Also called: Program Launch Manager, New Model Launch Engineer
Coordinates the months-long effort to start building a brand-new car or truck model on an assembly line.
Six months before the new pickup starts production, you're running the first pilot builds, tracking 3,000 parts from 400 suppliers and fixing every place a door or panel doesn't fit. On launch day, you watch the first truck roll off the line knowing every problem you solved.
Estimate; based on industrial and mechanical engineering pay in auto plants.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 6 years after high school. Bachelor's in mechanical, industrial or manufacturing engineering plus experience.
Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering.
Growing much faster than average (about 11% over 10 years). Industrial engineers overall.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. AI scheduling and simulation tools help, but coordinating suppliers, engineers and plant teams through a launch stays human.
Classes: AP Physics, AP Calculus, Business class.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2112.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.