Senior Chassis Design Engineer

Ford; Long Beach (CA); Hybrid; USD 135,000 - 227,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

Family care benefits

Vehicle discount program

Tuition assistance

Employee resource groups

Paid time off

Job summary

Ford is seeking a Senior Chassis Engineer to drive design, development, and testing of chassis components and subsystems including brakes, steering, wheels, tires, and suspension. You will bridge first-principles engineering with advanced manufacturing to optimize driving dynamics, mass, cost, and efficiency across concept development, validation, and full-vehicle testing.

You will lead cross-functional teams through prototyping, testing, data analysis, and design refinement to deliver

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or related.
• 3+ years automotive engineering experience (EV platforms preferred).
• Solid foundation in statics, dynamics, materials, and thermal principles.
• Proficiency in 3D CAD modeling (3DEXPERIENCE preferred).
• Strong written and verbal communication with cross-functional partners.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop chassis concepts (brakes, steering, suspension, wheels, tires).
• Lead validation testing at components, sub-systems, and full-vehicle level.
• Analyze test data, troubleshoot root causes, and iterate designs.

Skills

Chassis design

System engineering

Vehicle dynamics

CAD modeling

Cross-functional collaboration

First-principles analysis

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

3DEXPERIENCE

JIRA

Confluence

Job description

As a Senior Chassis Engineer, you will drive the design, development, and execution of novel chassis components and sub-systems—including brakes, steering, wheels, tires, and suspension platforms. You will bridge first-principles engineering with advanced manufacturing techniques to optimize driving dynamics, efficiency, structural mass, and cost. Working across concept development, physical/virtual validation, and full-vehicle testing, you will play a central role in delivering best-in-class vehicle attributes for our next-generation vehicle portfolio.

What you'll do.

Advanced Concept Design &System Engineering

• Design and develop novel chassis concepts (brakes, steering, suspension, wheels, and tires) that balance driving dynamics, vehicle mass, cost, efficiency, manufacturability, and serviceability.
• Challenge legacy design requirements and define data-driven, first-principles specifications for system sizing, functional performance, and safety attributes.
• Align system performance targets with regulatory standards, customer requirements, and vehicle dynamics.
• Evaluate and validate the manufacturing, assembly, and service feasibility of proposed designs in close collaboration with manufacturing, service, and launch teams.
• Utilize advanced engineering analysis tools to simulate, stress-test, and iterate design proposals prior to physical build.
• Lead the design, build, and validation testing at the components, sub-systems, and full-vehicle level.
• Conduct both subjective and objective evaluations of braking, steering, ride, and handling attributes across production vehicles, prototype test mules, and driver-in-the-loop simulators.
• Analyze test data to troubleshoot root causes, iterate designs, and refine vehicle performance attributes.

Requirements Definition & Attribute Optimization

• Challenge legacy design requirements and define data-driven, first-principles specifications for system sizing, functional performance, and safety attributes.
• Align system performance targets with regulatory standards, customer requirements, and vehicle dynamics.

Feasibility, Analysis & Cross-Functional Validation

• Evaluate and validate the manufacturing, assembly, and service feasibility of proposed designs in close collaboration with manufacturing, service, and launch teams.
• Utilize advanced engineering analysis tools to simulate, stress-test, and iterate design proposals prior to physical build.

Prototyping, Testing & Vehicle Dynamics Evaluation

• Lead the design, build, and validation testing at the components, sub-systems, and full-vehicle level.
• Conduct both subjective and objective evaluations of braking, steering, ride, and handling attributes across production vehicles, prototype test mules, and driver-in-the-loop simulators.
• Analyze test data to troubleshoot root causes, iterate designs, and refine vehicle performance attributes.

You'll have.

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Automotive Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• Experience: 3+ years of automotive engineering experience (or related mobility sector), with exposure to electric vehicle (EV) platforms preferred.
• Technical Mastery: Solid foundation in core engineering principles (statics, dynamics, materials, thermal) and their practical application to complex vehicle systems and manufacturing processes.
• CAD Capability: Strong proficiency in 3D CAD modeling (3DEXPERIENCE preferred).
• Communication & Collaboration: Excellent written and verbal technical communication skills, with a track record of effective cross-functional partnership.

Even better, you may have.

• Electromechanical Design: Experience designing, prototyping, and validating electromechanical chassis systems.
• Full Lifecycle Experience: Demonstrated history of bringing chassis systems from initial concept through design freeze, validation, and full-volume production delivery.
• Vehicle Dynamics Expertise: Deep knowledge of chassis architectures, kinematics, elastokinematics, and vehicle dynamics fundamentals.
• Design for Manufacturing & GD&T: Advanced understanding of manufacturing and assembly processes (castings, forgings, stampings, extrusions) and technical drawing practices (GD&T per ASME standards).
• Tools & Process: Proficiency with agile project tracking and technical documentation tools (e.g., Atlassian JIRA, Confluence).

Benefits.

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 8 and ranges from $135,420-226,980.

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. Candidates who are in commuting distance to a Ford hub location may be required to be onsite four or more days per week.