What are the job roles and responsibilities of an Automotive Engineer?

The team is responsible for vehicle design, development, manufacturing, and testing.

Automotive engineers work in the designing, manufacturing, distribution, marketing, sales of cars, bikes and other vehicles. Engineers will work on the electronics and software involved with modern vehicles.

Responsibilities of the job :

• project requirement assessment

• negotiating project budgets, timescales, and specifications with clients and managers respectively

• Developing test procedures

• building prototypes of components

• organizing tests, to check whether engines will work in different conditions, such as high temperatures

• interpreting and analyzing results and data

• sourcing vehicle components 

• providing technical advice and answering queries

• using specialist computer modeling software for producing designs

• making improvements to vehicles in response to customer feedback

• investigating and solving problems

Typical employers of automotive engineers

They include :

• tire manufacturers

• vehicle design companies

• research/test laboratories

• motorsport teams

There are routes into the profession for both graduates and school leavers. Graduates will need a degree in a relevant subject such as automotive, mechanical or electrical engineering, production and manufacturing engineering, engineering design or physics. Most employers will ask for a bachelor' in Automotive engineering.

Entry into the profession is also possible through an apprenticeship. Vehicle technician apprenticeships are available at an intermediate or advanced level, and you can choose to specialize in light or heavy vehicles. Some advanced and higher apprenticeships in automotive engineering are available at larger automotive companies. 

Key skills for automotive engineers

• technical and problem-solving skills

• commercial awareness

• good attention to detail

• creativity

• communicating skills

• presentation skills

• analytical skills