Defense/Automotive Wiring Harness NPD/Production ENgineer

NPD & PRODUCTION ENGINEER – DEFENSE & AUTOMOTIVE WIRING HARNESS

Department: Engineering / Manufacturing
Function: NPD, Industrialization & Production Engineering
Industry: Defense & Automotive Wiring Harness
Location: Jubail, Saudi Arabia
Experience: 4–8 Years Preferred

Job Purpose

Responsible for the complete New Product Development (NPD), prototype development, industrialization, and production engineering of Defense and Automotive Wiring Harnesses, starting from customer drawings/BOM/sample through prototype approval and serial production.

The engineer shall ensure that products are manufactured according to customer drawings, applicable IPC/WHMA-A-620, MIL, automotive, IATF, APQP and PPAP requirements, with strong focus on quality, traceability, productivity, and delivery.

Key Responsibilities

1. NPD & Prototype Development

• Study customer drawings, electrical schematics, BOMs, specifications and samples.
• Develop complete wiring harnesses from drawing, schematic or physical sample/reverse engineering.
• Prepare BOM, From-To list, cutting list, wire list, connector tables, splice details and manufacturing drawings.
• Select correct wires, cables, connectors, contacts, terminals, seals, backshells, sleeves, braids, heat-shrink products and protection materials.
• Manufacture and validate prototype/First Article harnesses.
• Coordinate technical clarification and prototype approval with customers.
• Manage engineering changes, drawing revisions and configuration control.
• Convert approved prototype designs into serial-production processes.

2. Defense Wiring Harness Engineering

• Work with MIL-spec wires, cables, connectors and accessories.
• Practical knowledge of circular military connectors, particularly MIL-DTL-38999 and similar connector families.
• Knowledge of MIL backshells, contacts, sealing plugs, shielding and grounding arrangements.
• Understand shield termination, EMI/EMC protection, cable braiding and grounding requirements.
• Define processes for crimping, soldering, splicing, shielding, braiding, heat shrinking and connector assembly.
• Ensure workmanship compliance with IPC/WHMA-A-620 requirements.
• Support First Article Inspection and customer/defense quality inspections.
• Maintain component and process traceability.

3. Automotive Wiring Harness Engineering

• Develop automotive LV wiring harnesses and associated subassemblies.

• Knowledge of automotive connectors, terminals, seals, clips, grommets, convoluted tubes, tapes and protective sleeves.

• Support APQP and PPAP activities.

• Prepare/review:

  • Process Flow Diagram
  • PFMEA
  • Control Plan
  • Work Instructions
  • Inspection Standards
  • MSA
  • Process Capability Studies

• Participate in design and process reviews.

• Support customer-specific automotive quality requirements.

• Knowledge of IATF 16949 requirements preferred.

4. Production Engineering

• Establish complete manufacturing processes for new wiring harnesses.
• Develop production routing and assembly sequences.
• Design/develop harness boards, fixtures and Poka-Yoke systems.
• Select cutting, stripping, crimping and assembly tooling.
• Set machine parameters and process specifications.
• Conduct time studies and establish standard cycle times.
• Calculate manpower and production capacity.
• Balance production lines and workstations.
• Support production during initial batches and mass production.
• Improve FPY, productivity and output.

5. Crimping & Special Processes

Strong practical knowledge required in:

• Automatic/semi-automatic wire cutting and stripping
• Terminal crimping
• Crimp height measurement
• Pull-force testing
• Crimp cross-section analysis
• Contact insertion/extraction
• Soldering
• Ultrasonic wire splicing
• Heat-shrink processing
• Shield termination
• Cable braiding
• Harness taping and wrapping
• Connector assembly
• Potting/sealing where applicable

6. Testing & Validation

Define and support:

• 100% continuity testing
• Open/short circuit testing
• Insulation Resistance (IR)
• Hi-Pot/Dielectric testing
• Resistance and voltage-drop testing
• Functional testing
• Connector pin verification
• Pull-force testing
• First Article Inspection

Analyze test failures and implement corrective actions.

7. Quality & Problem Solving

• Investigate internal and customer quality issues.
• Perform Root Cause Analysis using 5-Why, Fishbone, 8D and CAPA methodologies.
• Implement corrective and preventive actions.
• Reduce rejection, rework and customer complaints.
• Participate in internal, customer and certification audits.
• Ensure compliance with approved manufacturing processe

Mandatory/Preferred Standards Knowledge

Candidate should have exposure to:

• IPC/WHMA-A-620
• MIL-DTL-38999
• MIL-spec wiring and interconnection practices
• IATF 16949
• APQP