Vehicle Safety Director (Passive Safety & Crashworthiness)

Role Summary VinFast’s senior technical authority for Passive Safety and Crashworthiness, accountable for crash performance, occupant protection, restraints, pedestrian/VRU protection, EV post-crash integrity, CAE correlation and global crash/NCAP readiness. The role is hands-on: identify crash/injury mechanisms, challenge CAE and test evidence, and drive executable structural, restraint, packaging, material and calibration countermeasures. Functional Safety, ADAS/SOTIF and homologation are supporting interfaces; Passive Safety is the core mandate. Key Responsibilities

• Own passive-safety strategy and technical sign-off from concept to SOP, including crash architecture, load paths, structural deformation, occupant survival space, crash pulse and compatibility.
• Lead occupant protection and restraint development across airbags, belts, pretensioners, load limiters, seats/head restraints, child occupants and sensing/deployment interfaces.
• Own crash CAE-to-physical correlation across component, sled, subsystem and full-vehicle testing; challenge model quality, dummy injury metrics, intrusion, pulse and deformation behavior.
• Drive root-cause and design convergence for frontal, offset, side, pole, rear, rollover/roof, far-side, whiplash, pedestrian/VRU and EV post-crash cases, converting failures into clear engineering countermeasures.
• Set VinFast crash/NCAP targets and readiness for Euro NCAP, Bharat NCAP, ASEAN NCAP, FMVSS/US NCAP, UNECE and other markets; optimize solutions for safety, mass, BOM cost, package and manufacturability through early front-loading.
• Build and lead the Passive Safety organization, establish design rules, DVPs, CAE/test correlation standards and lessons learned, and act as the primary passive-safety escalation point for senior management. Cross-Functional Interfaces Partner with BIW/Body, Restraints, Seats, Battery, Chassis, CAE, Physical Validation, Styling, Manufacturing, Quality and Program teams. Coordinate with Functional Safety, ADAS/SOTIF and homologation where crash sensing, restraint deployment, VRU interaction, rescue/post-crash functions or compliance overlap. Represent Passive Safety at architecture, design and program gates with quantified performance, root cause, countermeasure, cost/mass impact and residual risk. Requirements Required Qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Automotive or Structural Engineering; Master’s/PhD in crashworthiness, structural mechanics or biomechanics preferred.
• 12+ years automotive engineering experience with deep hands-on Passive Safety/Crashworthiness responsibility and at least 5 years in technical leadership.
• Expert knowledge of crash load paths, structural energy management, occupant kinematics, restraint interaction, injury mechanisms and physical crash-test root-cause analysis.
• Advanced experience with crash/occupant CAE tools such as LS-DYNA, Abaqus and Madymo or equivalent, including model review and physical-test correlation; strong restraint tuning and crash-test experience.
• Proven delivery of vehicle programs from concept to SOP with strong regulatory/NCAP crash performance, including resolution of major crash-test failures; EV crash/battery post-impact experience strongly preferred. Key Competencies
• Deep passive-safety authority: moves from failed test/CAE evidence to mechanism, root cause and executable countermeasure.
• Solution and ownership mindset with strong judgment on safety vs. mass, cost, timing and package trade-offs.
• Strong executive communication and ability to defend technical decisions with evidence.
• Builder mindset: develops people, processes and a high-performing Passive Safety organization in a fast-moving OEM environment With respect to all your personal data shared to VinFast in the application and the entire recruitment process of VinFast, by clicking “Apply”, submitting your resumé/CV and/or participating in VinFast's recruitment process, you agree that you have read VinFast's Personal Data Protection Policy ("Policy") posted at https://vinfastauto.com/vn_vi/dieu-khoan-phap-ly or https://vinfast.vn/privacy-policy/, you agree to the Policy and consent for VinFast to process your personal data in accordance with the Policy and the applicable regulations on personal data protection. To all recruitment agencies: VinFast does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our careers alias or other VinFast employees. VinFast is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.