Principal Software Engineer, Global Industrial System Analytics

About The Company

Ford Motor Company is a global automotive industry leader committed to transforming mobility and redefining the future of transportation. With a rich history of innovation and a focus on sustainability, Ford continuously strives to develop cutting-edge technologies and solutions that enhance the driving experience. As part of its strategic vision, Ford is investing heavily in digital transformation, autonomous vehicles, electric mobility, and data-driven insights to stay ahead in a competitive landscape. The company values diversity, inclusion, and a culture of continuous improvement, fostering an environment where talented professionals can thrive and make impactful contributions.

About The Role

In this position, as a Principal Software Engineer within the Global Industrial System Analytics organization, you will be a hands-on technical leader responsible for delivering high-quality, scalable software solutions. You will play a pivotal role in designing, developing, and optimizing complex systems that form the backbone of Ford's Industrial System. Your expertise will be instrumental in solving large-scale engineering challenges, building highly available and performant solutions, and supporting Ford’s transformation into a data-first, analytics, and AI-enabled organization. While not a people management role, you will actively contribute to hiring, onboarding, and mentoring top-tier engineering talent, acting as a technical bar-raiser across the organization. This role offers a unique opportunity to leave a significant technical mark, influence team direction, and help cultivate a high-performance engineering culture focused on security, reliability, scalability, and efficiency.

Although the role is listed as remote, we have a strong preference for candidates who are available to work onsite in our Dearborn, MI office four days a week. Relocation assistance may be available for qualified candidates. This position provides an excellent platform for experienced engineers to lead innovative projects, shape architectural strategies, and drive technological advancements within a global enterprise.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related field.
• 8+ years of experience in software engineering or data platform development, with a focus on large-scale systems.
• Proficiency in programming languages such as Python and Java.
• Experience with DevSecOps tools including GitHub Actions, GCP Cloud Build, Terraform, and SonarQube.
• Deep understanding of Cloud Architecture, preferably GCP, including microservices, REST APIs, and serverless platforms like Cloud Run and Cloud Functions.
• At least 5 years of mentoring engineers and leading cross-team technical initiatives.
• Strong knowledge of infrastructure as code, automated testing, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience designing and developing core platform components, supporting integration with enterprise data platforms and source systems.
• Familiarity with GCP-native services such as Pub/Sub, IAM, Secret Manager, and Cloud Build.
• Ability to translate non-functional requirements into scalable, secure, and reliable solutions.
• Excellent communication skills to collaborate with architects, data scientists, security teams, and business stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and development of critical platform features, complex application implementations, and reusable components within the Industrial System Analytics (ISA) platform.
• Write production-grade, high-quality code, perform system integration, and actively contribute to codebases to unblock teams and elevate engineering standards.
• Drive performance tuning, reliability engineering, and capacity planning to ensure robust system operations.
• Lead by example in CI/CD, DevSecOps, infrastructure as code, and automated testing practices.
• Mentor engineers through code reviews, design sessions, and informal technical leadership, fostering a culture of continuous learning and excellence.
• Lead experimentation and prototyping efforts for emerging technologies, including the potential use of large language models for code generation.
• Translate non-functional requirements such as security, scalability, and reliability into actionable technical solutions.
• Evaluate and validate new technologies for scalability and performance prior to adoption, including creating reference implementations.
• Design and develop core platform components supporting integration with enterprise data and source systems, leveraging GCP-native services.
• Promote modular, decoupled architecture patterns, test-driven development, and service boundary definitions.
• Establish operational excellence standards, ensuring applications meet service level agreements and enterprise architecture guidelines.
• Identify and address technical debt, prioritize modernization efforts, and drive initiatives that improve developer productivity and platform maturity.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including architects, data scientists, security teams, and business stakeholders to align technical solutions with organizational goals.

Benefits

• Immediate medical, dental, and prescription drug coverage.
• Flexible family care options, including parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, and subsidized backup childcare.
• Vehicle discount program for employees and family members, along with management lease options.
• Tuition assistance programs to support continuous learning and professional development.
• Active employee resource groups fostering diversity and inclusion.
• Paid time off for community service and volunteering activities.
• Generous paid holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
• Paid time off with options to purchase additional vacation days.

Equal Opportunity

Ford Motor Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, veteran.