Service Engineer

Status

Summary

The Service Engineering group works as part of the Kia North America Ownership Experience - Product Quality team to represent the voice of the North American customer in identification of vehicle quality concerns and development of countermeasures for Kia America’s vast dealership network. This team collaborates with various engineering groups in North America and/or Korea to turn this goal into reality.

Since the Service Engineer has strong influence over customer perception of Kia vehicle quality, competence and mastery of existing vehicle systems is necessary. This role will be heavily relied upon as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for Kia vehicles in the U.S. market and lead emerging issues investigations.  A strong foundation in conventional automotive disciplines along with the ability to make thorough and accurate assessments with minimal supervision will be required for success.
 

Major Responsibilities

1st Priority - 40%

Platform Management:

• Subject matter expert for assigned platform(s).
• Manage platform(s) by identifying, investigating, and analyzing product quality/service concerns related to Kia vehicle(s).
• Reporting product quality/service concerns through Quality Information Reports (QIRs).
• Review data sources such as warranty, Techline, Customer Care, and browse social media, and develop action plan for quality improvement as needed.
• Validation of countermeasure effectiveness through analysis of available data sources, including comeback analysis.
• Escalation of high priority issues to management for further review with Korean and/or North American engineering teams.
• Support Kia America Techline and Customer Care with quality advice as needed to prevent comebacks and potential repurchase(s).

2nd Priority - 25%

 Dealer Interface/Investigations and Dealer Facing Communications:

• Coordination and preparation of publications, including, but not limited to: draft reviews, procedure/labor time assessments, confirmation of required service parts, and verification of affected population; including tracking of any potential comeback cases and/or cases after countermeasure. 
• Coordination of field investigations through potential quality concerns in collaboration with Korea/North American engineering teams, including but not limited to Kia Corporation (Kia HQ), Kia Georgia (KaGA), and Kia Mexico (KMX).
• Support regular meetings with field personnel and monthly plant quality meetings.

3rd Priority - 20%

Customer Metrics Activities (IQS/VDS/CR):

• Maintain and improve Kia America’s performance in studies such J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS), J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS), and Consumer Reports Reliability Rankings.
• Leveraging customer quality metrics (IQS/VDS) associated with assigned platform(s) to improve customer perception of quality, including, but not limited to: verbatim review, performance/trend assessment, ownership experience improvement proposals, and customer education material review.
• Support customer clinic activities and leverage the voice of the customer for quality improvements.

4th Priority - 15%

Plant/Port Quality Audits (POD/POE):

• Execution of product audits through a combination of plant audits (POD (Point of Entry)) as well as port audits (POE (Port of Entry)).
• Collaborate with Port Service Engineering team to communicate and present findings with plant head of departments (HODs).
   

Education/Certification

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or equivalent experience required.

Overall Experience

• Strong working knowledge of automobile technology, with the ability to perform hands-on diagnostic, mechanical and electrical work on vehicle systems
• Strong analytical approach to problem resolution
• SAS/SQL experience preferred
   

Directly Related Experience

• 5+ years automotive industry experience in quality assurance or engineering environment preferred

Position Requirements:

• Must have a valid driver’s license. Position requires driving Kia company vehicles.
• Occasional travel required domestically and/or internationally 
• May need to work additional hours outside of normal business hours
   

Skills

Competencies