Senior Yocto & Embedded Linux Build Architect

Ford; Palo Alto, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 139,000 - 233,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

Parental leave and back-up child care

Vehicle discount program

Tuition assistance

Paid time off and holidays

Employee resource groups

Job summary

Ford is seeking an experienced embedded build systems engineer to design, implement and optimize Yocto/OpenEmbedded environments for automotive platforms. The role focuses on layers, recipes, BSPs, and toolchain setups across multiple architectures.

You will drive secure, reproducible builds and collaborate with stakeholders to meet quality and delivery goals. Hybrid work arrangement and extensive benefits are offered.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, STEM, or equivalent professional experience.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience with Yocto Project and OpenEmbedded build systems.
• Strong experience developing and maintaining layers, recipes, machine files, distro configurations, and image builds for Linux-based embedded systems.
• Expert-level understanding of Git and version control strategies, including branching, release management, and layered software integration.
• Deep knowledge of Linux internals, cross-compilation, toolchains, and embedded software packaging workflows.
• Experience with C/C++ development and toolchain customization for embedded systems.
• Scripting experience in Python and Bash.
• Experience with containerization technologies and tools such as Docker, Podman, and Buildah.
• Strong understanding of build security practices, artifact signing, reproducibility, and vulnerability scanning for embedded systems.
• Experience with build performance optimization, observability, and metrics collection for large-scale Yocto environments.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain Yocto/OpenEmbedded build systems for automotive and embedded Linux platforms.
• Create and optimize layer stacks, recipes, machine configurations, distro policies, and image definitions for production targets.
• Develop and maintain BSP integrations, SDK generation, and cross-toolchain setups for multiple architectures.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to translate requirements into scalable embedded build system improvements.
• Drive architectural decisions for build reproducibility and image composition strategies.
• Develop and maintain automation tools, scripts, and internal build frameworks.
• Manage build infrastructure, including local and CI-based Yocto builds and artifact retention.
• Implement security practices for embedded builds, including signed artifacts and SBOM generation.
• Ensure compliance with automotive standards while supporting multi-target development.
• Document build architecture and operational procedures for teams and releases.

Skills

Yocto Project

OpenEmbedded

Build systems

BSP integrations

C/C++ development

Python scripting

Linux internals

Cross-compilation

Git

CI/CD tooling

Container technologies

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent

Tools

Git

Docker

Podman

Buildah

Job description

Ford is seeking an experienced embedded build systems engineer to design, implement and optimize Yocto/OpenEmbedded environments for automotive platforms. The role focuses on layers, recipes, BSPs, and toolchain setups across multiple architectures.

You will drive secure, reproducible builds and collaborate with stakeholders to meet quality and delivery goals. Hybrid work arrangement and extensive benefits are offered.