Full Lifecycle AI/ML Engineering Lead

Ford

6h • Onsite

About The Position

We are undergoing a historic industrial shift—moving from building great vehicles to building the sophisticated, scalable systems that power them. The Advanced Industrial Technology organization was created to operationalize this shift. Our mission is not to deploy isolated tools; it is to build an ecosystem that learns from factory data, transforms it into scalable platforms, and delivers measurable enterprise value.
This organization is designed to position us as a leader in industrial innovation. We accelerate digital evolution and manufacturing excellence by integrating cutting-edge technology directly into our global operations. Our structure includes vertical business units focused on specific technology stacks, supported by shared services that ensure scale and operational consistency.
As part of this team, the Sight Vertical is responsible for building an end-to-end business around AI/ML anomaly detection products using both image data (Sight) and parametric data (Sense). This vertical transforms raw data into actionable manufacturing intelligence through products focused on visual error-proofing, defect detection, and assembly process monitoring.
Are you a technical leader who thrives at the intersection of software engineering, data science, and physical manufacturing? As the Software Engineering Manager for the Sight Vertical, you will lead a high-performing team of software and data engineers building our computer vision and analytics suite.
While technical mastery in software development is important, your primary mission is leadership. You will be responsible for fostering a culture of engineering excellence, creativity, mentoring talent, and ensuring the seamless delivery of complex software products. You won't just oversee code; you will architect the engineering culture that allows AI models to move from research to global industrial scale.
Reporting to the Sight Vertical Lead, the Software Engineering Manager is responsible for the execution and technical health of the Sight and Sense product lines. You will lead the engineering team in translating strategic goals into robust, scalable software, ensuring our products meet rigorous industrial standards for global rollout.
Note: This role is 100% on site in the Dearborn, MI area and may require some travel to manufacturing facilities for product development and deployment validation.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, AI/ML, or a related technical field.
• Leadership Experience: 3+ years of experience directly managing software engineering teams, with a proven track record of hiring, mentoring, and retaining talent.
• Technical Background: 5+ years of experience in software engineering, specifically involving AI/ML, Computer Vision, or complex data-driven products.
• Systems Knowledge: Deep understanding of the machine learning lifecycle (data engineering, model training, inference, and monitoring).
• Agile Proficiency: Extensive experience leading teams in Agile environments, managing sprints, and optimizing delivery velocity.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s in a technical field related to Computer Vision, Software Development, or Data Science.
• Experience with MLOps platforms and cloud infrastructure (GCP, Azure, or AWS).
• Experience scaling AI/ML products from a single pilot to a global enterprise footprint in an industrial or IoT context.
• Knowledge of industrial communication protocols and edge computing hardware.

Responsibilities

• Engineering Leadership & Mentorship: Lead, coach, and grow a multi-disciplinary team of software and data engineers. Foster a collaborative environment focused on continuous improvement and professional development.
• Technical Delivery: Own the software development lifecycle for Sight and Sense products. Ensure the team delivers high-quality, maintainable code that meets project milestones and performance benchmarks and results in a reliable and highly scalable product.
• Architecture & Strategy: Provide technical oversight for software and hardware architecture, MLOps pipelines, technology stack selection, and controls integration. Balance the need for rapid innovation with the stability required for 24/7 manufacturing environments.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with Product Managers and stakeholders to translate manufacturing challenges into technical roadmaps and executable engineering backlogs.
• Platform Integration: Ensure all vision products are built for seamless integration with centralized data and operating platforms, adhering to a "build once, scale everywhere" philosophy.
• Operational Excellence: Drive engineering best practices, including automated testing, CI/CD, and robust monitoring for models deployed at the "edge" (on-site factory hardware).
• Innovation: Drive innovation by integrating Agentic workflows and AI-assisted engineering tools to maximize team productivity and software quality
• Deployment Oversight: Work with site-level stakeholders to ensure technical solutions account for real-world variables such as factory lighting, line speeds, and network constraints.

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