Director, Vehicle Cloud and Mobility (VC&M) – Telemetry and Data Platform

Ford Motor Company; Dearborn (MI); Hybrid; USD 142,000 - 268,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

Vehicle discount program

Tuition assistance

Paid time off and holidays

Job summary

Ford Motor Company is seeking a Director for Vehicle Cloud and Mobility Telemetry and Data Platform. You will lead data platform engineers, set strategy, own critical components, and ensure availability, performance, and a superior customer experience for connected vehicles.

The role combines technical leadership with global delivery, requiring collaboration across cloud, app, infotainment and vehicle systems chapters. Hybrid work and travel may apply.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electronics, Computer Science or Software Engineering or related field.
• 15 years working in an associated technical field.
• Experience designing, deploying, and supporting cloud-based solutions at scale.
• Strong API, integration and data exchange knowledge; cloud security principles.
• Experience leading global engineering teams and driving multi-year transformation.

Responsibilities

• Provide Engineering Leadership, Delivery Excellence & Operational Acumen.
• Define vision, strategy and KPIs for VC&M Data Engineering function.
• Drive delivery discipline, best practices and on-time project execution.
• Recruit, develop and direct a diverse multi-disciplined team.
• Own data platform reliability, scalability and performance for global experiences.
• Collaborate with Product, Security, Architecture and Operations teams.

Skills

Platform leadership

Cloud platforms

Java

Spring Boot

Docker

GCP

Jira

Agile methodologies

Data engineering

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Electronics, Computer Science or Software Engineering

Tools

Java

Spring Boot

Docker

GCP

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.

Ford’s Electric Vehicles, Digital and Design (EVDD) team is charged with delivering the company’s vision of a fully electric transportation future. EVDD is customer-obsessed, entrepreneurial, and data-driven and is dedicated to delivering industry-leading customer experience for electric vehicle buyers and owners. You’ll join an agile team of doers pioneering our EV future by working collaboratively, staying focused on only what matters, and delivering excellence day in and day out. Join us to make positive change by helping build a better world where every person is free to move and pursue their dreams.

In this position

The Director, Vehicle Cloud and Mobility (VC&M) – Telemetry and Data Platform, will be responsible for leading a diverse and highly skilled team(s) of data platform and product engineers in driving strategy and development of future Vehicle Cloud and Mobility – Telemetry and Data Platforms and Products. This position will also own development, maintenance, and operational excellence of the existing generations of multiple highly critical data platform components that power Ford’s connected vehicle capabilities and cloud eco systems, including ensuring they meet the highest standards of availability, performance, and customer experience.

This is a technical leadership position that has accountability for scoping and delivery of projects, strategies and objectives on time, and to plan. This global leadership position is an exciting and rapidly evolving space that requires adaptability and attention to detail.

This position will report to the Head of VC&M Data Engineering and partner with other development leaders across cloud platform and operations, app, infotainment, and other vehicle systems.

The candidate for this role must be able to adapt in a rapidly changing environment and drive consistency of purpose for a complex organization. Prior experience in leading cross functional teams in multifaceted technical, legal, and regulatory constrained environments is essential. The candidate will have demonstrated strong collaboration in delivering enterprise level initiatives. Prior experience in similar automotive delivery roles, or in associated Industries is an advantage.

This position requires a leader who can operate confidently in both steady-state operational environments and ambiguous transformation spaces, balancing near-term delivery with long-term modernization.

Key Traits and Leadership Attributes

• Demonstrated experience writing, deploying, and supporting platform-based software in production using modern technologies.
• Working knowledge of VC&M preferred tech stack (Java, Spring Boot, Docker, GCP).
• Familiarity with the Cloud Vehicle Cloud functions, and Platform operations at scale.
• Ability to make informed decisions across both deep technical and high-level program contexts.
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity and leading teams through complex, multi-year transformation initiatives.
• Strong communicator who can translate technical concepts for diverse audiences and influence across organizational boundaries.
• Data-driven mindset with the ability to act decisively when data is incomplete.
• Passion for platform optimization, architectural improvement, and engineering excellence.
• Strong collaboration skills and the ability to build trust across product, engineering, and operations teams.
• Proven people leadership experience in mission-critical delivery environments, balancing empathy with clear direction.
• Knowledge of Agile methodologies and tools (e.g., Jira).

Team Structure

• Multiple Managers and Senior Engineering direct reports
• Upwards of 100 indirect independent contributor's agency staff across global teams

Travel Requirements

Some travel may be required to collaborate with organizational leadership and global engineering teams.

What You’ll Do

• Engineering Leadership, Delivery Excellence & Operational Acumen
• Re-define a vision, strategy and set of KPIs for this function – specification, development, deployment, quality, and operations.
• Drive delivery discipline and best practices through the organization.
• Ensure projects and upgrades are delivered robustly and on time.
• Recruit, assign, develop and direct a diverse multi-disciplined skill team.
• Provide end-to-end ownership of data platform, product and services, ensuring reliability, scalability, and performance for global connected vehicle experiences.
• Lead the development, maintenance, and support of mission-critical platform components.
• Drive operational excellence through data-driven insights, real-world performance metrics, and continuous improvement practices.
• Ensure compliance with security, availability, and performance standards across all services under purview.
• Partner with Product, Security, Architecture, and Operations teams to maintain a stable, “always-on” customer experience.
• Serve as one of the primary technical and organizational change agent for the transformation, aligning engineering, product, and enterprise stakeholders.
• Drive long-term platform strategy, operational maturity, and continuous optimization in the modernized cloud environment.

You’ll have

Bachelor’s degree in Electronics, Computer Science or Software Engineering or related field or equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.

Technical Competencies

• 15 years working in an associated technical field.

5+ years of experience in the following areas

• Experience designing, deploying, and supporting cloud-based solutions at scale
• Expert in data platforms and pipelines, including the associated data privacy and security.
• Strong understanding of APIs, integration patterns, and data exchange methods
• Knowledge of performance modeling, protocols, and cloud security principles
• Experience supporting “always-on” production systems
• Experience with multiple cloud providers, such as Google, Azure and AWS, and on-prem.
• Experience with remote diagnostics for devices, leading into prognostics.

Leadership Competencies

• 5+ years experience leading and transforming a large multi-disciplined organization focused on delivery.
• 5+ years' experience leading teams across all areas of a device and user cloud, supporting multiple world-wide markets.

Even better, you may have

• Master’s Degree
• Excellent communication skills both up and down the organization to achieve the desired results.
• Critical Thinking: Demonstrated examples of applying systemic thinking, logic, and reasoning skills to be able to identify opportunities, alternative solutions, or approaches to problems.
• Organizational skill: Strong collaboration skills, clear and concise direction coupled with an ability to move within the organization to complete work and balance tradeoffs.
• Strategic thinking: Demonstrated examples of driving strategy from concept through to Production.
• Experience leading global engineering teams and collaborating across product organizations.
• Ability to manage highly technical staff and partner with cross-functional technical teams.
• Skilled at leading through organizational change and ambiguity.
• Deep understanding of infrastructure architecture, cloud technologies, and 24x7 operational models
• Strong business acumen related to connected vehicle systems, IT operations, and customer experience.
• Excellent relationship-building and networking skills.
• Proven ability to drive process discipline and continuous improvement in a constructive manner

You may not check every box, or your experience may look a little different from what we've outlined,

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 5 and ranges from $141,700-$268,300.

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.

Benefits

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.