Hardware Engineer

Ford; Dearborn (MI); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 193,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

Flexible family care days and parental

Vehicle discount program

Tuition assistance

Paid time off and holidays

Job summary

Ford is seeking an experienced Hardware Engineer to own signal integrity and hardware robustness for high‑speed, in‑vehicle networks. You will author Layer 1–2 specs, lead design reviews, run simulations, and validate through lab measurements across Ford’s network hardware team.

The role spans defining SI budgets, guiding layout, and collaborating with EMC, Vehicle Validation, and software teams. Senior, Lead, or Principal levels possible based on experience; hybrid work model offered.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or equivalent required.
• 3+ years electronic hardware design experience with high‑speed digital/mixed‑signal systems.
• 2+ years SI simulation or PCB design tools experience (Altium/Mentor/Cadence).
• Familiarity with CAN, LIN, SerDes, Ethernet automotive interfaces.
• Demonstrated lab experience with oscilloscopes, VNA, TDR and board rework.

Responsibilities

• Conduct ECU circuit design reviews to meet SI, EMC and automotive requirements.
• Run simulations and validate with lab measurements.
• Define SI budgets for board, cable, connector; account for jitter and EMI/EMC.
• Formulate board‑level layout and interconnect requirements.
• Create design verification test methods and perform tests to industry standards.
• Lead functional failure root‑cause analysis on prototypes and vehicles.
• Lead component qualification reviews for networking components.
• Collaborate with EMC, Electrical Distribution Systems and Vehicle Validation teams.
• Advise Product Development on feasibility, options and oversight for in‑vehicle networks.
• Coordinate with software/firmware teams during hardware bring‑up and testing.
• Engage silicon, cable and connector vendors to evaluate new tech.
• Contribute to industry standards efforts to reduce cost and improve testing.

Skills

High-speed hardware design

SI expertise

Lab testing & measurements

Automotive interfaces (CAN, LIN, Ser/​

DFMEA & Worst-Case Analysis

Mentoring / leadership

Design reviews & specs writing

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering

PhD + hardware/SI experience

Master’s degree + 7+ years hardware/SI

Tools

Altium Designer

Mentor Graphics

Cadence Allegro

HyperLynx

SIwave

Polar Instruments

Oscilloscopes / VNA / TDR

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.

In this position...

We are looking for an experienced Hardware Engineer to own signal integrity (SI) and hardware robustness for high-speed, in-vehicle communication links within Ford's network communications hardware team.

Our team is responsible for ISO Layer 1 and 2 of networking. We work on finding and developing the right networking technologies for Ford’s next-generation electrical architecture. This means introducing new solutions and tweaking existing ones to help keep overall system costs down while ensuring electrical robustness for automotive use.

In this role, you will author Layer 1–2 networking specs and design verification documents that are used across all Ford vehicle programs. You will also lead hardware design reviews, run simulations, do lab validation for network interfaces, and help guide our electrical architecture. Depending on your experience, this position could be filled at the Senior / Lead / Principal level.

Ideally, you have hands‑on experience building and testing high‑performance compute systems and high‑speed digital interfaces (like PCIe, USB, Ethernet, FPD-Link, etc.), plus a background in guiding or mentoring other engineers.

What you'll do...

• Conduct design reviews of ECU circuit designs to ensure they meet industry standards and automotive requirements for SI, EMC, and electrical robustness.

• Run simulations to catch potential issues early, and follow up with lab measurements to validate.

• Define SI budgets for different parts of the system (board, cable, connector, etc.), keeping jitter, noise, crosstalk, and EMI/EMC in mind.

• Formulate board‑level requirements for layout, interconnects, routing, and components.

• Create design verification test methods and run tests based on industry standards and internal requirements.

• Lead functional failure root‑cause analysis and corrective actions for prototypes and production vehicles.

• Lead component‑level qualification of networking components for use in Ford products by reviewing EMI/EMC, interoperability, and other conformance reports.

• Work closely with other Product Development teams (like EMC, Electrical Distribution Systems, and Vehicle Validation) to ensure SI is considered throughout the whole process.

• Provide technical guidance to Product Development teams on feasibility, design alternatives, and design oversight for in-vehicle network implementations.

• Collaborate with software and firmware teams during hardware bring‑up and testing.

• Build strong relationships with silicon, cable, and connector vendors to evaluate and introduce emerging technologies.

• Contribute to industry standards efforts to reduce component cost, improve test automation, and address common automotive challenges in collaboration with industry experts.

You'll have...

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a similar technical field.

• 3+ years of experience in electronic hardware design, mainly focusing on complex high‑speed digital and mixed‑signal designs.

• 2+ years working with SI simulation or PCB design tools (e.g., Altium Designer, Mentor Graphics, Cadence Allegro, HyperLynx, SIwave, Polar Instruments).

• 2+ years of hands‑on lab experience using equipment like oscilloscopes, Vector Network Analyzers (VNA), Time Domain Reflectometers (TDR), and doing circuit board rework.

• Familiarity with standard automotive communication interfaces (CAN, LIN, SerDes, Ethernet).

• A solid grasp of transmission line theory, S‑parameters, bit error rate (BER) testing, crosstalk, characteristic impedance, eye diagrams, and time‑domain analysis.

• Good understanding of EMC/EMI principles in automotive settings.

• Experience with high‑reliability electronics for high‑volume production, including using DFMEA and Worst‑Case Analysis (WCA).

Even better, you may have...

• PhD with 3+ years of relevant hardware/SI experience, or Master’s degree with 7+ years of relevant hardware/SI experience.

• 5+ years of experience with SI simulation and PCB design tools.

• Strong background in transmission line and electromagnetic theory.

• Specific automotive networking experience (e.g., 10BASE‑T1S, 100/1000BASE‑T1, Multi‑Gig T1, GMSL/FPD‑Link, CAN‑FD, LIN).

• Familiarity with how typical vehicle electrical architectures are built and the automotive development process.

• Experience with networking hardware architectures, topologies, and protocols.

• Experience with EMC/EMI standards and testing (like Ford FMC1278, ISO 7637, CISPR 25).

• Experience capturing and writing technical requirements and specifications.

• Comfort using vehicle diagnostic tools to troubleshoot network issues.

• Prior involvement with standards organizations like IEEE, SAE, ASA, or the OPEN Alliance.

• You’re comfortable taking ownership of loosely defined goals, asking the right questions to get clarity, and working well with others to get the job done.

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 a salary grade range of 7 – 8 and ranges from $99,600 - $192,900.

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.

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. #LI-Hybrid #LI-DP1