Tech Anchor

Ford • Dearborn, MI

4d • 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.
Enterprise Technology plays a critical part in shaping the future of mobility. If you’re looking for the chance to leverage advanced technology to redefine the transportation landscape, enhance the customer experience and improve people’s lives, this is the opportunity for you. Join us and challenge your IT expertise and analytical skills to help create vehicles that are as smart as you are.
In this position...
We are seeking a highly skilled and visionary Tech Anchor to serve as the technical heart of our team. In this pivotal role, you will be responsible for the technical integrity, architectural direction, and long-term health of our products. You won't just be writing code; you will be shaping the technical roadmap, mentoring a talented group of engineers, and ensuring we build scalable, high-quality solutions that move the business forward.
As the Tech Anchor, you are the bridge between product vision and technical execution, working closely with leadership and cross-functional partners to solve our most complex challenges.
You will be the technical architect behind a multi-year transformation, leading the charge as we migrate our core Legacy Customer and Account platforms into a modern, Event-Driven ecosystem using GCP, Firestore, and BigQuery.

Requirements

• 5+ years of professional software development experience with a proven track record of delivering complex systems.
• Expert-level proficiency in Java/Spring Boot (or your primary language) for building high-performance, scalable RESTful APIs.
• Cloud Native Data: Hands-on experience with Google Cloud Platform (GCP) services, specifically Firestore (NoSQL/Document), BigQuery (Analytics/Data Warehousing), and Cloud SQL/PostgreSQL.
• Legacy Data Systems: Strong SQL skills with experience navigating and extracting data from legacy relational databases like DB2.
• Event-Driven Systems: Deep understanding of asynchronous messaging and streaming platforms (e.g., Google Pub/Sub, Kafka) to support our EDA (Event-Driven Architecture) framework.
• Modern DevOps: Proficiency with CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Tekton), containerization (Kubernetes/GKE), and automated testing frameworks (TDD/JUnit).
• Technical Debt Management: Ability to balance the "Run the Business" needs of 5 legacy apps while aggressively driving the modernization roadmap for the Customer and Account platform.
• API First Design: Experience implementing and enforcing OpenAPI/Swagger standards across a distributed ecosystem.
• Data Modeling: Expertise in both relational (PostgreSQL/DB2) and non-relational (Firestore) data modeling, with an understanding of when to use each for optimal performance.
• Security & Identity: Understanding of OAuth2, OIDC, and IAM roles, especially as they relate to sensitive customer and account data.

Nice To Haves

• A track record of conducting high-quality code reviews and architectural "office hours" to upskill junior developers.
• Performance Tuning: Experience troubleshooting latency and bottlenecks in a hybrid environment where modern APIs may still depend on legacy backends.
• Leadership: Demonstrated experience leading technical initiatives or mentoring other developers.
• Communication: Ability to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders and influence decision-making at all levels.

Responsibilities

• Technical Leadership: Serve as the primary technical authority for the team after the Engineering Manager. Work with EM to drive architectural decisions, perform deep-dive technical analysis, and ensure the team is using the right tools and patterns for the job.
• Mentorship & Growth: Actively mentor and coach engineers (including GSR7s and junior talent) to level up their technical skills and foster a culture of continuous learning and excellence.
• Code Quality & Standards: Set and maintain high standards for code quality, testing, and documentation. Lead code reviews and promote best practices like TDD, CI/CD, and Clean Code.
• Strategic Planning: Partner with the Product Owner and LL6 Manager to define the technical roadmap, manage technical debt, and ensure our architecture supports future growth.
• Hands-on Execution: Lead by example by tackling the most complex "first-of-a-kind" features and technical spikes, providing a blueprint for the rest of the team to follow.
• Cross-Team Collaboration: Represent the team in broader technical forums, ensuring our systems integrate seamlessly with the wider Ford Credit ecosystem

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
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees