Material Flow Engineer, Ford Energy
About The Position
Ford Energy is a newly formed, wholly-owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company dedicated to accelerating U.S. energy independence. Leveraging Ford’s century of manufacturing excellence and world-class battery energy storage systems (BESS) technology, Ford Energy designs, manufactures, and services grid-scale and commercial DC battery energy storage systems (BESS). Ford Energy is uniquely positioned to capture the growing demand for reliable, US-built energy storage systems. We are not just building batteries; we are building the infrastructure for the next generation of the American grid. At Ford Energy, you have the backing of an industrial manufacturing powerhouse with the agility of a dedicated energy startup offering industry leading technology. We offer a competitive compensation package including performance-based bonuses, Ford vehicle discounts, and the opportunity to shape the energy strategy of one of the world's most iconic brands. As a Material Flow Engineer, you will lead material flow initiatives within the facility to enable continuous production in a high-paced, highly automated, next generation gigafactory. Your primary focus will be to manage and optimize the supply chain for all on-site Material Handling activities. You will lend essential expertise to support our manufacturing process engineering efforts, helping us enhance safety, quality, and productivity across operations. This means using engineering principles and analytical methods to drive ongoing improvements in both manufacturing processes and products. You will play a critical role industrializing Ford Energy Battery Systems, scaling operations at our Glendale facility. This is a high-impact, startup role within a legacy manufacturing powerhouse.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering (Industrial Engineering preferred)
- 5 or more years of experience working in a manufacturing environment (internship and/or coop experience will be considered)
- Ability to travel as needed for both domestic and international, up to 50%
- Flexibility to support business needs by working across various shifts
Nice To Haves
- Validated functional expertise in material flow
- Experience in Greenfield site development or high-volume automotive, battery, or electronics manufacturing.
- Demonstrated experience working with all levels of management organizations
- Lean Manufacturing and/or Six Sigma certification (Green Belt or Black Belt).
- Experience with 8D, 5-Why analysis, DMAIC/DMADV methodologies, and lean tools (6S, Kanban, Poka-Yoke, Value Stream Mapping).
- Familiarity with engineering change and release systems (e.g., WERS, CORA, or similar).
- Advanced proficiency in AutoCAD, MODAPTS, and manufacturing simulation tools.
- Working knowledge of Teamcenter Engineering, CATIA V5, AutoCad or similar programs
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications (particularly Excel and PowerPoint)
- Strong understanding of lean material flow strategies & lean manufacturing processes
- Strong communication, collaboration, and team-building skills.
- Passion for energy systems and U.S. energy independence.
- Strategic visionary: Translates production data into scalable manufacturing strategies aligned with the growing BESS industry.
- Decisive under pressure: Makes rapid, data-driven decisions during line balancing and production ramp-up.
- Adaptable: Leads effectively in an evolving startup environment and supports a 24/7 operation, including nights, weekends, and holidays as needed.
Responsibilities
- Apply engineering principles and analytical techniques to establish, optimize, and continuously improve high-volume battery storage manufacturing and assembly processes.
- Use your entrepreneurial mindset to drive production throughput, line balancing, and labor efficiency for a massive manufacturing site.
- Create a culture of lean manufacturing excellence, fostering an environment where standardized work and data-driven production solutions thrive.
- Drive the development and installation of direct and indirect labor standards and methods, incorporating ergonomic and safety standards, while tracking labor and ensuring efficient manpower utilization and line balancing.
- Conduct job ergonomics evaluations and analyze production and non-production operations to identify those requiring study, developing new or improved methods and standards as needed.
- Provide engineering support for material flow process; document standards and procedures, provide training, overall adherence and maintenance to ensure materials are available in designated stock, markets and line locations throughout the facility.
- Work with Planning & Inventory Control, Production, Material Handlers, and Supply Chain to ensure robust policies are available and practiced and strive for continuous improvement.
- Apply technical expertise, commensurate with formal training and limited job experience, in the development of material flow processes.
- Design and/or develops material flow processes and equipment.
- Recommend changes to increase safety, reduce costs, improve quality and optimize efficiency.
- Lead facilitator of plant layout change management activities.
- Develop floor space analyses to confirm storage requirements and recommend practical solutions where required.
- Assist in qualifying manual and powered material handling equipment requirements.
- Work to improve material flow and manage materials and inventory consistent with Lean principles.
- Lay out market, sequencing, and kitting areas to facilitate material handling, process flow, space utilization, and labor.
- Define and manage in-plant storage and call systems to maintain inventories; define and develop methods to achieve organizational objectives.
- Provide vehicle and pedestrian flow/congestion/safety analyses and recommend practical solutions where required.
- Interact on a regular basis with other functional groups and vendors on technical and/or administrative matters.
- Work with Production, Production Control, Supply Chain, Quality and other engineering departments.
- Prepare detailed plans, generally spanning several months, vital to complete assigned projects.
- Develop and approve schedule milestones.
- Develop and coordinate labor, facility and equipment requirements for assigned projects.
- Propose alternate plans for economic evaluation.
- Administer technical procedures including process and work procedures.
- Implement an industrial engineering system (standard cost data, capacity and equipment requirement forecasting, shop floor control system).
- Forecast and manage operating expense and capital budget requirements.
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.
- performance-based bonuses
- Ford vehicle discounts
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
