Exterior Structural Casting Technical Specialist

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

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

Paid parental leave

Vehicle discount program

Tuition assistance

Paid time off

Job summary

Ford Motor Company seeks a Technical Specialist for Exterior Structural Castings within Vehicle Hardware Engineering. You will own the technical content, strategy, and processes, leading all aspects of Ford’s global Castings product strategy from concept through launch and ongoing support.

You will mentor casting engineers, drive standardized tools and workflows, and collaborate with suppliers and manufacturing to ensure robust, manufacturable structures for future vehicles.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical or metallurgical engineering.
• 10 years automotive engineering and/or manufacturing experience with direct team leadership.
• 5+ years HPDC design and manufacturing experience including trimming, straightening, and quality checks.
• 5+ years experience with structural alloy casting and lightweight materials.
• 5+ years leveraging CAE to guide design and execution.
• 5+ years experience creating DFMEAs, PFMEAs, Control Plans, and Specifications.

Responsibilities

• Lead casting design, development, and implementation for Structural Systems Engineering (BIW, Frames/Subframes, Battery Structures).
• Lead and develop a team of casting engineers to advance HPDC and related casting tech across Ford & Lincoln lines.
• Manage the engineering team responsible for forming simulations to assess flow, fill, pressure and solidification, guiding design changes.
• Develop and manage Engineering Specifications, Design Rules, Engineering Requirements, Virtual Test Methods, and Modular Designs for high pressure die castings.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to design for large structural castings in BIW, frame/subframe, and battery applications.
• Guide development of efficient casting solutions that reduce assembly complexity and support manufacturing.
• Support actions addressing NVH, Durability, and Safety objectives with analysis teams.
• Assist in the creation of robust manufacturing processes ensuring part quality and performance.
• Work with external suppliers and Ford manufacturing to meet dimensional requirements of castings and final assembly.
• Sign off on designs before milestones and prior to production tool kickoff/start.
• Sign off on final parts/assemblies for builds, certification testing, and start-up.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Problem-solving

DMAIC

Education

Bachelor's degree in mechanical or metallurgical engineering

Master’s degree (preferred) in engineering

Tools

MAGMA Software

CAE

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.

Product Development uses design thinking & user experience methods to deliver breakthrough products and services that delight our customers. We bring innovative, exciting, and sustainable ideas to life.We have opportunities around the world for you to contribute to advancements in autonomy, electrification, smart mobility technologies, and more!

In this position...

A technical specialist role within Exterior Structural Castings, Vehicle Hardware Engineering, responsible for technical content, strategy, and processes. In this role, you will serve as the Technical Specialist for all casting-related matters ensuring robust design & delivery of components & vehicle systems.

This position will lead all technical aspects of Ford’s global Castings product strategy, including product concept development, business case approval, supplier and internal manufacturing partnerships, product development, verification & validation, launch/sign-off & ongoing support & quality assurance of products in the field. In addition, the Structural Casting technical specialist will develop & lead professional development of casting team members, oversee foundation document creation & enforcement of prevent recurrence, guiding development of Structural Casting standardized tools, methods & execution.

What you'll do...

• Lead casting design, development and implementation for Structural Systems Engineering (BIW, Frames / Subframes, Battery Structures)
• Lead and develop a team of casting engineers to expand usage of high/low pressure die casting, thixo-casting/thixo-molding, and rheocasting technology across Ford & Lincoln vehicle lines
• Manage engineering team responsible for the forming simulation of casted designs to assess design impact of flow, fill, pressure and temperature distribution, and solidification. Utilize the data from the simulations to guide design changes and to aid in tooling and process development.
• Lead the development and management of all Engineering Specifications, Design Rules, Engineering Requirements, Virtual Test Methods, 1st Pick List and Modular Designs needed to support the design of high pressure die castings for vehicle structures Identify, develop, and implement new technologies to improve the efficiency of structural castings for vehicle structures
• Work with a cross functional team including personnel from product development, manufacturing, packaging, attributes and suppliers to develop designs for large structural castings for BIW, frame/subframe and battery structure applications on future vehicles.
• Guide the develop casting solutions that are efficient to manufacture that incorporate the features and functions of multiple stamped parts and reduces the complexity of our assembly operations.
• Support the development of actions to address issues related to achieving Noise, Vibration, and Harshness, Durability, and Safety performance objectives. Work closely with the analysis teams for each of the attributes to develop efficient solutions to any problems identified.
• Support the creation of design solutions and aid in the development of the manufacturing process to ensure part quality and performance are meet.
• Work with external suppliers and the Ford manufacturing team to meet the dimensional requirements of the casting component and final assembly.
• Sign off on designs prior to milestone completion to support component and vehicle analysis, and prior to production tool kick off.
• Sign off on final parts and assemblies’ prior builds, certification testing, and production start-up.
• Support trouble shooting of prototype and production process with the supplier to address any part quality issues

You’ll have...

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical or metallurgical engineering discipline or a related field
• 10 years’ experience in automotive engineering and/or manufacturing (or like industry), including direct team leadership responsibility for the delivery of structural castings.
• 5+ years engineering experience with high pressure die casting design and manufacturing processes including the secondary operations associated with castings, including, but not limited to trimming, straightening, and quality checks.
• 5+ years engineering experience with alloys, especially those used for structural castings and advanced light weighting materials and associate joining technologies.
• 5+ years engineering experience leveraging CAE to guide efficient and robust design and system execution.
• 5+ years engineering experience in the creation and application of DFMEAs, PFMEAs, Control Plans, Standards, Requirements & Specifications.

Even better, if you have …

Preferred

• Master’s degree in engineering discipline
• Strong communication skills, both written and oral.
• 8D and 5Why corrective action and problem-solving skills
• DMAIC Project Methodology experience
• Familiar with application of MAGMA Software
• Microsoft Office experience

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
• 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
• Generous vacation time, sick/personal time, and paid holidays, including between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day

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, 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 with a requirement to be onsite four or more days per week.