators and toolmakers, participating in equipment validation and final commissioning.

Work collaboratively with team members to set technical standards and support junior engineers as the manufacturing organization grows.

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial Engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.

At least 8 years of manufacturing engineering experience, with a focus on launching automotive Body-in-White production lines, or equivalent experience.

Technical expertise in advanced automotive joining technologies, automated framing systems, and dimensional engineering using Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing.

Experience developing technical specifications and managing deliverables with automation partners, including a willingness to travel for equipment buyoffs and line installations.

Proficiency with industry-standard design and layout software, such as CATIA and AutoCAD.

Bonus Qualifications

Experience scaling production within an automotive Body-in-White (BIW) or Paint shop environment.

Familiarity with Product Lifecycle Management and Manufacturing Execution Systems integration in an automated production setting.

Experience utilizing advanced factory simulation and layout validation tools.