Program / Site Leader

Ford Motor Company; Dearborn (MI); On-site; USD 115,500 - 218,100; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Parental leave

Tuition assistance

Vehicle discount

Paid time off

Holiday schedule

Job summary

Ford Motor Company in Michigan seeks a Manufacturing Program Supervisor to lead the installation, commissioning, qualification, and ramp-up of battery cell manufacturing equipment. You will own the full lifecycle from tooling installation through stable, high-volume production in a high-demand automotive environment.

The ideal candidate has 5+ years in manufacturing engineering or industrialization, with proven leadership in complex automated lines, FAT/SAT/IQ/OQ/PQ and production validation.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering and 5+ years in manufacturing engineering or industrialization.
• Experience leading equipment installation, commissioning, and qualification for complex lines.
• Knowledge of FAT, SAT, IQ/OQ/PQ and production validation.

Responsibilities

• Lead site activities for installation, commissioning, qualification, and handover.
• Own commissioning execution, including dry runs, safety validation, and final testing.
• Drive qualification processes to ensure capability, throughput, and quality pre-production.
• Lead ramp-up planning to achieve rate, yield, and OEE targets.
• Oversee re-tooling, upgrades, and capacity expansion initiatives.
• Coordinate cross-functional readiness across engineering, operations, maintenance, quality, facilities, and EHS.
• Manage equipment vendors and installation contractors through install and post-launch stabilization.
• Track ramp KPIs: throughput, yield, scrap, uptime, cycle time, MTBF/MTTR.
• Identify technical risks and implement mitigation to protect launch timing.
• Establish documentation standards and change management processes.
• Provide program updates on schedule, budget, risks, and ramp performance.

Skills

Equipment installation

Commissioning

Qualification (IQ/OQ/PQ)

Ramp-up management

Project management

Cross-functional leadership

Automation systems

Process control

Safety standards

Vendor management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Job description

We are seeking a results-driven Manufacturing Program Supervisor to lead the installation, commissioning, qualification, production ramp-up of battery cell manufacturing equipment at Marshall, Michigan. This role is highly execution-focused and will own the full lifecycle of manufacturing equipment deployment—from tooling installation through stable, high-volume production.

The ideal candidate brings deep experience in equipment installation, commissioning, qualification, and production ramp up within battery, automotive, or other high-volume manufacturing environments. This leader will ensure equipment readiness, process capability, and operational stability while meeting safety, quality, cost, and schedule targets.

What you’ll do

• Lead all site activities related to equipment installation, commissioning, qualification and handover to operation team.
• Own commissioning execution, including dry runs, safety validation, and final acceptance testing.
• Drive equipment qualification processes, ensuring capability, throughput, yield, and quality targets are achieved before production release.
• Lead production ramp-up planning and execution, establishing structured ramp methodologies to achieve rate, yield, and OEE targets.
• Oversee equipment re-tooling, upgrades, and optimization initiatives to support product changes, capacity increases, or performance improvements.
• Coordinate cross-functional readiness across engineering, operations, maintenance, quality, facilities, and EHS to ensure seamless start-of-production.
• Manage equipment vendors and installation contractors through installation, commissioning, and post-launch stabilization.
• Track and manage key ramp KPIs including throughput, yield, scrap, uptime, cycle time, and MTBF/MTTR.
• Identify technical risks early and implement mitigation plans to protect launch timing and performance targets.
• Establish documentation standards, change management processes, and lessons learned to support future scalable manufacturing programs.
• Provide regular program updates on schedule, budget, risks, and ramp performance to senior leadership.

You’ll have

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Manufacturing, Chemical, or related field); advanced degree preferred.
• 5+ years of experience in manufacturing engineering, equipment launch, or industrialization in high-volume production environments.
• Proven experience leading equipment installation, commissioning, and qualification for complex automated manufacturing lines.
• Strong understanding of equipment acceptance processes including FAT, SAT, IQ/OQ/PQ, and production validation methodologies.
• Demonstrated success driving structured production ramp-up and achieving performance stabilization.
• Experience managing equipment re-tooling, line modifications, and capacity expansion projects.
• Strong working knowledge of automation systems, process control, and industrial safety standards.
• Ability to lead cross-functional teams and external vendors in high-pressure launch environments.
• Strong project management skills with experience managing capital budgets and timelines.
• Willingness to travel as required to support suppliers and on-site launch activities.
• Prefer direct experience in battery cell manufacturing equipment and process scale-up.

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:

Benefits

• Immediate medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage
• Flexible family care days, paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, subsidised 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 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.

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.