Lead Platform Engineer, Agentic Issue Resolution (AIR)

Ford; Redford Charter Township (MI); Hybrid; USD 116,000 - 218,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision insurance

Parental leave

Vehicle discount program

Job summary

Ford Motor Company is seeking a leadership‑level Software Platform Architect to design and lead the AIR platform, an AI-driven investigation system for manufacturing. You will guide architects and engineers across agent workflows, tool integration, and knowledge graphs, ensuring secure, auditable operations.

You will collaborate with MLOps to measure agent behavior, set production standards, and deliver reusable, scalable solutions for plant optimization. Hybrid onsite work in the US is required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 7+ years building production software platforms or distributed systems, including technical leadership.
• Hands‑on experience building applications on large language models: agent workflows, orchestration, retrieval, and tool integration.
• Strong API and service design, testing, and maintainable code in Python, TypeScript, Go, or Java.
• Experience designing secure systems with authorization, audit logging, and operational controls.

Responsibilities

• Design the AIR Platform architecture across UX, workflow orchestration, agents, tools, knowledge, evaluation and feedback.
• Build reusable components for issue intake, investigation planning, evidence retrieval, analysis, recommendations and follow‑up.
• Set how agents call tools and plant systems through approved interfaces.
• Lead the AI agent and evaluation engineers, run design reviews, and coach data scientists.
• Partner with MLOps to measure agent behavior before release and monitor after.

Skills

Distributed systems

AI/ML platforms

APIs & microservices

Leadership & coaching

Security & auditing

Python/TypeScript/Go/Java

Clear communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS or related field

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.

Shape the Future of Manufacturing with ATP

At Ford, we aren’t just building vehicles – we are redefining how the world moves. Within the Advanced Industrial Technology and Platforms (ATP) organization, we are the architects of Ford’s next industrial revolution.

Our mission is clear: we build and scale industrial platforms, technologies, and capabilities that unlock Ford Firsts to drive sustained competitive advantage in manufacturing. Driven by our vision to ‘build once, scale everywhere,’ we bridge the gap between cutting‑edge technology and global physical deployment.

Our guiding mantra is simple yet relentless: Scale what matters, win what’s next.

If you are a high‑tech builder, thinker, or innovator who thrives at the intersection of software, hardware, and massive scale, ATP is where you belong. Join us, and write the next chapter of industrial history.

In this position...

Plant teams lose hours each shift piecing together what went wrong: pulling data from separate systems, chasing history, and rebuilding context before they can fix anything. That groundwork is the job of AIR (Agentic Issue Resolution), ATP's AI system that helps plant teams investigate and fix production issues. AI agents take an issue, gather approved evidence from plant systems, connect it to what the plant already knows, and recommend a fix that a person reviews and approves. Each confirmed fix is saved so the next plant can reuse it.

Why it's important...

• AIR runs multiple investigation workflows on shared, reusable components.
• Investigations use authorized evidence and produce traceable recommendations a person can review.
• Plant teams spend less time rebuilding issue history and more time fixing problems.
• A fix confirmed at one plant is reused at the next without rework.
• The platform meets agreed security, reliability, and production‑readiness standards.

What you'll do...

Design the AIR Platform

• Define the architecture across user experience, workflow orchestration, agents, tools, knowledge, evaluation, and feedback.
• Build reusable components for issue intake, investigation planning, evidence retrieval, analysis, recommendations, and follow‑up.
• Set how agents call tools and plant systems through approved, permissioned interfaces.

Make Every Investigation Evidence‑First

• Retrieve authorized sources before drawing conclusions, separate evidence from inference, and show the source behind every claim.
• Work with plant experts to turn how they solve problems into modular, measurable workflows.
• Capture each validated fix as a reusable record the next plant can apply.

Build It to Run in a Plant

• Define APIs and data contracts with CoreMesh (our manufacturing knowledge graph), FPS+ (the digital version of the Ford Production System), and InZone (the mobile app supervisors use to run a shift).
• Build in identity, permissions, audit logging, human approval steps, and clear escalation when the system is unsure.
• Set standards for testing, versioning, release, rollback, monitoring, and production support.

Lead the Engineering

• Lead the AI agent and evaluation engineers on the AIR team, run design reviews, and coach the data scientists building agents.
• Partner with MLOps and evaluation engineers to measure agent behavior before release and monitor it after.

You’ll have...

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 7+ years building production software platforms or distributed systems, including technical leadership.
• Hands‑on experience building applications on large language models: agent workflows, orchestration, retrieval, and tool integration.
• Strong API and service design, testing, and maintainable code in Python, TypeScript, Go, or Java.
• Experience designing secure systems with authorization, audit logging, and operational controls.
• Clear communication with engineering, data, security, and plant teams.

Even better, you may have...

• Manufacturing, quality, maintenance, or industrial operations experience.
• Knowledge graphs, ontologies, semantic search, or case‑based reasoning.
• Event‑driven systems, workflow engines, and production observability.
• Human‑in‑the‑loop design for operational decisions.
• Google Cloud Platform experience.

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 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.