PhD in User-Centered Design Methodologies for EV Charging Interactions in cooperation with a university starting from April 2024 - Job bei Mercedes (2024)

Life is always about becoming… Becoming means going on a journey to be the best version of our future selves. While we discover new things, we will face challenges, master them and grow beyond our individual limits.

Apply for a job at Mercedes-Benz and find your individual role and workspace to unleash your talents to the fullest. Empowered by visionary colleagues who share the same pioneering spirit. Joining us means becoming part of a global team that aims to build the most desirable cars in the world. Together for excellence.

Job-ID: MER00032U8

There can be no progress without research. This was clearly shown by our company’s founders, Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz, when they invented the automobile in 1886. With visionary colleagues, who share the same pioneering spirit, we as a global automotive company are striving towards sustainable luxury.

During your PhD journey we offer you an international network of experts, research materials, insights into our work, and a personal mentor who will serve as your contact partner in addition to your doctoral advisor at your university. Besides your thesis you will have the chance to work on shaping the future of electric mobility.

You will master these tasks:

• Research questions
• • How to design user interaction for future charging experiences?
  • How to improve the customer experience for the charging interaction?
  • What are relevant aspects before/during/after the charging interaction and what are further interactions and their relevant aspects regarding power management, energy consumption, and the ecosystems?
  • What are methods, methodologies and benchmarks for a customer-centric development process?
  • How to integrate individualized functionalities throughout different design stages and how to optimally support user desires and requirements?

• Goals
• Framework for entities and their relations of generic charging interactions (vehicle, charging station, ecosystem, power consumption, energy flows, different interaction media), their interplay and effects on the user experience
• Establish a re-usable, modular platform (prototyping simulators) for immersive charging experience testing
• Conceptualize, develop, test, evaluate different interaction scenarios with a focus on charging persona in the context of the Mercedes-Benz strategy towards sustainable luxury

• RD department contribution
• Drive the design process from creating initial visualizations of a concept to designing interactive prototypes for charging functions
• Visualize user journeys and customer interaction patterns (in-car and off-car/mobile) for various user groups (personas)
• Design information architectures in HMI, web, app, XR based on identified customer needs in coordination with existing design guidelines
• Define design patterns, best practices, and design guidelines for different product classes in collaboration with our partners in advanced development and design
• Test concepts and ideas to iteratively evolve your concepts
• Explore the current and future needs of our EQ customers
• Collaborate with our internal Mercedes-Benz Customer Research network

The requirement for hiring is the supervision of the PhD project by a university lecturer. The PhD student is responsible for choosing his/her/their own supervisor.

• University degree with above-average grades in a relevant field, existing publications are a plus
• Experience testing concepts and prototypes, either with a qualitative or quantitative methods
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills: teamwork, reflection, and enthusiasm
• Strong intrinsic motivation to shape the future of electric mobility in a customer-centric way

We offer you ideal conditions for your research project:

• A three-year job contract
• A Welcome Day on which you get to know the company and other doctoral students
• An interdisciplinary qualification program for your personal development
• Access to the doctoral student network at Mercedes-Benz and to the doctoral student marketplace where you can present your dissertation and share ideas with colleagues
• Participation in forums, specialist presentations and conferences
• Flexible time management so that you can talk with your professor in person or take on teaching and examination tasks
• Optimal networking opportunities

Additional information:

Would you like to write your doctoral dissertation in cooperation with Mercedes-Benz Group AG? We offer you an international network of experts, research materials, insights into our work and a personal mentor who will serve as your contact partner in addition to your doctoral advisor at your university.

Please apply exclusively online and mark your application documents as "relevant for this application" in the online form. Please find the criteria of employment "here". Citizens of countries outside the European Trade Union please send, if applicable, your residence / work permit.

We particularly welcome online applications from candidates with disabilities or similar impairments in direct response to this job advertisem*nt. If you have any questions, you can contact the local disability officer once you have submitted your application form, who will gladly assist you in the onward application process: SBV-Sindelfingen@mercedes-benz.com

Please understand that we do not accept paper applications and that there is no right to get your documents returned.

If you have any questions regarding the application process, please contact HR Services by e-mail at hrservices@mercedes-benz.com or the "Chat-Bot" on our career page via the speech bubble symbol at the bottom right.

• Meal-Discounts
• Mobile Phone possible
• Discounts for employees possible
• Annual profit share possible
• Events for employees
• Coaching
• Flexitime possible
• Hybrid Work possible
• Health Benefits
• Company Retirement
• Mobility offers
• Inhouse Doctor
• Canteen, Café
• Barrier-free workplace
• Good public transport
• Parking
• Near-site Childcare