BMS Software Development Engineer

Ford Motor Company; Dearborn (MI); Hybrid; USD 87,000 - 166,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Tuition assistance

Paid time off

Vehicle discount program

Job summary

Ford Motor Company in Dearborn is seeking a Battery Management Controls Software Engineer to develop application-layer control software for high‑voltage battery systems and related energy solutions. You will design state machines, sequencing, protection, and diagnostics, integrate calibration models, and collaborate with hardware teams to validate safety and performance across modules and strings.

The role requires a strong background in embedded C, model-based development, and hands-on bench

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Computer, Mechatronics, Controls, or Mechanical Engineering.
• 5+ years developing embedded application or control software for electronic control units.
• Model-based development proficiency with production code generation, plus working C ability.
• Demonstrated state machine, sequencing, and diagnostic strategy design on a production program.
• Requirements-driven software development with traceability, unit testing, and code review discipline.

Responsibilities

• Develop and own operating state machines and mode management across controllers.
• Implement high-voltage sequencing, protection, and diagnostics for safety-critical systems.
• Support validation, debug, root cause analysis, and field issue resolution.

Skills

Embedded C

Model-based development

State machine design

High-voltage control

Requirements traceability

Bench and hardware debug

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Computer, Mechatronics, Controls, or Mechanical Engineering

Job description

Our advanced energy team is a dynamic division dedicated to powering the future through advanced electric vehicle (EV) battery systems and related electrified energy solutions. As we scale these advanced electrification initiatives, we are seeking technically strong engineers who can help establish the foundation for our product execution, safety strategy, and vehicle readiness.

In this position

The Battery Management Controls Software Engineer develops the application-layer control software that determines how a high-voltage battery system behaves: operating states, high-voltage sequencing, protection, limits, thermal control, diagnostics, and coordination across multiple strings.

What you’ll do...

• Develop and own operating state machines and mode management, including supervisory coordination across multiple controllers.
• Implement high-voltage sequencing: precharge control and completion verification, contactor activation and deactivation, contactor diagnostics including welded and open contact detection, and interlock handling.
• Implement protection strategy: cell and pack overvoltage and undervoltage, overcurrent, overtemperature and undertemperature, isolation loss, and thermal event detection and response.
• Implement current and power limit calculation and arbitration, including derate strategy and coordination of limits across levels of the system.
• Implement cell balancing demand logic and coordinate balancing behavior across modules and strings.
• Implement thermal management control, including actuation, setpoint strategy, and thermal diagnostics.
• Implement aggregation and consolidation of measured and estimated states for reporting at system level, and fault propagation and annunciation to external systems.
• Own diagnostic strategy: fault detection, debounce, classification, storage, clearing, and reporting.
• Integrate and calibrate estimation models delivered by algorithm engineering; own the calibration parameter set and its documentation.
• Develop application software using model-based development with production code generation, plus hand‑written C where appropriate.
• Author software requirements and design documentation traceable to system requirements; support safety and security analyses.
• Support validation debug, root cause analysis, and field issue resolution.

You’ll have...

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical, Computer, Mechatronics, Controls, or Mechanical Engineering.
• 5+ years developing embedded application or control software for electronic control units.
• Model-based development proficiency with production code generation, plus working C ability.
• Demonstrated state machine, sequencing, and diagnostic strategy design on a production program.
• Requirements-driven software development with traceability, unit testing, and code review discipline.
• Comfort working directly with hardware, benches, and instrumentation to debug control behavior.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability and willingness to travel occasionally.

Even better, you may have...

• Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Controls, or a related technical field.
• Battery management control software: contactor sequencing, protection strategy, limit calculation, and balancing.
• High-voltage system experience and understanding of isolation, precharge, and interlock principles.
• Software development under functional safety process requirements, including safety mechanism implementation.
• Calibration methodology and parameter management for production programs.
• Coordination or aggregation logic across distributed controllers.
• Thermal management control strategy experience.

Technical Skills

• Model-based development and production code generation
• Embedded C application software
• State machine and mode management design
• High-voltage sequencing and contactor control
• Protection strategy and limit arbitration
• Diagnostic strategy design
• Thermal control strategy
• Balancing demand logic
• Calibration and parameter management
• Requirements traceability and software documentation
• Bench and hardware debug

As an established global company, we offer the benefit of choice. You can choose what your Ford future will look like: will your story span the globe, or keep you close to home? Will your career be a deep dive into what you love, or a series of new teams and new skills? Will you be a leader, a changemaker, a technical expert, a culture builder…or all of the above? No matter what you choose, we offer a work life that works for you, including:

• Immediate medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage
• Flexible family care days, paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, subsidized back‑up child care and more
• Family building benefits including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, fertility treatments, and more
• Vehicle discount program for employees and family members and management leases
• Tuition assistance
• Established and active employee resource groups
• Paid time off for individual and team community service
• A generous schedule of paid holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day
• Paid time off and the option to purchase additional vacation time.

This position is a salary grade 7 and ranges from $86,600-$144,900.

This position is a salary grade 8 and ranges from $99,100-$166,200.

Final determination of salary grade will be based on candidate's skills and experience, and base salary will be set within the applicable range according to job scope, responsibility and competitive market value.

Internal applicants: moving into this role may result in an adjustment to your current compensation based on the posted pay range for this role, taking into consideration your qualifications and other relevant factors.

Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Candidates for positions with Ford Motor Company must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status or protected veteran status. In the United States, if you need a reasonable accommodation for the online application process due to a disability, please call 1-888-336-0660.

This position is hybrid with a requirement to be onsite four or more days per week.