Supervisor-Foundation Brake Development

Lincoln Motor Company; Livonia (MI); On-site; USD 116,000 - 218,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Immediate medical, dental, vision, and

Flexible family care days

Tuition assistance

Vehicle discount program

Paid time off

Job summary

Ford Motor Company is seeking a Foundation Brake Development Supervisor to lead a team of engineers responsible for North American foundation brake development. This on-site role focuses on brake system design, testing, and sign-off across multiple vehicle programs.

You will guide technical direction, manage budgets, and ensure regulatory compliance with FMVSS and ECE standards while partnering with Link Engineering in Dearborn.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Automotive Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related field.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Brake Development Engineers for North American foundation brake development.
• Oversee vehicle-level brake system development, validation, and engineering sign-off activities.
• Ensure compliance with FMVSS, ECE, and Ford engineering requirements.
• Develop and manage annual Brake Engineering budget plans and resource forecasts.
• Communicate status and risks to engineering and senior leadership.
• Lead cross-functional root-cause investigations involving brake performance and regulatory compliance.

Skills

Leadership

Team coaching

Project management

Communication

Problem solving

Brake system knowledge

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical/Electrical/Automotive Engineering

Master's degree in Engineering/Engineering Management/MBA (preferred)

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 Development uses design thinking & user experience methods to deliver breakthrough products and services that delight our customers. We bring innovative, exciting, and sustainable ideas to life. We have opportunities around the world for you to contribute to advancements in autonomy, electrification, smart mobility technologies, and more!

In this position...

The Foundation Brake Development Supervisor leads Ford's North American Foundation Brake Development organization and is responsible for the engineering leadership, technical direction, and personnel development of a team of Brake Development Engineers responsible for foundation brake systems across the North American vehicle portfolio. This position is onsite-non Ford, i.e. Link Engineering in Dearborn. This position serves as the organization's technical leader for brake system development, testing, problem resolution, and launch sign-off activities. The role provides leadership for vehicle-level brake performance development and acts as Ford's subject matter expert for Brake Pedal Feel while leading the Brake Pedal Feel Technical Design Review process. The position also provides technical direction to purchased-services personnel responsible for physical brake testing activities.

As a leader within a safety-critical, FMVSS- and ECE-regulated discipline, the Foundation Brake Development Supervisor is responsible for exercising engineering judgment, interpreting test results, directing problem-solving activities, and ensuring brake systems achieve quality, timing, cost, customer satisfaction, and regulatory compliance objectives. This position also provides support for Warranty Taskforce investigations, Technical Specialist and Subject Matter Expert activities, Total Value Management initiatives, vehicle launches, field actions, and annual Brake Engineering business planning.

What you'll do

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Brake Development Engineers responsible for North American foundation brake development.
• Oversee the creation of all vehicle level DVPs for Forward Model program, quality actions, TVM action and other projects.
• Establish and defend TPV and DCV prototype counts to achieve the milestone delivery.
• Manage Link Engineering resources to balance priorities, reduce testing costs and continuously improve the joint Ford / Link team efficiency.
• Establish technical priorities, staffing plans, and workload balancing across multiple vehicle programs.
• Lead vehicle-level brake system development, validation, and engineering sign-off activities.
• Ensure compliance with FMVSS, ECE, and Ford engineering requirements.
• Serve as Ford's subject matter expert for Brake Pedal Feel and lead the Brake Pedal Feel Technical Design Review process.
• Direct vehicle testing strategies and provide engineering oversight for purchased-services testing personnel.
• Interpret vehicle test results and lead cross-functional root-cause investigations involving brake performance, customer attributes, regulatory compliance, quality, durability, and launch concerns.
• Drive achievement of program milestones (TDC and PEC), launch readiness, quality objectives, and customer satisfaction metrics.
• Support Warranty Taskforce activities, field investigations, Technical Specialist requests, and brake-related corrective actions.
• Lead value optimization and Total Value Management initiatives while maintaining performance and safety requirements.
• Develop and execute annual Brake Engineering budget plans and resource forecasts.
• Communicate technical status, program risks, and mitigation strategies to engineering and senior leadership.
• Develop organizational capability through succession planning, mentoring, and technical talent development.

You’ll have

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Automotive Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related technical discipline.
• 10 years of overall automotive product development experience.
• 5+ years of chassis or brake system development.

Even better, you may have

• Master's degree in Engineering, Engineering Management, or Business Administration.
• Experience leading engineering teams, technical projects, or complex cross-functional programs.
• Strong understanding of vehicle development processes, validation methodologies, and engineering release systems.
• Experience interpreting physical test data and applying engineering judgment to complex technical issues.
• Knowledge of automotive safety, regulatory, and compliance requirements.
• Proven ability to drive technical decisions and deliver results in a fast-paced product development environment.
• Strong leadership, communication, coaching, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities across vehicle programs while balancing quality, cost, timing, and performance objectives.
• Direct experience in establishing forward model DVPs including successful milestone delivery and launch.
• Proven experience in tuning brake pedal feel and expert evaluating skills.
• Proven experience in vehicle NVH evaluations (high and low frequency noise).
• Knowledge of or direct experience in D&R brake activities.
• Expertise and experience in delivering flawless FMVSS Compliance Demonstration Reports.
• Vehicle hands‑on experience (changing brakes, other mechanic work).
• Experience in flashing EBB units, debugging DTCs and creating Driver Brake Request tables for pedal feel tuning.
• Direct experience with foundation brake systems, brake performance, brake pedal feel development, or vehicle dynamics.
• Experience supporting FMVSS and/or ECE compliance activities.
• Knowledge of brake testing methodologies and vehicle launch processes.
• Experience supporting Warranty Taskforce, Technical Specialist, quality, or field‑action investigations.
• Experience managing engineering budgets, purchased‑services activities, or supplier technical relationships.
• Six Sigma, DFSS, or other structured problem‑solving certifications.
• Tier II Driving certification.

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 leadership level 6 and ranges from $115,500-$218,100.

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 not 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.

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