Sr. Systems Development Engineer

Ford • Dearborn, MI

1d

About The Position

The Software Product Engineer (SPE) is the feature delivery lead within in-vehicle infotainment responsible for translating product and design intent into executable software backlogs and driving delivery across the in-vehicle digital experience, supporting middleware/services, and vehicle integration. This role has broad organizational influence across Product Management, Digital Product Design, engineering scrum teams, and testing to ensure feature readiness, integration quality, and release outcomes. The SPE is accountable for cross-team alignment, dependency and risk management, and integrated validation from concept through launch. This leadership role drives predictable program execution, customer-ready feature quality, and on-time delivery to vehicle platforms.
In this role, the SPE will own Driver Information HMI, including layouts, animations, themes, drive modes, and feature integration across our Build, Thrill, and Adventure domains. This SPE will also be responsible for our Welcome & Farewell screen experiences across in-vehicle displays.

Requirements

• 5+ years (or equivalent) delivering complex, cross-functional software features in embedded, automotive, or adjacent domains; demonstrated ownership across multiple teams and releases.
• Proven ability to author high-quality epics and user stories (clear scope, testable acceptance criteria, dependency mapping) and drive Agile execution (grooming, PI planning, sprint delivery).
• Ability to reason about end-to-end behavior across HMI ↔ middleware/services ↔ vehicle signal access (via API abstraction) and drive integration/validation outcomes.
• Strong technical depth to lead engineers—comfortable with architecture discussions, interface contracts, and failure-mode thinking.
• Experience leading defect triage using logs and traces (e.g., ADB/dev logs; CAN trace familiarity) and driving disciplined prioritization/closure.
• Proficiency with Jira and Confluence; comfortable creating traceability to requirements/design artifacts and managing dependencies.
• Strong cross-functional leadership skills—can drive decisions, align stakeholders, and communicate risks/status crisply to technical and non-technical audiences.
• BS in Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical field (or equivalent practical experience).

Nice To Haves

• Direct experience with QNX/Android Automotive, infotainment HMIs and Figma.
• Familiarity with CAN-based feature behaviors and vehicle state modeling; exposure to tools such as CANalyzer/Wireshark (or similar).
• Background in driver-focused feature areas.
• Experience with test management tools and reviewing test coverage against acceptance criteria.
• Knowledge of automotive program cadence and release gating (launch milestones, OTA readiness, in-field defect handling).

Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end delivery for a number of vehicle features sets from concept through release sign-off.
• Translate PRDs, design artifacts, and system requirements into epics and sprint-ready user stories with clear acceptance criteria in Jira.
• Lead feasibility assessment, scope definition, and backlog readiness for PI planning; manage change/churn while protecting milestones.
• Drive cross-functional alignment with Product, Digital Product Design, Architecture, Engineering, and Test to ensure shared understanding of intent, priorities, and dependencies.
• Define and manage feature dependencies and blockers across HMI, services, platform, and validation.
• Validate end-to-end feature behavior on bench/vehicle through demos and product truth sessions; ensure implementation matches UX intent and functional expectations.
• Lead defect triage and prioritization for owned features; drive issues to closure through root-cause direction, retest strategy, and stakeholder communication.
• Maintain clear execution visibility via epic status summaries, risk registers/mitigation plans, and regular stakeholder updates.
• Ensure test coverage alignment by reviewing/confirming that test cases map to story acceptance criteria and key edge cases.

What This Job Offers

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