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

TL;DR

Technical Specialist – Refrigerant Heat Exchangers (Condensers, Evaporators, IRD & Desiccant): Building and validating refrigerant heat exchanger components for automotive HVAC/heat pump systems with an accent on heat transfer, refrigerant/oil behavior, materials & joining methods, and high-volume manufacturing readiness. Focus on leading SME ownership across vehicle programs, driving design issue resolution and DFMEAs, and managing supplier technical deliverables to achieve cost, mass, performance, quality, durability, and warranty outcomes.

Location: Warren, Michigan

Company

General Motors develops vehicles and mobility technologies with a focus on safer, smarter, and more connected transportation.

What you will do

• Act as technical owner/SME for condensers, evaporators, IRDs, and desiccant technologies across vehicle programs, setting strategic vision and driving execution.
• Lead innovation projects and manage supplier engineering solutions for heat exchanger core designs, manifolds/headers, integrated receiver driers, desiccant packaging, and interfaces.
• Support product development teams by coordinating component designs with vehicle packaging, airflow/thermal systems, and manufacturing constraints.
• Decompose vehicle performance requirements to subsystem/component level and drive virtual analysis with internal teams and external suppliers.
• Own component cost, mass, performance, quality, and durability strategy; manage timing plan templates and release component specs for sourcing.
• Develop and maintain ICDs/KCDS, run technical reviews, lead DFMEAs and design issue resolution (PRTS), and track warranty/field issues with root-cause and corrective actions.

Requirements

• Extensive experience in automotive refrigerant heat exchanger development, sourcing, validation, and production launch.
• Demonstrated expertise in condenser, evaporator, IRD, and desiccant design with system integration knowledge (refrigerant behavior, oil migration, HVAC/heat pump operation).
• Strong knowledge of heat transfer/thermodynamics, refrigerant flow distribution and oil management, airflow/pressure drop tradeoffs, and materials selection/corrosion durability.
• Experience managing suppliers for technical deliverables (design, analysis, validation, manufacturing readiness) and supporting purchasing strategy.
• Experience developing and executing RASICs for cross-functional engineering deliverables (e.g., CAE, GD&T, manufacturing bill of process, CAD/PLM, engineering release/ECR).
• Ability to travel <25% and work in a hybrid setup reporting to a specific location at least 3 times per week.

Culture & Benefits

• Hybrid role with regular in-person reporting (at least 3 times per week).
• Travel requirement under 25% for the role.
• May be eligible for relocation benefits.
• GM provides Total Rewards and well-being-focused benefits from day one.
• No immigration sponsorship for this role.

Hiring process

• Role-related assessments and/or pre-employment screening may be required during the recruitment process.