In‑Vehicle Ethernet Network Architect

Ford • Dearborn, MI

18h • Hybrid

About The Position

Ford’s Electric Vehicles, Digital and Design (EVDD) team is charged with delivering the company’s vision of a fully electric transportation future. EVDD is customer-obsessed, entrepreneurial, and data-driven, and is dedicated to delivering industry-leading customer experience for electric vehicle buyers and owners. You’ll join an agile team of doers pioneering our EV future by working collaboratively, staying focused on only what matters, and delivering excellence day in and day out. Join us to make positive change by helping build a better world where every person is free to move and pursue their dreams. We are seeking an In-Vehicle Ethernet Network Architect to help define and evolve the communication architecture for next‑generation vehicles. This role will lead the design and optimization of Ethernet‑based in‑vehicle networks, including topology, protocols, timing architecture, and traffic performance. This role serves as a technical authority for in‑vehicle Ethernet architecture, influencing network design decisions across vehicle platforms and collaborating across system architecture, ECU software teams, and platform engineering. The ideal candidate has deep expertise in Ethernet networking and distributed systems and is passionate about designing scalable, high‑performance communication architectures. We welcome candidates with networking experience from automotive, datacenter networking, telecom, industrial networking, robotics, aerospace, defense, or IoT environments.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in computer engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field, or a combination of education and equivalent experience
• Software Developer first. 2+ years of work experience in software engineering, with a focus on embedded systems
• 2+ years of experience in Ethernet distributed systems (Automotive, Defense, Industry, IoT, IT, etc.)
• 2+ years of experience applying knowledge of network architecture, protocols, and communication standards
• Strong understanding of Ethernet networking fundamentals, including Layer 2/Layer 3 communication, switching, VLANs, and TCP/IP
• 2+ years’ experience analyzing network behavior using packet capture or network analysis tools

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in computer engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field
• 3+ years of work experience with AUTOSAR Classic and Adaptive architectures
• 1+ years of experience in Ethernet Time-Sensitive Networks and IEEE 802.1AE (also known as MACsec)

Responsibilities

• Create and Implement In-Vehicle Communication Systems, Encompassing Network Architecture, Topology, and Communication Protocols Across All the OSI Layers
• Define network communication strategies including protocol selection, traffic flows, bandwidth allocation, and quality of service (QoS) policies.
• Design and optimize network communication to meet latency, throughput, determinism, and reliability requirements across distributed vehicle systems.
• Design, develop, and maintain the automated pipeline for the creation, testing, and release of all network communication artifacts in Industry Standard Formats
• Lead evaluation and adoption of Ethernet technologies including Time Sensitive Networking (TSN), VLAN, TCP/IP, and time synchronization protocols
• Drive Performance and Optimization by leveraging network analysis expertise to identify and implement optimizations in data packing and communication protocols, enhancing bus performance and efficiency.
• Architect and Implement the Network-Specific Cybersecurity and Functional Safety Goals
• Collaborating with Cross-Functional Architectural Teams to Define and Standardize Communication (Ethernet/CAN/LIN) Attributes to the Overall Vehicle Architecture

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: Senior
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees