Staff Product Manager - 3D Print & Additive Mfg

Ford • Dearborn, MI

8d • $115,500 - $218,100 • Hybrid

About The Position

Ford's Advanced Industrial Technology & Platforms (ATP) team is building scalable additive manufacturing (3D print) products and platform capabilities to reimagine how Ford designs, prototypes, and produces parts—spanning polymer and metal processes across prototyping, tooling, spare parts, production parts, and performance applications including Ford Racing. As a Staff Product Manager, Additive Manufacturing, you will set product direction and drive delivery for additive manufacturing solutions from discovery through pilot and scale—leading through influence across engineering, manufacturing, quality, IT, cybersecurity, and suppliers.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in engineering or equivalent experience (8+).
• 5-8+ years of experience in product management and/or technical delivery for complex technical products (hardware/software/system + operational deployment).
• Background as an engineer earlier in your career, bringing hands-on technical depth to product decisions alongside strong product management skills.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and align cross-functional teams at scale, driving decisions and outcomes through influence.
• Strong requirements and execution discipline: ability to translate ambiguous problems into crisp scope, measurable success criteria, and release plans.
• Experience using data and operational feedback to prioritize, iterate, and improve product performance over time.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to engage effectively with both executive stakeholders and engineering teams.
• Willingness to travel approximately 10-20% to plants, Ford Racing facilities, and supplier sites.

Nice To Haves

• Experience delivering additive manufacturing systems in real-world deployments across polymer and/or metal processes (e.g., FDM/FFF, SLA, SLS, DMLS/metal powder bed fusion, binder jetting, directed energy deposition).
• Experience taking products from discovery to prototype to pilot to scaled rollout across multiple sites, including change management and operational readiness.
• Familiarity with additive manufacturing platform concepts: build preparation/slicing software, material qualification, process parameters, post-processing workflows, part inspection, and digital-thread traceability.
• Strong understanding of reliability/serviceability practices (telemetry, failure modes, spares strategy, maintainability, support playbooks) for industrial printing equipment.
• Experience with quality and standards practices relevant to additive manufacturing (process validation, part qualification, risk assessments, change control).
• Vendor/supplier management experience (RFx support, supplier scorecards, roadmap alignment, performance management) across printer OEMs and material suppliers.
• Experience supporting motorsports, performance, or rapid-prototyping environments with demanding turnaround requirements.
• MBA or Master's degree in engineering, materials science, or a related field.

Responsibilities

• Set the product strategy and multi-release roadmap for ATP additive manufacturing, balancing immediate operational wins with platform scalability and long-term architecture across both polymer and metal technologies.
• Lead discovery with plant, engineering, and Ford Racing partners to identify high-value use cases across prototyping, tooling, spare parts, and production parts; define personas, workflows, constraints, and measurable outcomes.
• Own the creation and quality of product requirements (PRDs, user stories, acceptance criteria), ensuring they span machine and material behavior, software integration, quality/inspection, and operational readiness.
• Drive cross-functional execution with engineering: prioritize backlogs, define MVP scope, manage tradeoffs, and deliver releases that perform in real industrial and racing environments.
• Define and monitor product KPIs such as machine uptime/availability, print success rate, throughput and cycle-time impact, cost-per-part, material utilization, deployment lead time, and total cost of ownership.
• Lead pilot-to-scale planning: site selection, rollout playbooks, training, support model, and post-deployment iteration based on machine telemetry and operator feedback.
• Influence technical and business decisions across stakeholders—aligning on architecture choices, equipment and material sourcing approaches, and the operating model (support, monitoring, maintenance, calibration).
• Partner with Purchasing and suppliers to evaluate printer, material, and software solutions and shape vendor roadmaps; establish clear performance expectations and accountability mechanisms.
• Define requirements for the digital thread connecting design and simulation, slicing/build preparation, production execution, inspection, and part traceability.
• Create a forward path for platform evolution across polymer and metal additive technologies while ensuring today's decisions don't block tomorrow's capabilities.
• Work across other ATP verticals and build print products on a common manufacturing platform.

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: Senior