Sr. Staff Embedded Controls Engineer Body Controls

Ford Motor • Palo Alto, CA

4d • Hybrid

About The Position

Ford Motor Company is seeking a Sr. Staff Embedded Controls Engineer for Body Controls in Palo Alto, California. This is a hybrid position, with work performed both from home and at the worksite; employees must live within a reasonable commuting distance.

The role develops control and estimation algorithms for body-control features such as window control, closure systems, and lighting. It leads the design and integration of body-control hardware on electrical test assets, collaborates with software integration teams, contributes to functional-safety analyses, and develops test plans and validation strategies. The engineer also authors subsystem block diagrams and leads subsystem reviews throughout vehicle program development. Early firmware development focuses on hardware validation, lab-car testing, and establishing automation frameworks for unit, SIL, and HIL testing. Domestic travel of up to 10% is required.

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 using 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.

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 electrical test assets, including benches, bucks, labcars, and vehicles.
• Collaborate with software integration teams to bring up core functions and communicate software-level requirements to electrical hardware and systems teams.
• Apply functional-safety principles and participate in safety analyses of complex vehicle subsystems.
• Develop test plans and test firmware functionality, stability, and performance under various conditions, including low-power modes.
• Lead body-controls feature development across hardware, software, architecture, and other teams; author feature boundary diagrams and validation strategies.
• Author subsystem block diagrams and lead subsystem reviews through vehicle program development phases.
• Validate hardware, conduct labcar testing, and establish automation frameworks for unit, SIL, and HIL testing during early firmware development.

Benefits

• Immediate medical, dental, and prescription drug coverage.
• Flexible family care, parental leave, new-parent ramp-up programs, and subsidized backup childcare.
• 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.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior