Supervisor-Foundation Brake Development

Ford • Livonia, MI

2d • $115,500 - $218,100 • Hybrid

About The Position

The Foundation Brake Development Supervisor leads Ford's North American Foundation Brake Development organization and is responsible for the engineering leadership, technical direction, and personnel development of a team of Brake Development Engineers responsible for foundation brake systems across the North American vehicle portfolio. This position is onsite-non Ford, i.e. Link Engineering in Dearborn.
This position serves as the organization's technical leader for brake system development, testing, problem resolution, and launch sign-off activities. The role provides leadership for vehicle-level brake performance development and acts as Ford's subject matter expert for Brake Pedal Feel while leading the Brake Pedal Feel Technical Design Review process. The position also provides technical direction to purchased-services personnel responsible for physical brake testing activities.
As a leader within a safety-critical, FMVSS- and ECE-regulated discipline, the Foundation Brake Development Supervisor is responsible for exercising engineering judgment, interpreting test results, directing problem-solving activities, and ensuring brake systems achieve quality, timing, cost, customer satisfaction, and regulatory compliance objectives. This position also provides support for Warranty Taskforce investigations, Technical Specialist and Subject Matter Expert activities, Total Value Management initiatives, vehicle launches, field actions, and annual Brake Engineering business planning.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Automotive Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related technical discipline.
• 10 years of overall automotive product development experience.
• 5+ years of chassis or brake system development.

Nice To Haves

• Master's degree in Engineering, Engineering Management, or Business Administration.
• Experience leading engineering teams, technical projects, or complex cross-functional programs.
• Strong understanding of vehicle development processes, validation methodologies, and engineering release systems.
• Experience interpreting physical test data and applying engineering judgment to complex technical issues.
• Knowledge of automotive safety, regulatory, and compliance requirements.
• Proven ability to drive technical decisions and deliver results in a fast-paced product development environment.
• Strong leadership, communication, coaching, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities across vehicle programs while balancing quality, cost, timing, and performance objectives.
• Direct experience in establishing forward model DVPs including successful milestone delivery and launch.
• Proven experience in tuning brake pedal feel and expert evaluating skills.
• Proven experience in vehicle NVH evaluations (high and low frequency noise).
• Knowledge of or direct experience in D&R brake activities.
• Expertise and experience in delivering flawless FMVSS Compliance Demonstration Reports.
• Vehicle hands-on experience (changing brakes, other mechanic work).
• Experience in flashing EBB units, debugging DTCs and creating Driver Brake Request tables for pedal feel tuning.
• Direct experience with foundation brake systems, brake performance, brake pedal feel development, or vehicle dynamics.
• Experience supporting FMVSS and/or ECE compliance activities.
• Knowledge of brake testing methodologies and vehicle launch processes.
• Experience supporting Warranty Taskforce, Technical Specialist, quality, or field-action investigations.
• Experience managing engineering budgets, purchased-services activities, or supplier technical relationships.
• Six Sigma, DFSS, or other structured problem-solving certifications.
• Tier II Driving certification.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Brake Development Engineers responsible for North American foundation brake development.
• Oversee the creation of all vehicle level DVPs for Forward Model program, quality actions, TVM action and other projects.
• Establish and defend TPV and DCV prototype counts to achieve the milestone delivery.
• Manage Link Engineering resources to balance priorities, reduce testing costs and continuously improve the joint Ford / Link team efficiency.
• Establish technical priorities, staffing plans, and workload balancing across multiple vehicle programs.
• Lead vehicle-level brake system development, validation, and engineering sign-off activities.
• Ensure compliance with FMVSS, ECE, and Ford engineering requirements.
• Serve as Ford's subject matter expert for Brake Pedal Feel and lead the Brake Pedal Feel Technical Design Review process.
• Direct vehicle testing strategies and provide engineering oversight for purchased-services testing personnel.
• Interpret vehicle test results and lead cross-functional root-cause investigations involving brake performance, customer attributes, regulatory compliance, quality, durability, and launch concerns.
• Drive achievement of program milestones (TDC and PEC), launch readiness, quality objectives, and customer satisfaction metrics.
• Support Warranty Taskforce activities, field investigations, Technical Specialist requests, and brake-related corrective actions.
• Lead value optimization and Total Value Management initiatives while maintaining performance and safety requirements.
• Develop and execute annual Brake Engineering budget plans and resource forecasts.
• Communicate technical status, program risks, and mitigation strategies to engineering and senior leadership.
• Develop organizational capability through succession planning, mentoring, and technical talent development.

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: Manager