Manufacturing Cost Estimator

Cost Estimator – Automotive Manufacturing

Job Type / Location: Direct Hire | Detroit Metro Area, MI | Hybrid after training

Job Summary

A leading automotive manufacturing company is seeking an experienced Cost Estimator to support new program quotations and major engineering changes. This role will develop detailed manufacturing cost estimates by evaluating BOMs, drawings, manufacturing processes, labor, cycle times, tooling, equipment, capital, and plant capacity. The ideal candidate has strong automotive manufacturing and product-costing experience and can work cross-functionally with Engineering, Purchasing, Sales, Manufacturing, and Plant teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop cost estimates for new automotive programs and major engineering changes.
• Calculate piece price, tooling, capital equipment, labor, engineering/design time, and manufacturing costs.
• Review and interpret BOMs, engineering drawings, CAD data, models, and hand sketches.
• Develop manufacturing processes, labor plans, routing, and baseline cycle-time assumptions.
• Analyze equipment requirements, plant capacity, bottlenecks, material flow, WIP, and equipment footprint/layout.
• Partner with Purchasing, Sales, Engineering, Manufacturing, Plant, and Corporate teams to develop accurate quotations.
• Prepare business cases and financial analysis and present recommendations to management.
• Support continuous improvement of costing and quotation processes.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or a technical field.
• 5–8+ years of relevant automotive manufacturing experience.
• Strong experience with cost estimating, product costing, or automotive quotations/RFQs.
• Understanding of manufacturing processes, labor, cycle time, tooling, capital equipment, and overhead.
• Experience working with complex BOMs and engineering/product data.
• Strong Microsoft Excel and analytical skills.
• Ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Automotive Tier 1 supplier experience.
• Experience with automotive interiors or injection-molded plastics.
• Experience with instrument panels, interior trim, consoles, or other complex automotive components.
• AutoCAD experience.
• Experience with manufacturing plant capacity and process analysis.

Compensation

• $120,000–$125,000/year
• 3–5% year-end discretionary bonus
• Exempt position
• Mileage reimbursed for business travel
• Travel: Less than 5%, primarily to U.S. plants as needed

Work Arrangement

• Training: 5 days onsite
• After training: 3 days onsite / 2 days remote
• Detroit Metro Area, MI

Great company to start and grow your career with, excellent growth opportunities