Principal Engineer

Background

No restraints. No limitations. We don’t simply push boundaries. We completely rethink them. McLaren Automotive exists to create breath-taking performance road cars.

It takes a community to do what we do. A diverse group of people with many areas of expertise, united by their passion to deliver visionary products and set new benchmarks.

McLaren Automotive commits to equal opportunity for all. Diversity, Equality and Inclusion is at the heart of our impact, it drives our innovation and enables us to truly create something special. Join us on our journey.

Purpose of Role

McLaren Automotive has introduced a high-performance Zonal Electrical and Electronic Architecture, embedding cutting-edge technologies such as Ethernet backbone, Over-The-Air software update, cybersecurity and AUTOSAR standardisation.

Electronic and Control Systems are fundamental to the performance of our vehicles and are highly influential to our customers’ perception of the quality of our products. he business has recently restructured the Architecture Team to put greater focus on the adoption of Systems Engineering principles both within ES&C and across the business.

The role will sit alongside lead engineers for each functional domain as the owner of the E/E system design of Infotainment and Connected Car functionalities and their integration into the vehicle architecture.

Alongside supporting the vehicle line Lead Architect, they will co-ordinate with the attribute engineers, feature owners and internal/external software development teams to ensure system optimisation and successful integration into the Architecture platform. They will also develop roadmaps for control unit reuse and development as well as the performance of features under their remit.

We are a small business with very technical team & the right candidate will be excited to work with this team to standardise where appropriate and ensure quality whilst allowing room for creative engineering.

Principal Accountabilities

• Lead collaboration with attribute & feature owners to derive system design requirements and define functional partitioning of all features relating to HMI, Infotainment and connectivity
• Evaluate multiple system design concepts in concert with internal software engineers and module owners - optimising system performance while respecting technical & commercial constraints
• Allocate functions into ECUs and signals into networks. Define relevant interfaces & create System Logical & Physical architecture diagrams. Ensure the design is robust to any vehicle architecture constraints & that any limitations are identified early in the design process. Work with the PREEVision team to plan and implement the system design
• Conduct appropriate analysis (use cases, sequence diagrams, simulations, state machines etc.) for defining system behaviour and deriving functional requirements. Provide the reference for high quality requirements elicitation and capture using tools such as MBSE and SysML – fostering their adoption at McLaren by appropriate sizing of solutions
• Support Homologation, Functional Safety and Cyber Security teams to ensure concepts & requirements are met efficiently within the project scope

Document the system design in the requirements management tool, creating System Design Specifications. Maintain requirement quality and traceability

• Define EOL and Diagnostic requirements for successful monitoring of the features and support their implementation in Manufacturing/Aftersales environments as well as supporting prototype vehicle electrical system design and operation
• Be the Subject Matter Expert and provide technical support for how E/E Systems contribute to the user experience across all McLaren vehicle programmes via features such as Errors, Warnings and Driver Information, Camera and A/V integration, UX/HMI and connectivity such as App and OTA integration
• Continuously stay up-to-date on the latest developments and advancements in the industry to build detailed, costed technical roadmaps which outline necessary developments in control units and the system architectural changes which meet long-term product targets
• Work with Validation Engineers to ensure that System Test Cases robustly verify the system design & that any issues found are resolved
• Work closely with the vehicle line Lead Architect to ensure alignment with overall E/E Architecture strategy and ensure timely delivery of program milestones
• Track system design progress using tools such as Jira and provide regular updates and progress reports to the management team with the efficient use of dashboarding and data management
• Lead and develop a small team of internal and external engineers and develop them into an effective and motivated unit

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Degree in Systems, Electrical or Computer Engineering, 2:1 or above
• Extensive experience in the design, implementation and testing of infotainment, connected and over-the-air software update systems and their features
• Extensive experience of system definition, architecture development, requirements specification, design/performance modelling, systems integration and acceptance testing; applying Systems Engineering principles in solving complex technical issues using a structured approach
• Capable of decomposing High-Level requirements into the Vehicle and System level and of the converse, providing design guidance to ensure that system designs are backed up by higher level product and legal requirements
• Technical leadership skills recognised by a wide development team as a reference point for the architectural design, guiding a technical team to deliver the required design
• Previous experience with automotive network designs (CAN/Ethernet/LIN) is essential
• Experience with diagnostic standards such as UDS, DoIP and design for manufacture is essential
• Experience in IBM Rational DOORS, Jama or similar is essential
• Experience of leading a team using JIRA/AGILE or similar is essential
• Experience in Model-based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and SysML using Matlab & Dassault Systems (or similar) is essential
• Knowledge of standards such as Automotive SPICE, CMMI, ISO 26262 and ISO 21434 and SUMS (Software Update Management System) is essential

Personal Attributes

• Self-motivated, and ability to work effectively as the leader of a cross-functional team
• Naturally technical, able to employ fundamental engineering principles
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, able to summarise complex topics to engage senior management support
• Systematic and structured approach, able to provide a framework which is easily navigated and understood by stakeholders
• Conscientious with high levels of attention to quality, reliability, and safety
• Ability to manage personal and team priorities understanding programmes’ needs
• High self-motivation to respect programmes’ deadlines in a challenging environment
• Able to work onsite at MTC 2 days/week minimum (ideally 3+, one of them Monday/Friday)
• Driving Licence