Technical Specialist – Refrigerant Heat Exchangers (Condensers, Evaporators, IRD & Desiccant)

About the role

The Technical Specialist is recognized as a subject matter expert (SME) with extensive experience in the design, specification, validation, and manufacturing of heat exchangers. A strong understanding of heat transfer, fluid dynamics, materials, joining methods, and high-volume automotive manufacturing processes is required. Knowledge of refrigerant behavior, oil migration, and system-level HVAC / heat pump operation is expected.

Responsibilities

• Support and regular travel to Lockport production facility is required.
• Provide expert judgment and analysis for the design, development, and implementation of refrigerant heat exchangers and related technologies.
• Act as technical owner / SME for condensers, evaporators, IRDs, and desiccant technologies across vehicle programs, developing the strategic vision for these components as integral parts of their sub-systems and driving the strategy application forward.
• Lead innovation projects to support strategic vision.
• Manage and approve engineering solutions from suppliers for heat exchanger core designs, manifolds, headers, integrated receiver driers, desiccant packaging, and interfaces.
• Work with VPOs to decompose vehicle level performance requirements to the subsystem and component level.
• Drive virtual analysis with internal teams and external suppliers to ensure performance.
• Own and manage component cost, mass, performance, and quality strategy to have best in industry TEC.
• Manage component timing plan templates, ensuring alignment with program milestones, sourcing events, and validation deliverables.
• Develop and maintain Interface Control Documents (ICDs) and KCDS for components.
• Author and release component spec C2 for sourcing Statement of Requirements (SOR).
• Participate in and lead technical reviews, peer reviews, and sourcing support activities, including supplier technical evaluations.
• Conduct quality reviews and lead DFMEAs for components and linking with system-level FMEAs.
• Drive design issue resolution using the Problem Resolution Tracking System (PRTS).
• Lead and support benchmarking activities for current and emerging heat exchanger technologies (materials, architectures, manufacturing methods) to ensure the component strategy meets customer expectations with the lowest TEC.
• Track, analyze, resolve and read across warranty and field issues, including root cause analysis and corrective action implementation.
• Document and read across lessons learned into the appropriate document (Best Practice, K-PAC, GMW, etc.).
• Technically support DREs for assigned architectures, ensuring adherence to engineering best practices, peer review standards, and documentation requirements.
• Support special projects (EWS, TierN etc) and advanced technology initiatives under ETL guidance.

Requirements

Extensive experience in automotive refrigerant heat exchanger development, sourcing, validation, and production launch.

Demonstrated technical expertise in condenser, evaporator, IRD, and desiccant design, including system integration considerations.

Strong understanding of: Heat transfer and thermodynamics, Refrigerant flow distribution and oil management, Airflow and pressure drop tradeoffs, Materials selection and corrosion durability.

Experience managing suppliers on technical deliverables, including design, analysis, validation, and manufacturing readiness.

Experience developing and executing RASICs for cross-functional engineering deliverables (CAE, Dimensional Engineering & GD&T, Manufacturing Bill of Process, CAD/PLM, Engineering Release/ECR).

Experience with component and system-level testing, including thermal performance, pressure cycling, vibration, environmental durability, and vehicle integration testing.

Strong oral and written communication skills, with the ability to communicate complex technical topics clearly to diverse audiences.

Strong analytical ability to solve unusual and complex engineering problems.

Understanding of DFSS methodologies; Black Belt / Red X knowledge preferred.

Ability to work effectively with cross-functional partners to meet shared objectives.

Demonstration of innovation and owning the outcome.

Demonstration of Artificial Intelligence tool usage applied to productivity enhancement (ex: analysis of CAE results, customer complaints, etc.).

Qualifications

Master’s degree in Science or Engineering.