Job Description:

Vehicle Systems Development Engineer (R&D)

Location: West Midlands
Salary: Competitive, depending on experience
Type: Permanent

Travel: UK customer site travel required, with occasional international opportunities

Are you an automotive electronics or systems engineer who enjoys finding out how vehicles actually work and turning that knowledge into innovative products?

We are working with an established and technically driven automotive business that is looking to appoint a Vehicle Systems Development Engineer to join its R&D team. This is a highly hands-on role sitting at the intersection of vehicle electronics, CAN/network analysis, embedded systems, hardware development and product innovation.

You will take ownership of projects from the initial investigation of vehicle signals and behaviours through to the design, integration and validation of working solutions.

What will you be doing?

Your role will cover three key areas:

Signal Discovery & Reverse Engineering

• Capture and analyse CAN/CAN FD traffic and other vehicle communications.
• Identify and decode unknown signals and understand ECU interactions.
• Investigate the relationship between physical vehicle events and network activity.
• Build signal maps and maintain vehicle signal databases.
• Develop DBC files and extract usable information from vehicle networks.

Solution Architecture & Product Development

• Translate vehicle signal discoveries into functional product requirements.
• Define system architectures and integration strategies.
• Identify opportunities to turn vehicle data and behaviours into new product functionality.
• Develop proof-of-concepts and prototypes.
• Contribute to technical roadmaps and wider R&D activity.

Hardware, Software Integration & Validation

• Configure embedded controllers and vehicle interface modules.
• Design and integrate prototype hardware, sensors and communication interfaces.
• Develop vehicle-specific harnessing and wiring solutions.
• Create event-driven logic, triggers and decision-making rules.
• Install prototype systems into development vehicles.
• Test and validate solutions across different vehicle manufacturers and platforms.
• Support field trials, customer projects and final product sign-off.

What are we looking for?

We are looking for an engineer who combines strong technical knowledge with a genuinely hands-on and investigative approach.

You should have experience with:

• CAN / CAN FD
• LIN
• Automotive Ethernet
• UDS and/or OBD-II
• CAN traffic capture and signal decoding
• DBC files and vehicle network analysis
• ECU communications and vehicle electronics
• Embedded controllers and microcontrollers
• Digital and analogue inputs
• Circuit design and electronic hardware
• Automotive wiring and harnesses
• Oscilloscopes and logic analysers
• Serial communications and gateway technologies
• Prototype development and vehicle integration

You will ideally have experience taking an idea from initial investigation through to a working, validated product or feature, rather than specialising solely in one area of automotive engineering.

The right person

This is a particularly good opportunity for someone who is:

Investigative - enjoys working out what an unknown signal or vehicle behaviour actually means.

Inventive - doesn't just ask "what does this signal do?" but "what could we do with this information?"

A systems thinker - understands the interaction between vehicle networks, electronics, hardware and software.

Hands-on - comfortable moving between a laptop, oscilloscope, wiring loom, development vehicle and workshop.

Commercially aware - understands that the ultimate objective is to turn technical discoveries into useful, commercially viable products.

Customer focused - able to provide technical expertise and support during customer projects and vehicle investigations.

Why this role?

This isn't a traditional engineering role where you'll be working on one defined system day after day. You'll have the opportunity to work across multiple vehicle platforms and technologies, investigating how vehicles communicate and using that knowledge to develop new products and functionality.

If you're someone who enjoys reverse engineering, problem solving, vehicle electronics and creating something that hasn't been done before, this could be an excellent opportunity to develop your career within an innovative R&D environment.

Regular UK travel to customer sites is required, with occasional international travel depending on business requirements.