Engineer / Sr. Engineer - Infotainment Telematics Systems

General Summary

The Infotainment and Telematics Engineering team, within the Kia North America Product Quality department, represents the voice of the North American customer by identifying infotainment and telematics vehicle quality concerns and developing effective countermeasures to support Kia America’s vast dealership network. The team collaborates with various engineering groups in North America and Korea to continuously improve vehicle quality and customer satisfaction.

The Engineer influences customer perception of Kia vehicle quality. This position serves as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for Kia vehicles in the U.S. market and leads investigations into emerging infotainment and telematics issues. A strong working knowledge of conventional automotive infotainment and telematics systems is required, along with the ability to perform thorough, accurate assessments independently and with minimal supervision.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Priority One – 40%

Platform Management

• Manage vehicle infotainment platform(s) by identifying, investigating, and analyzing product quality concerns.
• Report on product quality concerns through Quality Information Reports (QIRs).
• Review data sources such as warranty, techline, customer care, social media, and develop action plans for quality improvement as needed.
• Validation of countermeasure effectiveness through analysis of available data sources, including comeback analysis.
• Escalation of high priority issues to management for further review with Korean and/or North American engineering teams.
• Support Kia America Techline, Customer Care, and Kia Dealers with quality advice as needed to prevent comebacks and potential repurchase(s).
• Support Jira ticket process for Kia Connect customer issues to resolve concerns and product improvement.

Priority Two – 30%

Software/OTA Test Support

•  Support software and OTA testing relative to new model software activities, OTAs, and map updates including log file collection and reporting and follow-up of concerns to appropriate teams

Priority Three – 20%

Customer Metrics Activities (IQS/VDS/CR)

• Maintain and improve Kia America’s performance in studies such as J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS), J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS), and Consumer Reports Reliability Rankings.
• Leveraging customer quality metrics (IQS/VDS) associated with assigned platform(s) to improve customer perception of quality, including, but not limited to: verbatim review, performance/trend assessment, ownership experience improvement proposals, and customer education material review.
• Support customer clinic activities and leverage the voice of the customer for quality improvements.

Priority Four – 10%

Dealer Interface/Investigations and Dealer Facing Communications

• Lead the preparation of field publications, including Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs), Service Actions (SAs), and Pitstops (PSs). 
• Coordinate field investigations including dealer visits in collaboration with Korea/North American engineering teams, including but not limited to Kia Corporation (Kia HQ), Kia Georgia (KaGA), and Kia Mexico (KMX).

This list of essential responsibilities and duties is not exhaustive and may be supplemented and changed as necessary by management.

Qualifications/Education

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering discipline or related field required.

Job Requirement

• Engineer I: 0-2 years’ experience in quality assurance or engineering environment required.
• Engineer II: Minimum 2 years’ experience in quality assurance or engineering environment required, 4+ years’ experience preferred.
• Sr. Engineer: Minimum 4 years’ experience in quality assurance or engineering environment required, 6+ years of experience preferred.
• Strong working knowledge of automobile infotainment system technology, with the ability to perform hands-on diagnostic, mechanical and electrical work on vehicle systems
• Strong analytical approach to problem resolution
  SAS/SQL and Jira experience desired
• May need to work additional hours outside of normal business hours
• Must have a valid driver’s license and good driving record. Position requires driving as an essential function and related to the legitimate business purpose for this role. Alternative transportation is not a practical substitute due to time and cost considerations.
• Position requires testing in Kia company vehicles and competitor vehicles to provide voice of customer assessment of infotainment and telematics systems to ensure that Kia infotainment software and systems will meet customer expectations through monitoring vehicle software.
• Driving unreleased pre-production vehicles is a critical component to this position, and the role will require individual driving off-site on and off business hours, in remote or public locations.  Attention to security guidelines must be adhered to, as well as technical understanding of the nuances of driving a preproduction vehicle.

Other Requirements

• Physical Requirements: frequent sitting, standing, walking, vision, hearing, talking, driving.
• 10 – 15% domestic and/or international travel.
• Job demands may include reading (documents), detailed work, confidentiality, problem solving, language, reasoning skills, oral communication, written communication, customer contact, ability to effectively present information in one-on-one and small group situations to customers, vendors, and other employees, multiple concurrent tasks, ability to work with frequent interruptions, etc.
• Must be able to maintain focus and attention to detail in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to analyze information and make sound decisions under time constraints.
• Problem-solving skills and the ability to work independently.
• Must be able to respond to challenges with poise and agility.
• Ability to handle competing priorities effectively and with composure.
• Other duties as assigned.

Specialized Skills and Knowledge Required

• Problem solving and reasoning skills.
• Strong oral and written communication.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality as appropriate.
• Working knowledge of PC and software (minimum: MS Office intermediate level, in particular PowerPoint and Excel).
• Must be able to work under minimal supervision.
• Must have ability to make thorough and accurate assessments as to seriousness of problem conditions.
• Must be able to independently prioritize investigations and work assignments to best meet department and corporate goals and objectives.
• Senior: additional reporting, coordination, and some supervisory/mentor skills.