Director of Engineering, Robotics

Ford-Motor-Company; Redford Charter Township (MI); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Ford-Motor-Company's robotics organization is seeking a Director of Engineering to drive the delivery engine. Reporting to the Technical Director of Robotics, you will own how work gets done—the teams, processes, and operational discipline that ship complex hardware-and-software systems on time and at quality.

This builder role will stand up and scale engineering teams, establish cadence and delivery practices, and coordinate execution across hardware, software, and product.

Qualifications

• Bachelors Degree in Engineering or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years of professional engineering experience.
• 5+ years leading and managing engineering teams.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end delivery of robotics programs — planning, timelines, milestones, and quality.
• Build, structure, and scale engineering teams to keep pace with rapid growth; own hiring, performance, and development.
• Install and run operational cadence: roadmaps, sprint/milestone tracking, and status reporting.
• Coordinate execution across hardware, software, product, QA, and deployment/field teams.
• Drive integration, test, reliability, and deployment discipline from lab to production.
• Manage capacity, resourcing, and budget against commitments.
• Surface risks early, remove blockers, and keep delivery predictable as the team scales.
• Partner with the Technical Director to translate technical and architectural direction into executable plans.
• Report delivery health and progress to the Technical Director and ATP leadership.

Skills

Leadership

Engineering management

Cross-functional collaboration

Delivery discipline

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Job description

We're growing fast and need a Director of Engineering to be the delivery engine of our robotics organization. Reporting directly to the Technical Director of Robotics — who owns technical and product direction and top-level architecture — you'll own how the work actually gets done: the teams, processes, and operational discipline that ship complex hardware-and-software systems on time and at quality.

This is a builder's role at a pivotal moment. You'll stand up and scale engineering teams, install the cadence and delivery practices that keep a fast-growing org predictable, and coordinate execution across hardware, software, and product. You'll work shoulder-to-shoulder with the Technical Director, translating strategy and architecture into concrete roadmaps and results. It's ideal for a strong technical leader who is energized by execution, team-building, and scale.

• Own end-to-end delivery of robotics programs — planning, timelines, milestones, and quality
• Build, structure, and scale engineering teams to keep pace with rapid growth; own hiring, performance, and development
• Install and run operational cadence: roadmaps, sprint/milestone tracking, and status reporting
• Coordinate execution across hardware, software, product, QA, and deployment/field teams
• Drive integration, test, reliability, and deployment discipline from lab to production
• Manage capacity, resourcing, and budget against commitments
• Surface risks early, remove blockers, and keep delivery predictable as the team scales
• Partner with the Technical Director to translate technical and architectural direction into executable plans
• Report delivery health and progress to the Technical Director and ATP leadership

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelors Degree in Engineering or equivalent experience
• 10+ years of professional engineering experience
• 5+ years leading and managing engineering teams

Preferred Qualifications

• Proven track record shipping complex robotics or hardware-plus-software systems to production or field
• Background in robotics or an adjacent domain (autonomy, mechatronics, embedded, controls, or systems engineering)
• Strong operational and program-management skills — you make delivery predictable
• Technically credible enough to guide architecture-level decisions, while choosing to focus on execution
• Excellent cross-functional communication and stakeholder management
• Bachelor's or advanced degree in a relevant engineering field, or equivalent experience
• Nice to have: startup/scale-up experience, manufacturing or production ramp, and field-deployment operations