Staff Embedded Controls Engineer, Vehicle Motion

Ford Motor Company • Palo Alto, CA

2d • $150,200 - $283,500 • Hybrid

About The Position

Ford Motor Company is seeking a highly skilled and experienced Staff Embedded Controls Software Engineer to develop a next-generation centralized vehicle motion control system. The role focuses on embedded development for complex, distributed, safety-critical systems and on developing math- and physics-based control strategies for vehicle motion, including lateral and longitudinal dynamics. The position is hybrid; candidates within commuting distance of a Ford hub location may be required to work onsite four or more days per week.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Computer Science, with evidence of exceptional ability, or equivalent.
• At least 6 years of experience with embedded control systems such as chassis systems, VCM, or similar dynamic functions.
• At least 6 years of experience with electrical hardware applications, prototype bring-up, and systems development.
• At least 6 years of experience with vehicle network protocols such as CAN, LIN, and Automotive Ethernet.
• At least 6 years of experience with C, Python, Git, Bazel, CANape, and RTOS.
• Strong electrical engineering fundamentals and hands-on experience with electrical test equipment such as oscilloscopes, DMMs, signal generators, and power supplies.
• At least 4 years of experience using embedded networking interface tools in automotive, aerospace, or a similar field.
• Working knowledge of systems development, vehicle architecture, battery technologies, software and hardware tool development, motor calibration technologies, OBD calibration, functional safety, networking, and diagnostics processes.
• Experience creating and executing component-level test procedures and owning all test results.
• Legally authorized to work in the United States; employment eligibility verification is required at hire.

Nice To Haves

• Highly collaborative mindset and strong communication skills.
• Experience developing vehicle dynamic features such as hill hold, stability controls, anti-lock braking, park assist, cruise control, or adaptive cruise control.
• Experience with software build tools such as Bazel, SCons, or CMake.
• Experience with fundamental PCB hardware components and their analysis tools.
• Ability to write testing scripts in scripting languages such as Python.
• Fluency in software fundamentals, including software design and maintainability.
• Hands-on experience in hardware bring-up, system debugging, and code optimization.
• Knowledge of electrical engineering fundamentals, including circuit analysis and design.

Responsibilities

• Create and implement control strategies for vehicle motion attributes and functions, including lateral and longitudinal vehicle dynamics.
• Work with suppliers to define functions and interfaces for third-party components, supporting consolidation and integration into the centralized vehicle motion control system.
• 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 varied conditions.
• Author subsystem block diagrams and lead subsystem reviews throughout vehicle program development phases.
• Collaborate with system integration leads to capture component-level requirements, provide subject-matter expertise in sourcing discussions, and collect and approve Device Transmittals.
• Support early firmware development through hardware validation, lab-car testing, and setup of automation frameworks for unit, SIL, and HIL testing.
• Create and execute component-level test procedures and take ownership of test results.

Benefits

• Immediate medical, dental, vision, and prescription drug coverage.
• Flexible family care days, paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, and subsidized backup child care.
• Family-building benefits, including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement and fertility treatments.
• 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