Senior Hardware Engineer, Automotive High‑Speed SI

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

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.