Director, Cloud & AI Infrastructure Operations

Ford Model e U.S.; United States; Hybrid; USD 142,000 - 282,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

Tuition assistance

Paid time off

Job summary

Ford Credit seeks a senior leader to drive the reliability, security, and cost-efficiency of its cloud and AI infrastructure. You will bridge cloud engineering, platform operations, cybersecurity, and AI technologies, partnering with application teams and enterprise architects across a hybrid environment (GCP, Kubernetes/OpenShift, on-prem).

You will shape governance, cost optimization, and AI-enablement strategies while guiding cross-functional teams.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, IT, Engineering, or related field.
• 10+ years of experience in cloud infrastructure/platform engineering, with substantial hands-on GCP experience.
• Proven experience on container platforms like Kubernetes and OpenShift.
• Designing secure cloud architectures (GCP networking, IAM, security controls).
• Experience with HA/DR in hybrid environments (cloud/on-prem).
• Knowledge of AI/ML infrastructure concepts (LLMs, RAG, MCP, Agentic AI).
• Familiarity with AI development tools and modern developer workflows.
• Experience with Google AI/ML services (Gemini, Vertex AI, Feature Store).
• Understanding AI security considerations (prompt injection, data leakage).
• Strong cross-functional collaboration and leadership skills.

Responsibilities

• Own operational health, security posture, and cost efficiency of the hybrid cloud estate.
• Lead technical teams and translate cloud/AI capabilities into production-ready solutions.
• Partner with application, security, and architecture teams to drive governance and cost control.
• Champion safe adoption of AI infrastructure and AI-enabled tools in operations.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

People management

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science/IT/Engineering

Tools

Google Cloud Platform

Kubernetes

OpenShift

Security scanning tools

Job description

We made history and now we work to transform the future – for our customers, our communities and our families. You'll see your work on the road every day, helping people move freely and pursue their dreams. At Ford, you can build more than vehicles. Come build what matters.

The Ford Motor Credit Company team helps put people behind the wheels of great Ford and Lincoln vehicles. By partnering with dealerships, we provide financing, personalized service and professional expertise to thousands of dealers and millions of customers in over one hundred countries around the world.

In this position...

The Director, Cloud & AI Infrastructure Operations will be a senior technical leader responsible for the reliability, security, and cost-efficiency of Ford Credit's cloud and container-based application landscape, with a growing focus on AI infrastructure and secure AI enablement. This individual will operate at the intersection of cloud engineering, platform operations, cybersecurity, and emerging AI technologies — partnering closely with application teams, enterprise architecture, cloud platform teams, security engineering, and external technology partners.

Ford Credit's technology estate is increasingly hybrid — spanning Google Cloud Platform, containerized platforms (Kubernetes/OpenShift), traditional Ford data centers, and a rapidly growing footprint of AI-driven capabilities (LLMs, RAG pipelines, agentic automation). This Director will own the operational health, security posture, and cost efficiency of that hybrid estate, while also building Ford Credit's capability to safely and effectively adopt AI infrastructure and AI-assisted engineering tools. The role is both a hands‑on technical leadership position and a strategic partner to the VP, translating emerging cloud/AI capabilities into governed, production‑ready, cost‑conscious solutions.

You'll have...

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent experience).
• Significant experience (typically 10+ years) in cloud infrastructure/platform engineering, with substantial hands-on experience on Google Cloud Platform.
• Proven experience operating and supporting applications on container platforms such as Kubernetes and/or OpenShift.
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing secure cloud architectures, including GCP networking, IAM, and security controls.
• Experience designing and implementing HA/DR solutions across hybrid environments (cloud and on-premises data centers).
• Working knowledge of AI/ML infrastructure concepts (LLM, RAG, MCP, Agentic AI) and their practical application to IT operations and automation.
• Familiarity with AI-powered development tools (e.g., Cursor, Claude Code) and modern developer workflows.
• Working knowledge of Google AI/ML platform services (Gemini Enterprise, Vertex AI Search, Feature Store, AI Runtime, etc.).
• Understanding of security considerations unique to AI systems and AI agents (e.g., prompt injection, data leakage, model/agent access control).
• Working knowledge of security scanning tools/practices across SAST, SCA, IaC, DAST, and API security.
• Strong track record of cross-functional collaboration with internal and external stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to build business cases and present cost/benefit metrics to senior leadership.
• Strong leadership, communication, and people‑management skills; experience leading technical teams.

Even better, you may have

• Google Cloud certifications (e.g., Professional Cloud Architect, Professional Cloud Security Engineer).
• Kubernetes/OpenShift certifications (e.g., CKA, CKAD, Red Hat OpenShift certifications).
• Experience in financial services or a highly regulated industry.
• Experience with FinOps/cost optimization practices for cloud and AI workloads.
• Exposure to DevSecOps pipelines and integrating security scanning into CI/CD.

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.

*The compensation for this position depends on the location of hire. The first salary range listed applies to most U.S. locations, while the second, higher range applies exclusively to candidates hired in California.

This position is leadership level 5 and ranges from $141,700-$268,300.

This position is a leadership level 5 and ranges from $148,800-$281,700.

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.

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.