How career driven are you?

A job in the automotive industry for many is an alluring prospect, but it can also be a daunting prospect trying to find out which career path to take

We have created a guide to help those wanting to break into the car industry, to show them what kind of jobs are there and what qualifications and skills are needed to land one of these jobs.

The role of an automotive engineer involves combining solid technical knowledge along with an understand of the commercial aspects of the industry. Automotive engineers will have main areas of focus such as design, production and development, which will involve them working on such things as the design aesthetics, technical performance or electronics and software.

Mechanical Engineering
Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Design Engineering
Manufacturing Engineering
Automotive Engineering

Creative ability in solving problems
High level of mathematical and technical competency
Ability to analyse and interpret data
Stay up to date with commercial and industry developments, and with design and engineering technology
Able to work within cost constraints
Time management and organisational skills are essential to ensure any projects and productions run on time

Depending on whether you are working in the design, production, research/development side of an automotive engineer, you’ll be involved in doing such tasks as:

Creating blueprints from ideas to allow them to be developed and tested
Using computer-aided design packages to create designs
Basing design work around the fundamentals of it being safety, cost-effectiveness, aesthetics and environmental impacts
Building prototypes of various components to test
Developing and applying test procedures, such as how the engine would work in different conditions
Analysing any results and data then interpreting the findings
Assess the requirements of the projects and then discuss with clients to agree a budget, as well as a timescale and any specifications
Sourcing appropriate materials for vehicle component production
Making prototypes and testing them, looking at how safe they are and their general performance
Initial investigating and solving of problems using mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, thermodynamic or pneumatic principles
Examining any failure or issues with the vehicle
Working closely with suppliers and managing the supply chain
Answering client queries and providing technical advice when necessary
Making any necessary improvements following customer feedback

Gaining a senior position in a project management team, management or consultancy
Supervisory engineer roles
Experienced contractor

EngineeringExplained – A YouTube channel created by a mechanical engineer graduate
car-engineer.com – Coverage on all things automotive, great for keeping up to date with topics in the industry
gdandtbasics.com – A site for learning Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing, which is a highly important part of automotive engineering
solidworks.co.uk – A solid modelling computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided engineering (CAE) computer programme used to create models and assemblies
solidwize.com – Training aimed at making you a pro in using Solidworks
sae.org – This site is the Society for Automotive Engineers, which is a great place to read automotive engineering articles and connect with others in the industry

Automotive Mechanics by Crouse and Anglin
Theory of Ground Vehicles by J.Y. Young
Fundamentals of Vehicle Dynamics by Thomas D. Gillespie

£20,000 – £28,000

Job Percentage Wheel

A car designer will have to enter a very competitive job market, though one which those with the talent and passion will find always find companies looking to employ them. One of the trickiest aspects of this role is being able to create exciting designs for cars, whilst complying to any regulations, and it can be a tough balancing act. Their job is vital to any car’s success, hence the competitive nature of the field, and they’ll need to utilise not only design skills, but also technical knowledge to be successful in the job.

Transportation Design
Industrial Design
Automotive Engineering
Automotive Design

Highly creative, with strong visual skills
The ability to hand-draw and use 2D/3D design packaging
Able to problem solve
Excellent communications skills, both written and verbal
Ability to work in a team, whilst also being able to work independently when needed
High level of analytical ability
Being able to work under pressure to tight deadlines is vital

Ability to interpret the initial concept brief and create a design from this
Using computer-aided design programs (CAD) to test safety aspects of designs
Drafting layouts of components, assemblies and systems
Interpreting data and conducting tests on any prototypes
Building prototypes
Creating blueprints of any design plans
Ensure the manufacturing of the design is correct
Test drive the car to inspect for faults or defects

Chief Design Officer
Creative Director
Head of Design
Global Chief of Advanced Design

cardesignnews.com – Car design related news, resources and events information
carbodydesign.com – Tutorials, news and job listings
formtrends.com – Articles, videos, photos and all kinds of coverage of the automotive design industry

How to Draw and How to Render by Scott Robertson and Thomas Bertling
How to Design Cars Like a Pro by Tony Lewin and Ryan Borroff
Peter Teuful – A Tale of Car Design in Three Parts by Chris Bangle

£34,000 – £51,000

Job Percentage Wheel

The motorsport engineer is a key part of the race team and often has a close relationship with the driver, as it is often their discussions that create the race plan. They will have a hand in everything from the design and pre-build of the vehicle, to any testing and improvements needed, and of course they are a big part of race day preparations and post examination.

It will also be important to try to get as much experience as possible whilst at University, which is important for future job offers.

Motorsport Engineering (must have covered the fundamentals of engineering in the course)
Mechanical Engineering
Aeronautical Engineering
Automotive Engineering

Ability to problem solve
Can analyse and interpret data
Able to work under pressure
Effective planning and good organisational skills
High level of technical knowledge

Use computer-aided design (CAD) and modelling programs to turn ideas into blueprints
Testing of models, looking closely at components and bodywork before the production takes place to ensure vehicle performance
Staying up to date with new ideas in the field, to try and get an edge on the competition
Building of the model
Quality control tests
Communicating with the driver on the race set up (fuel, tyres and test procedure)
Post-race debriefs on the performance of the car
Run lap simulations to optimise aspects of the car
Running practise laps to gather any data on the various components of the car’s performance (brakes, engine, gearbox and tyre life)

Potential to specialise in a field e.g. engine transmission or electronics
Become a chief engineer, technical manager or technical coordinator

racecar-engineering.com/ – Filled with industry news, interviews and a directory with suppliers, products and services
motorsport.com/ – General motorsport news website / app

Race Car Aerodynamics by Joseph Katz
Inside Racing: A Season with the PacWest CART Indycar Team by Paul Haney
Tune to Win by Carroll Smith
Competition Car Aerodynamics by Simon McBeath
Race Car Vehicle Dynamics by William F. Milliken and Douglas L. Milliken

£18,000 – £22,000

Job Percentage Wheel

An emerging role in the automotive industry, building self-driving cars is at the forefront of future technology. The job itself can often veer into different directions, but core roles of an autonomous driving engineer will be to create the system that allows the car to be self-driven, focusing on areas such as the sensors, vision systems and localisation (telling the car where it is and what is around it).

Computer Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Computer Science
Robotics
Mechanical Engineering

High level of mathematical skill is vital, with a focus on such areas as linear algebra, probability theory and statistics, multivariate calculus and algorithms and complex optimisations
Knowledge of up to date machine learning algorithms, optimisation technical and optimal control
Strong coding ability in C/C++ and Python
Experience using Linux, Amazon AWS and other cloud platforms
Can develop and implement complex algorithms
Can work with LIDAR (there is open source projects that can be learned from if experience is hard to come by)
Knowledge of sensor fusion/SLAM (simultaneous localisation and mapping)

Senior Autonomous Vehicle Engineer
Senior Software Engineer
Senior Deep Learning Engineer
Senior Vehicle Control Engineer

udacity.com/course/self-driving-car-engineer-nanodegree–nd013 – Nanodegree to help you learn some fundamentals of becoming a self-driving car engineer
medium.com/tooploox/autonomous-driving-do-it-yourself-e075b740ec1 – Article on autonomous driving (Medium also has lots of other useful articles on the subject)
3dvision.princeton.edu/research.html – Princeton vision and robotics site, with lots of interesting
selfdrivingcars.mit.edu/resources/ – An online course for Deep Learning for Self-Driving Cars that also provides an excellent list of resources for further learning