Technical Lead - Developer Enablement and Cloud-Native Solutions

Ford Motor; Chennai; On-site; INR 1,800,000 - 2,400,000; Full time

Job summary

Ford Motor invites a Senior Project Lead (Technical Lead) to join the Global Customs IT PDO team in Chennai. You will drive developer tooling, DevOps practices, and cloud adoption to modernize our internal platforms and accelerate software delivery for global customs solutions.

As a hands-on leader, you will mentor engineers, shape architecture, and collaborate with cross-functional teams across NA, EU, and IMG to implement secure, scalable solutions that support FTA compliance and regulatory

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or related field.
• 6+ years of experience in software development with Java, Angular and Spring Boot.
• Deep understanding of object-oriented design principles and patterns.
• Proven track record of driving adoption of developer tools and best practices.
• Hands-on experience with modern development tools (VS Code, IntelliJ with Copilot) and technologies (Git, Gradle, Tekton, Terraform, OpenShift / Kubernetes, SonarQube, Checkmarx, Cycode/ SAST & FOSSA).
• Experience with cloud platforms (Azure, GCP).
• Familiarity with agile development methodologies.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and presentation skills.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.
• The ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Mainframe – nice to have.
• COBOL – nice to have.
• Familiarity with customs regulations, trade compliance processes, or Free Trade Agreement (FTA) requirements – nice to have.

Responsibilities

• Empower development teams to be productive and efficient.
• Orchestrate innovation to accelerate developer flow.
• Enable cloud native deployment on GCP / OpenShift / GKE.
• Promote AI-powered solutions using LLMs, Agentic AI and RAG.
• DevSecOps champion by embedding security across the lifecycle.
• Lead and mentor development teams and advocate best practices.
• Collaborate with architects, product managers, security and Tools teams.
• Present knowledge at team meetings, workshops and conferences.

Skills

Java

Angular

Spring Boot

DevOps

CI/CD

Cloud platforms

GCP

OpenShift/Kubernetes

Communication

Technical Leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in computer science or related field

Tools

VS Code

IntelliJ

Copilot

Git

Gradle

Tekton

Terraform

OpenShift / Kubernetes

SonarQube

Checkmarx

Cycode / SAST & FOSSA

Job description

Software Engineer Global Customs IT PDO team partners with internal Mfg. MPL Systems, Finance Systems, and Invoicing systems, and external customs solution/service providers to provide end-to-end customs solutions to manage customs operations globally, enabling Free Trade Agreement (FTA) qualifications and meeting legal and regulatory needs when importing and exporting parts and vehicles. Are you a hands-on technical leader driven by a passion for creating exceptional developer tools and infrastructure? Global Customs is looking for a Project Lead (titled Technical Lead) who embraces Lean, Agile and Human Centered Design practices to deliver innovative technical solutions for Ford Motor Company. As our Developer Enablement Leader, you will be instrumental in shaping the future of our Customs IT practices. You'll lead the charge in evaluating, implementing, and driving the adoption of cutting-edge technologies and best practices - from CI/CD pipelines and testing frameworks to monitoring solutions. Your work will directly empower our software engineers to build high-quality software faster and more efficiently. You will also play a key role in enhancing our internal development platform, ensuring it provides a robust and scalable foundation for all our teams. If you possess deep expertise in DevOps principles, modernization through Google Cloud adoption, a relentless drive for automation, and a proven history of building and scaling developer infrastructure, we encourage you to apply.

What You'll Do:

Fuel Developer Productivity: Your primary mission will be to empower our development teams to be as productive and efficient as possible.

This means:

• Orchestrating Innovation: Conduct experimentation and build products that would accelerate developer flow.
• Cloud Native Empowerment: Playing a vital role in enabling developers to build and deploy applications seamlessly on our chosen cloud platform (GCP, OpenShift, GKE), making the cloud a natural extension of their development workflow.
• Inner Source Evangelist: Collaborating with teams to cultivate a culture of knowledge sharing and innovation by encouraging developers to contribute to internal customs projects and collaborate across team boundaries – NA, EU, and IMG.
• Promote New Products with AI: Design, develop, and deploy AI-powered solutions for code acceleration and tech debt reduction, leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs), Agentic AI, and Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG).
• DevSecOps Champion: Driving the adoption of DevSecOps principles and practices, embedding security into every stage of the development lifecycle.

Lead and Inspire:

You'll be a technical leader, mentor, and advocate for our development teams.

This means:

• Providing Expert Guidance: Sharing your deep knowledge on a variety of topics related to developer tooling, best practices, and emerging technologies.
• Participating in Code Reviews: Providing constructive feedback on code quality, architectural alignment, and adherence to best practices.
• Staying Ahead of the Curve: Keeping your finger on the pulse of the latest industry trends and emerging technologies in the developer tooling space.
• Championing Continuous Improvement: Continuously seeking ways to improve our platform, processes, and the overall developer experience.

Collaborate and Communicate:

You'll be a critical bridge between development teams and other stakeholders, ensuring everyone is aligned and working towards a common vision.

This means:

• Working Closely with Teams: Collaborating with development teams, architects, product managers, security teams, and the "Tools" team.
• Communicating Effectively: Explaining complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Presenting at Events: Sharing your knowledge and insights at team meetings, workshops, and conferences, inspiring others to embrace new technologies and best practices.
• Acting as a Liaison: Representing the needs of development teams to other departments, ensuring their voices are heard.

What You'll Bring:

• A bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field.
• 6+ years of experience in software development, with a focus on Java, Angular, and Spring Boot.
• A deep understanding of object-oriented design principles and patterns.
• A proven track record of driving adoption of developer tools and best practices.
• Hands-on experience with modern development tools (VS Code, IntelliJ with CoPilot assistance etc) and technologies (e.g., Git, Gradle, Tekton, Terraform, OpenShift / Kubernetes, SonarQube, Checkmarx, Cycode/ SAST & FOSSA etc).
• Experience with cloud platforms (e.g., Azure, GCP).
• Familiarity with agile development methodologies.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and presentation skills.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.
• The ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Mainframe – nice to have.
• COBOL – nice to have.
• Familiarity with customs regulations, trade compliance processes, or Free Trade Agreement (FTA) requirements – nice to have.

Additional Skills:

• Experience with developer enablement initiatives.
• Experience with DevSecOps practices.
• Experience with API design and development.
• Experience with microservices architecture.
• Experience mentoring and coaching junior developers.
• Knowledge of Large Language Models (LLMs), Agentic AI, and Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG).

Key Skills:

• Java, Angular, Spring Boot is mandatory; good to have experience in GCP implementations.
• Developer Enablement CI/CD Cloud Technologies – GCP preferably.
• Agile Development.
• Communication.
• Problem-Solving.
• Technical Leadership.
• Software Architecture Patterns.
• Test-Driven Development (TDD).
• Databases (e.g., PostgreSQL – Preferred; SQL Server, Oracle – Nice to have).

Experience Level Senior Level