Autonomous Mobility Solutions Engineer

Ford • Redford Charter Twp, MI,US

11d • $86,600 - $166,200 • Hybrid

About The Position

Ford's Advanced Industrial Technology & Platforms (ATP) organization develops and scales industrial platforms and technologies to transform manufacturing. Within ATP, FORGE develops end-to-end autonomous mobility applications for movement, assist, and manipulation.

The Autonomous Mobility Solutions Engineer develops and validates autonomous mobile robot (AMR) solutions, evaluates original equipment manufacturer (OEM) models against Ford requirements, conducts hardware and software conformance testing, and supports deployments through go-live. The role works with MP&L, Manufacturing Engineering, plant operations, and robotics suppliers to ensure solutions meet plant needs and can be replicated across sites.

The position evaluates AMR feasibility and selection for factory and warehouse applications; assesses conformance with safety, interoperability, and cybersecurity requirements; validates and commissions systems for production; troubleshoots technical issues; and coordinates cross-functional integration and replication. It is hybrid, with a requirement to be onsite four or more days per week, and requires 5–10% travel to plants in the United States, Canada, and Mexico as needed.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, robotics, industrial automation, manufacturing, or a related field.
• 3–5+ years of experience in logistics automation, technological feasibility mapping, manufacturing systems, or equipment validation and launch.
• Familiarity with ANSI/RIA R15.08, ISO 3691-4, UL 3100, and the VDA 5050 communication standard.
• Hands-on familiarity with industrial networking, MQTT protocols, TCP/IP architectures, and PLC communications.
• Working understanding of autonomous mobility systems, including navigation, localization, fleet management, and traffic orchestration, sufficient to validate behavior and troubleshoot issues.
• Experience validating or launching automated equipment in a production environment, including test planning and execution.
• Plant-floor troubleshooting ability, including reading logs, isolating faults across system boundaries, and distinguishing real defects from test artifacts.
• Ability and willingness to travel 5–10% to plants in the United States, Canada, and Mexico as required.

Nice To Haves

• Experience deploying autonomous mobility or material-handling systems in high-volume manufacturing.
• Competency with ROS/ROS2, Linux environments, and Python/C++.
• Familiarity with plant logistics, including PFEP, MHE, kitting, line-side delivery, and route design.
• Familiarity with ISO 3691-4, ANSI/RIA R15.08, ISO 13849, and VDA 5050.
• Familiarity with Ford GVOSS, GME-707, GPDS, safety, and cybersecurity requirements.
• Exposure to autonomous or driverless programs and shared-floor automated traffic.
• Experience with virtual commissioning, PLC safety, or industrial networking.
• Experience with reporting tools such as Power BI or analysis using Python or SQL.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate the technical feasibility of prospective AMR models for factory and warehouse applications, including cross-docking, line-side delivery, and heavy pallet movement.
• Match OEM specifications, including kinematics, turning radius, and navigation style, to operational facility constraints.
• Create engineering trade-off matrices comparing technology stacks, such as SLAM versus QR-code navigation and inductive versus opportunity charging.
• Define technical requirements and statements of work, and hold suppliers accountable to acceptance criteria.
• Enforce hardware safety requirements and verify selected mobile platforms conform to applicable ANSI/RIA R15.08, ISO 3691-4, and UL 3100 requirements.
• Verify software interoperability and audit fleet compliance with protocols and standards including VDA 5050 and MassRobotics Interoperability Standards.
• Audit fleet software cybersecurity benchmarks, including relevant NIST frameworks or ETSI EN 303 645 requirements, and prepare evidence for Plant Safety and Cybersecurity approval boards.
• Execute validation plans for normal operations, degraded conditions, and failure scenarios, and document results.
• Validate go-live readiness, including localization maps, routes, parameters, fleet software integration, and safety functions.
• Support plant-floor commissioning and physical optimization through production launch.
• Troubleshoot issues involving routing, traffic flow, fleet software, network connectivity, and equipment, and identify root causes.
• Partner with MP&L to translate material-flow needs, including line-side delivery, kitting, small-lot routes, and rack movement, into deployments.
• Coordinate with Manufacturing Engineering, IT, plant operations, UAW representation, and production teams on floor readiness and layout.
• Manage supplier integration, acceptance testing, and closure of open issues.
• Support integration with plant execution systems, industrial networks, PLCs, and safety devices.
• Use simulation and digital twins to support deployment replication and pre-deployment verification, and monitor post-launch availability, throughput, and downtime metrics to inform future deployments.

Benefits

• Immediate medical, dental, vision, and prescription drug coverage.
• Paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, and subsidized back-up child care.
• Family-building benefits, including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement and fertility treatments.
• Vehicle discount program for employees and family members and management leases.
• Tuition assistance.
• Employee resource groups.
• Paid time off for individual and team community service.
• Vacation time, sick/personal time, and paid holidays, including between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level