Product Development Engineer- Battery Cell/System Modeling Engineer

Ford • Dearborn, MI

8d • $68,300 - $192,900 • Hybrid

About The Position

In this position, you will be part of the Ford Product Development team, contributing to the creation of smart vehicles. The Electrified Systems Engineering (ESE) organization is responsible for delivering hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery electric vehicles that offer excellent fuel economy, refinement, customer value, profitability, performance, and smoothness of operation. This role offers an opportunity to work in a dynamic and growing area of Ford.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in engineering, applied mathematics, physics, chemistry, or a related technical field.
• 5+ years of academic or industry experience in electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, or battery modeling, including development, implementation, calibration, and validation of battery performance and degradation models.
• Deep understanding of lithium-ion battery principles, including electrochemical, electrical, thermal, performance, and degradation behavior.
• Strong technical background in mathematical modeling, numerical methods, data analysis, statistics, and interpretation of experimental data.
• Strong proficiency in at least one programming language or technical computing environment, including MATLAB, Python, or C++.
• Experience applying battery models to support engineering, research, product-development, or program decisions.
• Excellent teamwork and communication skills.
• Self-motivation and the ability to manage multiple tasks.

Nice To Haves

• 5+ years of extensive experience in developing, validating, and applying battery cell, pack, system, or controls models for electrified-vehicle applications.
• 2+ years of experience integrating battery electrical, thermal, and control models within system or vehicle simulation environments.
• 3+ years of engineering experience developing or deploying semi-physical, single-particle, P2D, P4D, or other physics-based lithium-ion battery electrochemical models using computational tools such as COMSOL, PyBaMM, or comparable platforms.
• 3+ years of experience developing or applying coupled electrical, electrochemical, thermal, mechanical, or other multiphysics battery models, including integration with system CAE or co-simulation tools such as MATLAB/Simulink, Simscape, Modelica, Dymola, AMESIM, GT-SUITE, or similar platforms.
• Experience with battery thermal CAE, including 1D and/or 3D thermal modeling.
• Experience in battery or powertrain system design, usage, controls, or testing for electrified vehicles.
• Experience developing, calibrating, or applying battery durability and degradation/life models.
• Experience with software development practices that support model quality and efficiency, such as automated testing, code review, version control, data management, and workflow automation.
• Experience with laboratory-scale battery cell fabrication, electrochemical characterization methods, and interpretation of cell-test data.

Responsibilities

• Develop, implement, deploy, and maintain advanced battery cell performance and degradation models, including semi-physical, single-particle, and electrochemical models, for battery, system, and vehicle simulation initiatives across the company.
• Develop and integrate battery electrical, thermal, and control models within battery, system, and vehicle simulation environments to support vehicle attribute assessments, energy analysis, controls development, and program milestones.
• Calibrate and validate battery models using laboratory, supplier, vehicle, and field-representative data to ensure model accuracy, robustness, and suitability for program applications.
• Apply models and battery expertise to address internal customer questions and support engineering decision-making.
• Support battery and cell specification development through model-based analysis of usage, performance, reliability, and life requirements.
• Improve existing battery-modeling tools, methodologies, and processes with a focus on model quality, repeatability, computational efficiency, automation, and usability.
• Maintain model calibration updates, documentation, and appropriate model configuration practices within various simulation environments, aligned with unit and program cadence.
• Collaborate with battery cell engineering, battery systems, thermal, controls, test, software, vehicle attribute, and supplier teams to resolve technical issues and support program decisions.
• Collaborate with BMS and controls teams, as needed, on model-based controls development, model requirements, and control-algorithm evaluation.

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: Mid Level