System Manager

Lincoln Motor Company; Dearborn (MI); Hybrid; USD 116,000 - 218,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

Paid parental leave

Vehicle discount program

Tuition assistance

Paid time off and holidays

Job summary

Ford Motor Company seeks a Leadership Level 6 Interior Systems Manager to own the integrated system view for Seats, Restraints, Cockpit, and Trim across forward-model programs. You will drive cost, weight, timing, and quality targets, coordinating DREs and cross-functional teams to ensure on-time delivery and program readiness.

Reporting to the Interior Systems Management Group Lead, you will lead metric tracking, issue resolution, and trade-off decisions, with a strong emphasis on program

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or closely related technical field.
• Experience in automotive product development, interior systems (Seats, Restraints, Cockpit, or Trim).
• Experience leading projects or cross-functional teams without direct reporting authority.
• Strong analytical and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead the integrated Interior Systems view for assigned forward-model programs across all interior commodities.
• Own system-level metric tracking and reporting (cost, weight, sourcing, delivery, timing, quality).
• Prepare and lead Interior Systems status reporting for Business Performance Reviews (BPRs).
• Drive resolution of technical, packaging, cost, content, and timing issues with DREs and stakeholders.
• Guide system-level trade-offs to support targets, design intent, and price-class positioning.
• Lead part-count reduction and other complexity or efficiency initiatives.
• Coordinate Interior Systems delivery plans, including build dates, TKO glidepaths, and Sign-Off reviews.
• Monitor APQP and PPAP status and raise risks to manufacturing readiness.

Skills

Leadership

Cross-functional leadership

Analytical skills

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related field

Tools

APQP

PPAP

PDP

FEDE

DPA

TKO

BPR

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.

In this position...

Reporting to the Interior Systems Management Group Lead, this Leadership Level 6 (LL6) position leads the integration and program execution of Interior Systems for assigned forward-model vehicle programs. The System Manager is accountable for the integrated system-level view across Seats, Restraints, Cockpit, and Trim, driving progress toward cost, weight, timing, and quality targets while supporting the vehicle's design intent and market positioning.

You'll coordinate subsystem work, surface and resolve issues, and keep program stakeholders informed of status, risks, and decisions needed. Working through influence, you'll align Design Release Engineers (DREs) and cross-functional partners around an integrated delivery plan and elevate issues that could affect program milestones or readiness.

• Lead the integrated Interior Systems view for assigned forward-model programs, coordinating activities across all interior commodities.
• Own system-level metric tracking and reporting, including cost, weight, sourcing, delivery, timing, and quality status.
• Prepare and lead Interior Systems status reporting for applicable Business Performance Reviews (BPRs), providing clear roll-ups of progress, risks, and decisions needed.
• Drive resolution of technical, packaging, cost, content, and timing issues with DREs and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Guide system-level trade-offs involving interior content and design to support vehicle targets, design intent, and price-class positioning.
• Lead part-count reduction and other complexity or efficiency initiatives.
• Coordinate Interior Systems delivery plans, including production-tooled build and pre-DCV testing dates, TKO glidepaths, and Sign-Off (S/O) reviews.
• Monitor APQP and PPAP status across applicable Interior Systems parts and raise risks to manufacturing readiness.
• Support timely Matched Pair (MP) decisions and other program decisions needed to protect component delivery plans and milestones.
• Guide DREs as they deliver components to target, maintaining the integrated system glidepath while respecting component-level ownership, including SOW and FEDE maintenance.
• Promote disciplined use of program processes and tools, and share lessons learned to improve execution across programs.
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or a closely related technical field.
• Experience in automotive product development, preferably in one or more Interior Systems areas: Seats, Restraints, Cockpit, or Trim.
• Experience leading projects, programs, or cross-functional teams, including driving action and issue resolution without direct reporting authority.
• Understanding of vehicle development processes and program timing, deliverables, and readiness expectations.
• Strong analytical and communication skills, including the ability to synthesize information from multiple subsystems into a clear status and recommendations for leaders.
• Ability to manage competing priorities, build alignment across teams, and elevate risks appropriately.

Even better, you may have...

• Experience supporting forward-model vehicle programs or early-stage vehicle development.
• Familiarity with Ford product development processes and systems, including PDP, FEDE, DPA, APQP, PPAP, TKO, and BPR.
• Experience with system-level target management, sourcing and delivery tracking, or manufacturing readiness.
• Experience with interior content or price-class differentiation, part-count reduction, or other complexity-reduction initiatives.
• Experience working with global teams, suppliers, DREs, or vehicle program organizations.

Schedule flexibility: This role may require work outside normal business hours to coordinate with global teams.

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 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.

Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Candidad 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.