Sr Staff - Technical Program Manager - IVI

Ford • Palo Alto, CA

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

We made history and now we work to transform the future – for our customers, our communities and our families. You'll see your work on the road every day, helping people move freely and pursue their dreams. At Ford, you can build more than vehicles. Come build what matters.

Ford’s Electric Vehicles, Digital and Design (EVDD) team is charged with delivering the company’s vision of a fully electric transportation future. EVDD is customer-obsessed, entrepreneurial, and data-driven and is dedicated to delivering industry-leading customer experience for electric vehicle buyers and owners. You’ll join an agile team of doers pioneering our EV future by working collaboratively, staying focused on only what matters, and delivering excellence day in and day out. Join us to make positive change by helping build a better world where every person is free to move and pursue their dreams.
In this position...
The Platform Architecture Engineering team is looking for a Senior Staff Technical Program Manager to work on our next generation Infotainment Platform Software that enables true "Software Defined Vehicle (SDV)". In this high impact role, you will work cross functionally with the Product Development, Hardware Design, System Integration, Verification and Validation, Embedded Firmware and Controls, Digital Apps and Frameworks, External Software and Hardware vendors. You will bridge the gap between complex hardware bring-up and consumer-facing software, ensuring our platform is as scalable as it is innovative.
You will be expected to pivot quickly on new ideas. Failing fast will be normal. We are looking for a leader who thrives in 'bringing order from chaos.' If you are a hands-on expert in building high-quality systems at scale and have a passion for solving intricate technical challenges through rigorous Agile methodologies, you will find a home here.

Requirements

• B.S. in Electrical, Computer Engineering, Computer Science or equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.
• 15+ years of experience in project, program or product management in software.
• 5+ years of experience in software development or testing.

Nice To Haves

• M.S. in Electrical, Computer Engineering or Computer Science.
• M.B.A.
• PMP Certification.
• Scrum master Certification.
• Experienced in using JIRA, Jama and Confluence.
• Experience negotiating with hardware and software vendors.
• Experience in Automotive domain.
• Experience in Embedded Software domain.
• Experience in consumer electronics domain.
• Experience in Automotive Infotainment domain.

Responsibilities

• Provide software development process and project within the IVI Team (In-Vehicle-Infotainment Team).
• Identify potential risks in development and assess program impact, work with Engineering managers to mitigate risk
• Cross-functional and cross-team coordination and communication to help deliver committed project outcomes.
• Work closely with software engineers, system engineers, testing engineers, and product managers throughout the project lifecycle.
• Manage project schedules, identify blockers, potential issues and incongruencies, and clearly communicate them to stakeholders.
• Drive the design and implementation of lean engineering processes and Atlassian-based toolchains to automate reporting and increase transparency across the software development lifecycle
• Lead external vendors on timelines and deliverables and take responsibility for milestone coordination between internal and external releases.
• Drive several technical projects across vehicle software domains, helping set priorities for engineering.
• Ensure all Vehicle Access workstreams (Digital Key, Immobilizer) align with ISO 26262 functional safety standards, balancing rapid feature delivery with safety-critical rigor.
• The main topics to cover will be Vehicle Access (key card, Digital Key. Immobilizer) in the RTD team, feature validation planning in the QA team and coordinating the flow from software release to deployment for manufacturing

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
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees