RAE Software Engineer

Ford • Dearborn, MI

13d • $115,000 - $192,900 • Hybrid

About The Position

Ford is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to lead development of core software infrastructure for next-generation Augmented Reality (AR) Head-Up Display (HUD) systems. This role focuses on low-level systems engineering, platform architecture, hardware and software integration, vehicle data ingestion, and real-time AR rendering pipelines. The engineer will work across the stack from vehicle interfaces and sensor inputs to rendering integration and system validation to help transition advanced prototypes toward production-intent systems.

Requirements

• Bachelors degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.
• 7+ years of experience in software engineering or equivalent demonstrable impact
• Strong expertise in C++ development for performance-critical systems
• 7+ years of experience with system-level programming (multi-threading, memory, IPC, etc.)
• 7+ years of experience integrating software with hardware systems or devices
• 7+ years of experience with end-to-end ownership of a complex software subsystem, including architectural definition and implementation.
• 7+ years of experience integrating software with hardware, sensors, cameras, vehicle systems, or embedded platforms.
• 7+ years of experience in work on latency-sensitive or real-time applications with an understanding of performance tradeoffs and constraints.

Nice To Haves

• PhD in Computer Science or related field
• Experience with graphics or rendering systems (Qt, OpenGL, Vulkan)
• Exposure to AR/VR, HUDs, or display systems
• Experience with vehicle networks (CAN, Ethernet)
• Familiarity with ADAS data pipelines or perception systems
• Experience in prototype-to-production technology development environments
• Linux or UNIX system experience.
• Experience with real-time rendering pipelines, shader development, and GPU performance optimization in a shipped game or interactive entertainment product
• Experience shipping performance-critical, latency-sensitive software in consumer hardware environments (console, PC, or mobile), demonstrating comfort with hardware constraints similar to automotive embedded systems

Responsibilities

• Design and develop low-level, high-performance C++ software supporting AR HUD pipelines, building and maintaining modular platform infrastructure enabling rendering pipelines, sensor/camera ingestion, and vehicle signal integration while debugging and optimizing memory for threading, and real-time performance constraints.
• Integrate platform software with real-time AR rendering stacks (e.g., Qt / OpenGL / Vulkan), supporting multi-view / autostereoscopic rendering pipelines while ensuring synchronization between rendering outputs and sensor inputs (eye tracking, cameras).
• Interface with vehicle data pipelines (CAN / Ethernet) to ingest ADAS signals, navigation / localization data, vehicle state information with LiDAR.
• Translate vehicle signals into real-time AR visualization inputs and support integration and debugging in vehicle and bench environments.
• Collaborate with lab and prototype teams to stabilize demo and test systems.
• Define and execute validation strategies for latency and timing behavior, sensor-to-render synchronization.
• Maintain stability under real-world conditions (thermal, vibration, sunlight) and identify and resolve system-level bottlenecks.
• Act as a technical owner across software + hardware boundaries working closely with Optics experts, the ADAS team, & Suppliers (e.g., display or camera vendors) to drive technical decisions, tradeoffs, and mitigate risk mitigation.
• Leverage AI-assisted coding tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, LLM-based code assistants) to accelerate C++ development, refactoring, and unit test generation for performance-critical systems.
• Leverage 3D rendering engine coding experience (e.g., Unity, Unreal Engine, or custom rendering engines) to inform shader development, scene composition, and real-time rendering optimizations within the Qt/OpenGL/Vulkan AR HUD pipeline.

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