Business Program Manager

Ford Motor Company; Detroit (MI); Hybrid; USD 116,000 - 218,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

Paid time off and holidays

Hybrid work model

Tuition assistance

Employee resource groups

Job summary

Ford Pro is seeking a Program Manager to orchestrate multi‑stream initiatives across vehicle platforms, aligning cross‑functional teams and executive governance. You will translate strategy into executable plans, manage dependencies and risks, and drive accountability with clear communication to senior leadership.

The role emphasizes business judgment, influence, and execution leadership over pure technical depth, with a hybrid work model and opportunities to shape enterprise programs at Ford.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Management, Economics, or related field.
• 6+ years of experience leading cross-functional programs with competing priorities.
• 3+ years operating autonomously in ambiguous environments with sound judgment.
• Ability to translate strategy into execution plans and define success metrics.
• Experience establishing dashboards to drive decisions and report progress to senior leaders.
• Strong executive communication and stakeholder management abilities.

Responsibilities

• Own the system, not just the plan, aligning scope, dependencies, risks, and decisions.
• Lead executive governance forums and frame trade-offs for timely decisions.
• Influence across stakeholders and keep teams aligned during changing priorities.
• Identify systemic risks early and drive mitigation balancing speed, quality, and impact.
• Model leadership behaviors and maintain accountability, transparency, and follow-through.

Skills

Cross-functional leadership

Executive communication

Stakeholder management

Risk management

Ambiguity navigation

Execution leadership

Business acumen

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Management, Economics, or related field

Tools

Dashboards for decisions

Job description

At Ford Pro, we transform our customer experiences in and around the vehicle by bringing together hardware, software, and services to foster simple, transparent, and ongoing digital relationships among our customers, their vehicles, and Ford.

We are scaling our Business Operations team’s global capabilities to support a growing portfolio of programs across multiple vehicle platforms. We are actively seeking a Program Manager to join our dynamic team - someone who brings a meticulous approach to their work and consistently thrives within fast-paced, evolving environments.

The ideal candidate will be a confident collaborator, adept at uniting and inspiring diverse cross-functional teams to achieve shared objectives. This role demands a proactive problem-solver with a knack for proposing creative and innovative solutions that drive significant improvements in operational efficiency and foster seamless alignment across various teams. If you are passionate about orchestrating complex initiatives, optimizing processes, and building strong collaborative partnerships, we invite you to apply.

What You’ll Do…

• Own the system, not just the plan - Serve as the single source of truth across scope, dependencies, risks, and decisions. Translate strategic intent into executable plans and ensure teams stay aligned as conditions change.
• Lead executive-level governance and decision-making - Design and run governance forums that drive clarity, accountability, and timely decisions. Frame trade-offs, elevate risks with context, and guide leaders toward resolution.
• Influence without authority - Build credibility across stakeholders. Resolve conflict, align incentives, and keep teams moving forward even when priorities compete.
• Anticipate and manage risk proactively - Identify systemic risks early, not just delivery issues. Drive mitigation plans that balance speed, quality, and business impact.
• Model strong program leadership behaviors - Demonstrate clear thinking, decisive action, and calm execution under pressure. Set the tone for accountability, transparency, and follow-through.

You'll have...

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Management, Economics, or a related field, or equivalent demonstrated business operations experience (e.g., PMO, strategy, operations, portfolio management).
• 6+ years of experience leading cross-functional programs with competing priorities.
• 3+ years operating autonomously in ambiguous, unstructured environments, where success required judgment, prioritization, and trade-off decisions, not just execution against a defined backlog.
• Demonstrated business acumen, translating strategy into execution plans, defining success metrics, and managing outcomes against business objectives.
• Experience establishing and using dashboards to drive decisions, surface risk, and communicate progress to senior leaders.
• Strong executive communication skills, having the ability to synthesize complex information, frame decisions, and influence without authority.
• Proven stakeholder management and relationship-building skills, with the ability to align teams with conflicting incentives and perspectives.
• Confidence leading through ambiguity, balancing structure with adaptability, and making progress without perfect information.
• Emotional intelligence and sound judgment, the ability to navigate tension, challenge constructively, and maintain trust across teams.

Note: This role is not a technical program manager position. While technical fluency is valuable, success in this role depends on business judgment, influence, and execution leadership.

Even Better, You May Have

• Experience working within a PMO, Portfolio Management, or Operations, including governance design, standards, metrics, or operating cadences.
• Experience leading multi-workstream programs where success depended on coordination, sequencing, and executive alignment rather than technical depth.
• Exposure to financial planning, capacity management, or investment trade-off discussions.
• Beyond just leading projects, experience specifically contributing to or managing PMO functions (e.g., governance, standards, metrics, tool administration).
• Experience leading larger, interconnected programs composed of multiple projects, demonstrating a higher level of strategic oversight and coordination.
• Experience in developing and implementing enterprise-wide risk management frameworks, performing quantitative risk analysis, and facilitating risk mitigation strategies across multiple projects

You may not check every box, or your experience may look a little different from what we've outlined, but if you think you can bring value to Ford Motor Company, we encourage you to apply!

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 leadership level 6 and ranges from $115,500-$218,100.

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.

For more information on salary and benefits, click here: https://fordcareers.co/LL6

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. Candidates who are in commuting distance to a Ford hub location may be required to be onsite four or more days per week.