Staff Exterior Lighting Systems Engineer

Ford; Long Beach (CA); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 284,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

Parental leave and family support

Vehicle discount program

Tuition assistance

Paid time off and holidays

Employee resource groups

Community service time off

Job summary

Ford’s Product Creation and Industrialization (PC&I) seeks a Senior Exterior Lighting Systems Engineer in Long Beach to design, validate, and deliver exterior lighting for advanced EV products. You’ll work with studio, engineering, and suppliers from concept through prototype, production, and launch, optimizing cost and manufacturing processes while meeting global regulatory requirements.

The role requires 4+ years in automotive lighting, strong CAD skills (3DX/CATIA/NX), and a track record

Qualifications

• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering or equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.
• 4+ years of experience in automotive lighting component and system engineering (OEM or Tier 1).
• 4+ years of experience utilizing CAD (3DX, Catia, NX, ICEMSURF, or Alias).
• 4+ years of experience in lighting systems design, development, release for production.
• 3+ years of experience in lighting systems design to global regulation requirements.

Responsibilities

• Develop state-of-the-art exterior lighting systems meeting studio aesthetic intent and global regulations.
• Engineer exterior lighting from concept to production launch.
• Guide cross-functional integration with studio, vehicle engineering, electrical engineering, manufacturing and software teams.
• Analyze, test and validate lighting system designs from mechanical, electrical and optical perspectives.
• Collaborate with architecture, planning, supplier chain and suppliers to optimize form, function, performance and cost.
• Define requirements and specifications to achieve vehicle attribute targets for structure, mass and performance.

Skills

Automotive lighting

Cross-functional collaboration

CAD proficiency

Regulatory compliance knowledge

Education

B.S. Mechanical Engineering

B.S. Electrical Engineering

Tools

CAD tools: 3DX

CATIA

NX

ICEM Surf

Alias

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.

Product Creation and Industrialization (PC&I) brings together Ford’s vehicle, electric, digital and design teams with our global manufacturing system. Working as one end-to-end organization, we turn ideas into high-quality vehicles, software and experiences across gas, hybrid and electric, designed around what customers need.

In this position... The Senior Exterior Lighting Systems Engineer will be responsible for designing, developing, validating, and delivering exterior lighting systems for advanced EV products. Candidate will interact with studio and various engineering teams on concept and feature developments, work on integrating state-of-the-art technologies, collaborate with cross-functional teams and suppliers to deliver production design. Candidate will work on concept design at the studio design and modeling phase, and continue through to prototyping, production, validation, and launch. Candidate will optimize manufacturing processes and costs while also meeting regional regulatory compliance, and own the product design throughout the development cycle and deliver for all global markets.

What you'll do...

• Develop state of the art exterior lighting systems and product that meet studio aesthetic intent, and are compliant to global market regulatory requirements
• Engineer and execute exterior lighting from concept design feasibility through to production launch
• Guide cross functional integration of lighting systems with studio, vehicle engineering, electrical engineering, manufacturing and software teams to achieve technically feasible designs
• Analyze, test and validation lighting system prototype and production designs from mechanical, electrical and optical perspective
• Participate in the development process with architecture, planning, supplier chain, and supplier to optimize form, function, performance and cost
• Define requirements, and specifications of exterior Lighting systems to achieve Vehicle attribute targets towards structure, mass, and performance

You’ll have...

• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering or equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.
• 4+ years of experience in automotive lighting component and system engineering (OEM or Tier 1 level)
• 4+ years of experience utilizing CAD (3DX, Catia, NX, ICEMSURF, or Alias) collaboratively, 3DX and CATIA preferred
• 4+ years of experience in lighting systems design, development, release. Completed for one of more production launch cycles
• 3+ years of experience in lighting systems design to global regulation requirements

Even better, you may have...

• Strong knowledge on homologation and photometric regulations (FMVSS 108, ECE R48, etc.) related to exterior lighting
• Strong knowledge of optical system development process, experience with optical simulation with SPEOS/Lucid Shape and other equivalents
• Successful execution of automotive lighting production programs, experiencewith full LED lighting systems preferred
• Excellent understanding of lighting technologies including lightguides, light blades, auto aiming, levelling, adaptive forward lighting (AFS) systems, Adaptive driving beam (ADB), Laser, OLED, Matrix, DMD, etc.
• Strong understanding of the materials and manufacturing processes such as stamping, injection molding, casting, composites, etching, PVD and other surface finishes
• High level of expertise and proficiency with 3DX, Catia, or similar tools including drawing and modelling practices and methodologies

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
• 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 a leadership level 6 and ranges from $150,200-$283,500.
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 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.