Design Release Engineer
Posted 12 Aug 2026
Advertised as “Design Release Engineer, Frame”
BranchFactor Summary
The original posting with the fluff stripped out
- Expected experience
- 3+ yrs
- Management level
- Individual contributor
No salary listed for this role.
Field of studyAutomotive Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Structural Engineering (or related)
Study levelBachelor's
About Harbinger
Harbinger is an American commercial electric vehicle (EV) company on a mission to transform an industry starving for innovation. Harbinger’s best-in-class team of EV, battery, and drivetrain experts have pooled their deep experience to bring a first-of-its-kind EV platform to support the growing demand for medium-duty EVs and Hybrids. Harbinger: Familiar Form, Revolutionary Foundation.
Design Release Engineer, Frame
Garden Grove, CA
About Harbinger
Harbinger is an American commercial electric vehicle (EV) company on a mission to transform an industry starving for innovation. Harbinger’s best-in-class team of EV, battery, and drivetrain experts have pooled their deep experience to bring a first-of-its-kind EV platform to support the growing demand for medium-duty EVs and Hybrids. Harbinger: Familiar Form, Revolutionary Foundation.
What You'll Do
- Structural Design & Packaging Ownership: Lead the 3D CAD modeling, packaging, and integration of frame structures (frame rails, crossmembers, mounting brackets, subframes, and bumper assemblies). Ensure optimal structural stiffness, mass efficiency, and packaging clearance for high-voltage battery packs, e-axles, and commercial payloads.
- Supplier & Manufacturing Management: Act as the primary technical point of contact for frame component, stamping, forgings, and weldment suppliers. Evaluate supplier manufacturing capabilities, guide them through DFM (Design for Manufacturing) challenges, and ensure all chassis hardware meets strict automotive quality, structural, and corrosion standards.
- Engineering Release Ownership: Manage the end-to-end lifecycle of frame hardware. Responsible for creating, tracking, and executing Engineering Change Orders (ECOs) and Engineering Change Requests (ECRs), while maintaining complex mechanical Bills of Materials (BOM) within our PLM system.
- Validation & Durability Support: Work closely with CAE/FEA and physical validation teams to review structural analysis and support chassis durability testing (rig testing, track testing, and safety evaluations). Proactively address field or test failures with root-cause analysis and quick design updates.
- Project Timeline Execution: Develop and drive aggressive, realistic project schedules for long-lead structural tooling (stamping dies, extrusions, weld fixtures). Identify critical path risks, mitigate lead-time delays, and ensure hardware delivers on time to support prototype builds, mule testing, and start of production (SOP).
- Internal Design Collaboration: Lead cross-functional design reviews with High/Low Voltage Systems, Powertrain, Thermal, and Manufacturing Engineering to ensure seamless chassis integration and optimized assembly ergonomics.