Staff Software Engineer - OTA Platform

Ford Motor

Palo Alto (CA)

Hybrid

USD 150,200 - 283,500

Full time

14 days+

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Benefits offered by this job

Immediate medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage

Flexible family care days and paid parental leave

Tuition assistance

Vehicle discount program

Paid time off for community service

Job summary

Ford Motor seeks a software engineer for the In-Vehicle OTA Platform, focusing on building Rust applications to keep Ford’s Universal Electric Vehicle fleet updated. The role emphasizes collaboration across teams and ownership of the OTA software update process.

Desired qualifications include a bachelor's degree in a related field and significant experience in software engineering, particularly with Rust and async programming. This is a hybrid position based in Palo Alto, California, offering comprehensive benefits.

Qualifications

7+ years of professional software engineering experience, with 3+ years writing production Rust.
Strong command of async programming, including the Tokio runtime.
Solid Linux systems experience for developing and operating software.

Responsibilities

Own and evolve the OTA software update engine.
Design and implement reliable, safe update orchestration logic.
Collaborate across embedded firmware, vehicle software, and cloud infrastructure teams.

Skills

Production Rust

C++

Async programming

Linux systems

Distributed systems

Testing discipline

CI/CD pipelines

Documentation

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering or equivalent

Tools

Docker

Yocto/BitBake

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.

Ford’s Electric Vehicles, Digital and Design (EVDD) team is charged with delivering the company’s vision of a fully electric transportation future. EVDD is customer‑obsessed, entrepreneurial, and data‑driven and is dedicated to delivering industry‑leading customer experience for electric vehicle buyers and owners. You’ll join an agile team of doers pioneering our EV future by working collaboratively, staying focused on only what matters, and delivering excellence day in and day out. Join us to make positive change by helping build a better world where every person is free to move and pursue their dreams.

In this position… You'll be a core contributor to the In‑Vehicle OTA Platform, building the software that will keep Ford's Universal Electric Vehicle fleet up to date. Our OTA software update service is a Rust application responsible for orchestrating vehicle software updates, managing complex multi‑stage lifecycles across download, verification, installation, and activation across many ECUs. Your work ships to real vehicles on real roads.

Responsibilities

Own and evolve the OTA software update engine.
Design and implement reliable, safe update orchestration logic.
Write production‑quality async Rust with a focus on correctness, safety, and maintainability.
Build and contribute to cutting‑edge developer tooling that lets engineers create and manage software update deployments.
Contribute to CI/CD pipelines, container infrastructure, and multi‑target build systems.
Participate in code review with a high signal‑to‑noise bar: focus on correctness and reliability.
Collaborate across embedded firmware, vehicle software, and cloud infrastructure teams to coordinate update flows end‑to‑end.

Qualifications

You'll have…

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.
7+ years of professional software engineering experience, with 3+ years writing production Rust, or strong, demonstrable C++ expertise with a clear appetite to work in Rust.
Strong command of async programming, including the Tokio runtime and concurrent system design.
Solid Linux systems experience – you are comfortable developing, debugging, and operating software in Linux environments.
Demonstrated experience designing and implementing state machines for distributed or embedded systems.
Strong testing discipline: unit, integration, and mock‑driven testing.
Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, containerization, and modern build systems.
Excellent written communication – you write documentation your teammates actually read.

Even better, you may have…

Experience with automotive systems, OTA software updates, or vehicle ECU communication protocols such as UDS, CAN, or LIN.
Familiarity with Yocto/BitBake for embedded Linux image builds and cross‑compilation.
Background in serialization strategies and schema evolution for distributed systems.
Cross‑compilation experience for embedded or constrained targets.
Experience packaging and distributing developer tooling to engineering teams.
Experience in regulated industries where software reliability and traceability are required (automotive, medical, aerospace).
Comfort working alongside AI coding agents and integrating AI‑assisted workflows into day‑to‑day engineering.

You may not check every box, or your experience may look a little different from what we've outlined, but if you think you can bring value to Ford Motor Company, we encourage you to apply!

Benefits

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 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.

For more information on salary and benefits, click here: https://fordcareers.co/LL6

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.

Job Info