Systems Engineer

Job Title: Automotive Systems Engineer Job Description
The Automotive Systems Engineer provides customer-facing technical support for integrated center stack and instrument cluster display systems used in modern vehicles. This role serves as a key technical interface to Tier 1 and OEM customers, leading system-level technical discussions, clarifying requirements, troubleshooting issues at vehicle and bench level, and coordinating with internal engineering teams to drive timely and robust issue resolution. The position is based in Troy, Michigan and focuses on supporting new and existing automotive display products across the full product lifecycle, from prototype through production launch and field support.
Responsibilities
- Serve as the primary technical contact for assigned automotive customers, answering technical questions and supporting timely issue resolution for integrated center stack displays, instrument cluster displays, and related systems.
- Lead and participate in system-level technical discussions with customers, including defining new product specifications, clarifying requirements, and communicating customer needs to internal product development teams.
- Analyze incoming customer system requirements and support the design team by translating them into clear and complete internal specifications.
- Acquire and analyze data logs from customer vehicles and engineering benches to support issue analysis, root cause identification, technical solution implementation, and lessons learned activities using structured methods such as 5-Why and 8D.
- Provide on-site engineering support at customer locations for system and vehicle-related troubleshooting during prototype, pre-production, pilot, production launch, and vehicle assembly plant activities.
- Support customer and manufacturing concerns by driving containment actions, root cause analysis, corrective actions, and long-term resolution of technical issues related to display systems.
- Support vehicle testing activities for the display system and verify and validate infotainment and display end-to-end features in accordance with customer technical requirements.
- Collaborate closely with cross-functional engineering teams, including hardware, software, validation, and quality, to support product validation, technical issue investigation, and robust issue closure.
- Conduct technical evaluations and engineering feasibility studies for LCD and display-related customer inquiries and lead specification discussions with customers and internal design and headquarters teams.
- Perform hands-on engineering tasks such as ECU and display flashing, firmware updates in vehicles, soldering and rework, harness modification, module replacement, and component removal and installation.
- Use automotive communication and diagnostic tools to capture, decode, and interpret CAN, LIN, and display-related communication for troubleshooting and validation activities.
- Troubleshoot common display issues, including black screens, flicker, abnormal images, image freeze, touch failures, communication failures, SerDes link failures, startup and wake-up issues, and intermittent failures.
- Correlate display issues with vehicle status, communication, power conditions, firmware state, and system timing by systematically analyzing vehicle and system logs.
- Perform system-level, bench-level, and vehicle-level testing and troubleshooting to validate functionality, identify defects, and confirm the effectiveness of corrective actions.
- Prepare clear technical documentation, reports, and presentations summarizing issues, analyses, test results, and recommendations for both customers and internal stakeholders.
- Cooperate closely with account management and quality teams to ensure consistent customer communication, alignment on priorities, and coordinated issue resolution.
- Manage multiple technical topics and projects in parallel, prioritizing tasks based on customer needs and program timing while maintaining high quality in analysis and communication.
- Support engineering and validation activities at customer engineering centers, validation locations, and vehicle assembly plants as needed, including occasional on-site presence and hands-on work on customer vehicles and benches.
Essential Skills
- Detailed knowledge and practical experience with automotive infotainment displays, instrument cluster displays, and HVAC control displays and HMIs.
- Strong understanding of display functionality and features at both component and system levels, including active-matrix TFT LCD, MCUs, TCON/TDDI, touch ICs, backlight control, power management, and related components.
- Familiarity with automotive display and video interfaces and SerDes technologies such as FPD-Link III and IV, GMSL2, GMSL3, LVDS, and related serializer/deserializer communication.
- Understanding of basic display parameters and timing, including resolution, frame rate, pixel clock, video timing, startup and shutdown sequencing, and wake-up and sleep behavior.
- Familiarity with I2C and SPI communication protocols and ability to perform basic protocol-level troubleshooting.
- Familiarity with CAN and LIN communication protocols and basic vehicle diagnostics, including reading diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) and interpreting vehicle network messages for system troubleshooting and issue analysis.
- Experience using automotive communication and diagnostic tools such as Vehicle Spy 3 with neoVI hardware and Vector CANoe or CANalyzer, or equivalent tools.
- Experience with system-level, bench-level, and vehicle-level troubleshooting and testing of automotive electronic systems.
- Ability to acquire and analyze vehicle and system logs and correlate display issues with vehicle status, communication, power conditions, firmware status, and overall system behavior.
- Ability to troubleshoot a wide range of display issues, including black screens, flicker, abnormal images, image freezes, touch failures, communication failures, SerDes link failures, startup and wake-up issues, and intermittent failures.
- Ability to analyze technical issues across hardware, firmware and software behavior, communication networks, power systems, vehicle state, and system timing.
- Experience using engineering and measurement equipment such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, digital multimeters, bench power supplies, and other electronic measuring instruments.
- Hands-on troubleshooting skills, including ECU and display flashing, performing firmware updates in vehicles, soldering and rework, harness modification, module replacement, and component removal and installation.
- Comfort working directly on customer vehicles, engineering benches, prototype vehicles, and at customer engineering or vehicle assembly plant locations.
- Experience working as a technical liaison in the automotive industry, supporting technical discussions and issue resolution with OEM or Tier 1 customers.
- Strong technical, analytical, critical-thinking, and problem-solving skills applied to complex automotive electronic systems.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly explain technical topics to customers and internal engineering teams.
- Ability to interact professionally with customers during technical discussions, issue investigations, vehicle testing, and other engineering activities.
- Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced automotive engineering environment and manage multiple technical topics simultaneously.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.
Additional Skills & Qualifications
- Experience working as a technical liaison with automotive OEM or Tier 1 customers on infotainment or display-related programs.
- Experience with automotive display systems that use active-matrix TFT LCD technology and related control electronics.
- Experience with system-level testing, validation, troubleshooting, and detailed issue analysis for automotive electronic systems.
- Hands-on engineering mindset and willingness to support vehicle, bench, and customer-site troubleshooting and validation activities.
- Experience using Vehicle Spy 3 with neoVI hardware for vehicle network analysis and diagnostics.
- Experience using Vector CANoe and CANalyzer for simulation, analysis, and testing of automotive communication networks.
- Experience with Microchip, Synaptics, or equivalent touch IC, MCU, or TDDI debug boards and development tools.
- Proficiency using logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, digital multimeters, bench power supplies, and other electronic measurement and diagnostic equipment for bench and vehicle troubleshooting.
- Experience with ECU and display firmware flashing tools and workflows.
- Familiarity with Linux-based infotainment or embedded systems environments is beneficial.
- Background in automotive infotainment systems, including integration of displays, HMIs, and vehicle communication networks.
- Ability to prepare structured technical reports, 5-Why analyses, and 8D documentation to support continuous improvement and lessons learned.
Work Environment
This role is based in a professional automotive engineering environment centered around the development and support of integrated center stack and instrument cluster display systems. The position involves a mix of office-based work, bench-level engineering activities, and on-site support at customer engineering centers, validation facilities, and vehicle assembly plants. You will regularly use automotive communication and diagnostic tools such as Vehicle Spy 3 with neoVI and Vector CANoe or CANalyzer, as well as engineering equipment including oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, digital multimeters, bench power supplies, and ECU and display firmware flashing tools. Work includes hands-on activities on engineering benches and in customer vehicles, including prototype and pre-production vehicles, where you will perform troubleshooting, firmware updates, hardware rework, and system validation. The environment is fast-paced and collaborative, requiring close coordination with cross-functional engineering, quality, and account teams, as well as frequent interaction with customer engineering personnel. Hours may occasionally flex to align with customer testing schedules, vehicle build events, and critical issue resolution activities.
Job Type & Location
This is a Contract to Hire position based out of Troy, MI.
Pay and Benefits
The pay range for this position is $55.00 - $75.00/hr. Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors. Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job
classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be
subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits
available for this temporary role may include the following:

Medical, dental & vision
Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital
401(k) Retirement Plan Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available
Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents)
Short and long-term disability
Health Spending Account (HSA)
Transportation benefits
Employee Assistance Program
Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)
Job Type & Location
This is a Contract to Hire position based out of Troy, MI.
Application Deadline
This position is anticipated to close on Oct 31, 2026.
Workplace Type
This is a fully onsite position in Troy,MI. About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 20,000 consultants and 5,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing® winner for both client and talent service.

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sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected
by law.

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Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the
city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants
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It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a
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