Advanced Vehicle Chassis Expert - Oxfordshire, UK

About NIO Inc. NIO Inc. is a pioneer and a leading manufacturer of premium smart electric vehicles originating in China, with a global footprint in development and markets. Founded in November 2014, NIO’s mission is to shape a joyful lifestyle. NIO aims to build a community starting with smart electric vehicles to share the joy and grow together with users. NIO designs, develops, jointly manufactures, and sells smart premium electric vehicles, driving innovations in next-generation technologies like autonomous driving, digital technologies, electric powertrains, and batteries. NIO differentiates itself through its continuous technological breakthroughs and innovations, such as its industry-leading battery swapping technologies, Battery as a Service (BaaS), its proprietary autonomous driving technologies, and Autonomous Driving as a Service (ADaaS).

For our Vehicle Engineering Team in Oxfordshire, we are looking for an Advanced Vehicle Chassis Expert (m/f/x).

Role Overview: As a Chassis Expert, the candidate will push boundaries and develop new and advanced Chassis technologies and Chassis Systems that will allow the creation of new and exciting engineering solutions for our future vehicles. The candidate will work with the other members of the global engineering, design, product, Dynamics and Software functions as required, to generate and present solutions for, and to, management. The successful candidate will be able to support both desktop and physical vehicle benchmarking recording objective and subjective feedback. The role will involve supporting the selection and procurement of benchmarking vehicles and test equipment as well as reporting out findings to the global business.

Main Responsibilities:

• Develop new chassis technologies, Architecture and support the business to take these from blank sheet through POC to vehicle programs.
• Kick off vehicle or system concepts to create a robust starting point for specification documents.
• Conduct technical benchmarking and analysis of competitor vehicles (incl. both virtually and physically).
• Support procurement of test equipment / Vehicles & be able to conduct test track driving when required.
• Establishing Visual BOMs to highlight vehicle concept impacts, backed up with CAD defining C/O vs New strategies.
• Work with the global performance teams to understand and support technical attributes.
• Balance vehicle and system concepts with performance attributes (such as weight, safety and durability).
• Support team with cost-effective product, manufacturing & assembly recommendations.
• Recommend new materials & processes that may be used in creating competitively advantaged products.
• Identify potential cost reduction and optimisation opportunities for continuous innovation.
• Collaborate with the teams to achieve strategic direction on concepts.
• Learn and share knowledge gained in emerging technologies, manufacturing capabilities & trends in the market.
• Review CAD geometry with supporting team members ensuring continuity of CAD layouts and PLM data management for future transition to other teams.
• Recording and archiving how the concept has evolved in ways that can be presented to various cross functional departments.
• Continuous improvement of existing methods and processes enabling better system efficiency of the concept phase.
• Improve links between product definition, design and engineering with clear, concise material on studies completed.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience Required:

• B.Eng or HNC/HND in relevant field for the role (Mechanical Engineering, Product Design or equivalent).
• Candidate must be able to demonstrate an appropriate level of expertise in vehicle level architecture.
• Experience in vehicle suspension design and delivery.
• Experience of conducting vehicle physical testing (Full UK Driving licence) and instrumentation.
• 10+ years relevant experience (Experience within start-ups, advanced engineering or vehicle package environment advantageous).
• Ability to be working on multiple components or systems at one time, balancing workload and prioritising to maintain high output.
• Good understanding of mechanical requirements for typical automotive applications e.g. fastening, sealing, manufacturing techniques.
• Great attention to detail, critical thinking and proactive in mindset.
• Must be a team player and be able to work closely with multidisciplinary team members.
• Strong verbal, written communication skills including PC literacy being at ease with Microsoft 365 and Atlassian products.
• Ability to use own initiative when working under pressure; embracing a fast paced, constantly changing and dynamic agenda.
• Hands on attitude and confidence to put their best foot forward.
• Willing and ability to travel to China, Europe and US.
• The ability to maintain the highest standards of confidentiality in all aspects of work.
• Demonstrates alignment to NIO values (Honesty, Care, Vision, Action).
• Someone who respects and works well with others.
• Demonstrating high levels of personal motivation to join a start-up environment and sees development opportunity in doing so, takes a proactive approach to self-development, naturally self-motivated and ambitious.

This isn’t just another job. It’s an opportunity to join a movement to change the mobility experience for everyone. If you find that as exciting as we do, come join us!

To apply for this role, please send your CV in English. We look forward to hearing from you!