New

Lead Cost Estimating Analyst

American Axle & Mfg., Inc.
United States, Michigan, Detroit
Oct 12, 2026
Job Posting Title Lead Cost Estimating Analyst Job Description Summary Dauch is seeking a Lead Cost Estimating Analyst to join our world-class team. This is an outstanding opportunity to be part of a leading company in the automotive industry, where you will have the chance to contribute to the flawless execution of our manufacturing processes. This role located at our World Headquarters in Detroit, MI. The Lead Cost Estimating Analyst will work within the Procurement group and serve as liaison between Procurement Category Management and the rest of the organization with a goal of estimating business cases in a timely and accurate fashion. Contemplate the different price structure factors at play: design changes, volume, capacity, economics, etc. Act as the key resource within Procurement to understand the changes and complexities of large-scale automotive programs, analyze how these changes can affect every component within a BOM of purchased components, and communicate the needs of the customer or the organization to Procurement Category Management to ensure supplier costs are accurate, reasonable, and justifiable. Job Description: Serves as the liaison between Procurement Category Management and Finance to drive cost efficiency and coordination for creating multiple business cases. Responsible for creating, compiling, and presenting procurement pricing related to new sourcing opportunities and design changes. Responsible to layout price drivers for components in scenarios such as: design changes, volume fluctuation studies, new business, etc. Represent the Procurement organization in cross-functional team meetings to ensure all deliverables are provided to properly cost components accurately and efficiently. Provides reporting to the management team on cost drivers related to new business opportunities and major cost changes to support financial decision making. Provides various data analysis such as volume change comparison, BOM changes, supply base overview. Makes recommendations to leadership from a customer standpoint, by aggregating the voice of the internal customer. Understand and break down product technical requirements (weight, specs, material, prints, etc.) to support preliminary cost creation and multi-functional team committee cost estimation. Good understanding of impact of production volume, tooling, lead-time, and ED&T when costing Engineering Bill of Materials for new and current programs using Manufacturing Plans and Cost Models. Responsible for evaluating and analyzing cost changes for various products/processes - castings, stampings, forgings, machining etc.; and associated tooling investments by reviewing technical specifications and requirements. Coordinate within the Procurement organization the answer to multiple Cost Requests processed at the same time (prioritize based on given timing and business criticality, perform the data manual input in the system). Organize and record supply base pricing to leverage the internal knowledge in order to offer competitiveness for future new potential business costing. Required Skills and Education BA/BS plus 7 years professional experience; or Advanced Degree plus 5 years professional experience; or Industry Experience of plus 10 years in Manufacturing Engineering or equivalent. Knowledge of automotive powertrain products along with manufacturing methods/processes preferred. Strong technical expertise in casting, stamping, machining and/or related categories required. Manufacturing experience preferred. Good level of understanding of Financials indicators and metrics supporting decision making: GP, NPV, Payback, IRR, EBITDA, etc. Willingness to travel as required to plant & supplier sites to assess the products and manufacturing process systems, approximately 5%. About Dauch: Dauch Corporation is a premier Driveline and Metal Forming supplier serving the global automotive industry with a powertrain-agnostic product portfolio that supports electric, hybrid, and internal combustion vehicles. The company is headquartered in Detroit, MI, with operations that span 24 countries and more than 175 locations. Formed through the acquisition of Dowlais Group plc and its subsidiaries - GKN Automotive and GKN Powder Metallurgy, Dauch unites deep engineering roots with global manufacturing capabilities and an entrepreneurial spirit to move mobility forward. Visit www.dauch.com to learn more. Dauch will not discriminate against any Associate or applicant for employment because of age, race, color, gender, religion, weight, height, marital status, sexual orientation, genetic history or information, gender identity or expression, disability, protected veteran status, national origin, or other characteristic protected by law. Dauch will take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that Associates are treated equally during employment, without regard to their age, race, color, gender, religion, weight, height, marital status, sexual orientation, genetic history or information, gender identity or expression, disability, protected veteran status, national origin, or other characteristic protected by law. For the Disabled Job Seeker: We offer reasonable accommodations for qualified disabled individuals who are applicants for employment. To request assistance or accommodations, please e-mail TalentAcquisition@aam.com. Dauch is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.