Lead Exterior Lighting Engineer: From Concept to Production

Ford; Dearborn (MI); On-site; USD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Ford Exterior Lighting Engineer role is for an experienced design & release engineer who can independently lead exterior lighting systems from concept to production launch. The position requires deep knowledge of lamp design, CAD, requirements cascade, supplier execution, validation planning, tooling readiness, and regulatory compliance.

The ideal candidate will drive cross-functional execution with suppliers, optics, software, electrical, purchasing, manufacturing, and quality teams while

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science in Mechanical, Electrical, or related field
• 5+ years of professional automotive exterior lighting engineering experience with production-intent lamp systems
• Demonstrated CAD design capability for preliminary design work
• Experience leading exterior lighting development across key program milestones
• Experience with DFMEA, DVP&R, design reviews, root cause analysis, corrective actions, and engineering change management
• Ability to lead suppliers and cross-functional teams with clear communication, technical ownership, and timing discipline

Responsibilities

• Generate and execute technical solutions for Exterior Lighting components to support new vehicle programs
• Lead supplier technical execution, including design reviews, CAD/data reviews, tooling readiness, issue resolution, cost/weight tradeoffs, and launch support
• Balance attributes such as cost, weight, complexity, and timing
• Production release of Exterior Lighting systems, subsystems, components, and features
• Drive validation readiness and evidence of compliance through DFMEA, DVP&R, inspection/testing review, functional assessments, and corrective action closure
• Communicate information to and from internal and external organizations
• Lead team meetings (suppliers, designers, engineers, manufacturing, supplier quality, etc.)
• Travel as required (including international)

Skills

Exterior lighting engineering

CAD design

Cross-functional leadership

Technical ownership

Data-driven decisions

Education

BS in Mechanical/Electrical Engineering

MS in Engineering (preferred)

Tools

CATIA

Teamcenter/TCE

3DX

WERS

FEDEBOM

Job description

Ford Exterior Lighting Engineer role is for an experienced design & release engineer who can independently lead exterior lighting systems from concept to production launch. The position requires deep knowledge of lamp design, CAD, requirements cascade, supplier execution, validation planning, tooling readiness, and regulatory compliance.

The ideal candidate will drive cross-functional execution with suppliers, optics, software, electrical, purchasing, manufacturing, and quality teams while