Sr. Staff Embedded Controls Engineer Body Controls
About The Position
Ford Motor Company is seeking a Sr. Staff Embedded Controls Engineer for its Body Controls team in Palo Alto, California. This hybrid position requires the employee to live within a reasonable commuting distance of the worksite. The engineer will develop control and estimation algorithms for body-control features such as window control, closure systems, and lighting, and lead the design and integration of body-controls hardware on electrical test assets, including benches, bucks, lab cars, and vehicles. The role collaborates with software integration teams to bring up core functions and communicate software-level requirements to electrical hardware and systems teams. It applies functional-safety principles and supports safety analyses of complex vehicle subsystems. The engineer develops test plans and validates firmware functionality, stability, and performance under varied conditions, including low-power modes. The engineer leads cross-functional body-controls feature development, authors feature-boundary diagrams and validation strategies, and creates subsystem block diagrams. The role also leads subsystem reviews throughout vehicle-program development. Early firmware-development work focuses on hardware validation, lab-car testing, and establishing automation for unit, software-in-the-loop (SIL), and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing. Domestic travel is required up to 10%.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree or foreign equivalent in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
- 10 years of progressive, post-baccalaureate experience in the job offered or a related occupation.
- 10 years of experience conducting firmware code reviews using C and analyzing diverse code paths to develop detailed test plans.
- 10 years of experience with testing equipment including oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, spectrum analyzers, network analyzers, and digital multimeters.
- 10 years of experience converting initial design requirements into clear, actionable functional specifications.
- 10 years of experience leveraging CI/CD pipelines to integrate software changes and deploy shipping software.
- 10 years of experience working between hardware and software components using Python and C.
- 10 years of experience testing firmware functionality using automation toolchains.
- 9 years of experience using vehicle network protocols including CAN and LIN.
- Must be legally authorized to work in the United States; employment eligibility will be verified at hire.
- Must live within a reasonable commuting distance of the Palo Alto worksite.
Responsibilities
- Create control and estimation algorithms for body-control features such as window control, closure systems, and lighting.
- Lead the design and integration of body-controls hardware components on benches, bucks, lab cars, and vehicles.
- Collaborate with software integration teams to bring up core functions and communicate software-level requirements to electrical hardware and systems teams.
- Participate in functional-safety analyses of complex vehicle subsystems.
- Develop comprehensive test plans and test firmware functionality, stability, and performance under varied conditions, including low-power modes.
- Lead body-controls feature development across hardware, software, architecture, and other teams.
- Author feature-boundary diagrams, validation strategies, and subsystem block diagrams.
- Lead subsystem reviews through all vehicle-program development phases.
- Perform hardware validation and lab-car testing during early firmware development.
- Set up automation frameworks for unit, SIL, and HIL testing.
Benefits
- Immediate medical, dental, and prescription drug coverage.
- Flexible family care, parental leave, new-parent ramp-up programs, and subsidized backup child care.
- Vehicle discount program for employees and family members, and management leases.
- Tuition assistance.
- Employee resource groups.
- Paid time off for individual and team community service.
- Paid holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Year's Day.
- Paid time off and the option to purchase additional vacation time.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
