Field Quality Engineer Supervisor

Ford • Dearborn, MI

2d • Remote

About The Position

At Ford Motor Company, we believe freedom of movement drives human progress. We also believe in providing you with the freedom to define and realize your dreams. With our bold vision for the future of mobility, we are transforming how vehicles are designed, validated, and experienced in the real world. Within Product Development (PD), the Field Quality Engineering (FQE) team plays a critical role connecting real-world customer experiences with engineering solutions. This team operates at the intersection of customers, dealers, and engineering—ensuring that emerging issues are rapidly identified, accurately understood, and resolved at their root cause. At Ford, the Vehicle Hardware Engineering teams are using Design Thinking & User Experience methods to deliver breakthrough products and services that will delight our customers. Our employees are laser-focused on bringing innovative, exciting, and sustainable ideas to life. From autonomy and electrification to smart mobility technologies, our teams around the world are working together with excitement to make smart vehicles for a smart world. We are seeking a highly technical leader who will thrive in dynamic environments and is passionate about solving real-world problems to build this new team. This position will lead a team of remotely deployed engineers across the United States initially in close proximity to key Ford manufacturing facilities across Michigan, Kentucky, Illinois, and Missouri. Positioning Field Quality Engineers near these hubs enables rapid response to dealer-reported concerns in regions with strong Ford vehicle population, while also providing direct exposure to manufacturing processes. This proximity is critical to accelerating issue resolution, strengthening collaboration between field and plant teams, and ensuring engineers develop a deep understanding of how production influences in-market quality.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Automotive Engineering, Computer or Software Engineering, Business Management or equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.
• 5+ years of experience in vehicle systems and diagnostics.
• Ability to travel regularly (50%+ to dealer, fleet, customer visits).
• Valid driver’s license.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in Automotive diagnostics, quality, or field investigation
• Dealership service or vehicle testing environments
• Strong problem-solving skills and experience with structured methods (8D / 14D), Red X or similar training / certification
• Excellent technical communication and report writing skills
• Experience with embedded automotive software systems and ECU architectures
• Ability to capture and analyze vehicle network data (CAN, Ethernet)
• Experience using diagnostic and data acquisition tools (e.g., CANalyzer, CANoe)
• Understanding of software-driven vehicle behavior (ADAS, infotainment, connectivity, controls)
• Ability to differentiate between software, hardware, and integration-related issues
• Basic scripting or data analysis (Python, MATLAB) preferred
• Familiarity with: OTA updates, Diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs)
• Calibration and software validation processes

Responsibilities

• Hire and train engineers who will travel to dealerships, fleet locations, and customer sites to investigate vehicle concerns firsthand (GEMBA), validate customer concerns by observing real-world conditions and confirming failure modes prior to repair or part replacement and, capture operating environments, usage patterns, and contributing factors impacting vehicle performance.
• Collect and document detailed technical data, including: Photos, videos, and service observations, Vehicle data logs (CAN, diagnostics, system data) and information from dealer equipment (alignment, tester data, etc), Physical parts when required.
• Develop formal technical reports that clearly describe: Failure conditions, Reproduction steps, Environmental and usage factors, Initial observations and engineering hypotheses.
• Provide clear and actionable inputs to Product Development engineering teams.
• Partner directly with PD engineering teams to support: Root cause investigation, Failure replication with first hand insights into field conditions, Development of corrective actions.
• Support structured problem solving (8D / 14D) by supplying high-quality field data and evidence.
• Accelerate issue resolution by bridging the gap between data signals and real-world validation.
• Utilize outputs from Ford systems (warranty triggers, VOQ trends, and internal analytics tools) to: Identify issues requiring deep technical investigation, Support prioritization of emerging concerns.
• Work closely with: Dealer technicians and service managers, Customers and fleet operators.
• Collect Voice of Customer (VOC) insights and ensure accurate problem definition.
• Provide real-time feedback to Product Development regarding: Emerging quality issues, Gaps in validation or test conditions, Customer usage differences vs design assumptions.
• Influence improvements to: Design robustness and recurrence prevention, Validation strategies, Design standards, Customer experience.

Benefits

• 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.

What This Job Offers

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