Director – Vehicle Software Platform Architecture

Ford•,

1d•Onsite

About The Position

We are the movers of the world and the makers of the future. At Ford, we're all a part of something bigger than ourselves. Are you ready to change the way the world moves? Ford's Systems and Core Architecture (SCA) team owns the strategy and execution of Ford's vehicle software platform — the foundation that vehicle programs build on to deliver differentiated products efficiently, reliably, and at scale. This role leads the execution and application of Ford's vehicle software platform architecture strategy, including how that architecture connects to and works with the cloud. It is not a research or advisory role — it is the leader accountable for turning architectural vision into a working, adopted, governed platform that vehicle programs actually build on. This leader believes deeply in a set of architectural principles that are foundational to modern, software-defined systems: that software should be decoupled from hardware wherever possible so each can evolve independently; that complex systems scale best when built in clear layers of abstraction rather than as tightly coupled monoliths; that structural design and configurable behavior should be kept separate so systems can be tuned and extended without being re-architected; that shared, common infrastructure for cross-cutting concerns (such as safety, security, performance, and connectivity) is more scalable than solving these problems repeatedly at the feature level; and that connectivity between the system and the cloud should be treated as a native architectural property rather than an afterthought. They bring both the conviction to champion these principles and the pragmatism to apply them in service of a real, evolving platform strategy. Why we're open to candidates from beyond automotive: the underlying capabilities this role requires — architecting complex, distributed, software-defined systems that must scale across many products or deployed units, and building organizational alignment behind that architecture — are not unique to cars. We are equally interested in leaders who have built these capabilities in: • Off-highway / heavy equipment • Military / defense systems • Aerospace • Cloud / hyperscaler platforms — especially those who've architected large-scale, connected, distributed systems for fleets, IoT, or digital twins • Other distributed, embedded, or cyber-physical domains — industrial automation, robotics, energy/grid, telecom, marine, rail — anywhere complex, software-defined systems have had to scale across many deployed variants

Requirements

12+ years of industry experience, with significant portion architecting and/or leading execution of complex, distributed software systems at scale — automotive, off-highway, aerospace, defense, cloud/IoT, or similar domains
Demonstrated experience building or driving adoption of software architecture at a portfolio/fleet/platform scale, not a single product
Experience defining or governing architectural standards and strategies that scaled across many teams or products
Proven ability to drive architectural adoption and change management across large, previously siloed engineering organizations
Strong executive communication and strategic influence skills
Proven ability to build and lead high-performance teams

Nice To Haves

Experience architecting systems where software must operate reliably across variable, evolving, or heterogeneous hardware
Experience architecting the flow of data and control between distributed/embedded systems and cloud platforms, including digital twin or fleet-telemetry patterns
Experience with modern software-defined systems practices (e.g., service-oriented or cloud-native architectures applied to embedded/distributed systems, OTA lifecycle management)
Experience guiding architecture transitions across hardware or platform generations
Experience with mixed-criticality, safety-relevant system architecture
Experience building or scaling virtual validation environments (SIL/MIL/HIL, digital twins, cloud-based simulation)

Responsibilities

Own the vehicle software platform architecture roadmap and lead its execution across a large, cross-functional engineering organization
Translate architectural strategy into practical guidance, standards, and governance that engineering teams can act on
Ensure the platform architecture scales effectively across many products, variants, and markets over time
Ensure the vehicle platform's connection to the cloud is architected coherently, reliably, and securely as part of the overall system
Partner with program teams, functional domain leaders, and hardware/electronics teams to align the architecture roadmap with product plans and influence hardware direction based on platform needs
Build organizational alignment and sustained adoption of the architecture across a large, previously siloed engineering organization
Guide how architectural change is sequenced and introduced across current and future platform generations
Represent the architecture strategy and its execution progress to senior leadership and cross-functional executive stakeholders
Build, mentor, and grow a team of platform software architects

Benefits

generous PTO
retirement
savings and stock investment plans
incentive compensation
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
Family building benefits including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement
fertility treatments
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.