Technical Placement Manager

Ford Motor • Allen Park, MI

2d • Remote

About The Position

Technical Placement Manager Remote with 50% travel nationwide 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. What you'll do... The Technical Placement Manager (TPM) provides strategic leadership for a national team of approximately 65 personnel—comprising 5 Market Area Coordinators and 60 Technical Placement Specialists—dedicated to optimizing innovative strategies (i.e., - technician recruitment and retention) for the Ford and Lincoln Dealer Network. In this role, the TPM orchestrates high-level coordination and strategic planning with dealers, technicians, vendors, and internal stakeholders to meet objectives. By analyzing market trends and leveraging strategic partners, the TPM designs and implements robust sourcing strategies that align the "Always On" hiring model with an unwavering focus on technician retention within the Ford and Lincoln networks. Team Leadership & Development: Lead, coach, and develop a national field team to drive performance against key business metrics Establish a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and measurable results Strategy & Execution: Design and execute national strategies for technician recruiting, retention, and recognition Align workforce initiatives with broader dealer network and organizational goals Data & Insights: Own the end-to-end data and analytics strategy for technician recruiting, retention, and workforce performance, ensuring decisions are grounded in measurable outcomes and aligned to business objectives Own the end-to-end financial strategy and performance ensuring decisions are fiduciarily responsible Aggregate, analyze, and synthesize data across multiple systems to evaluate program effectiveness and identify gaps in the technician and dealer pipeline Develop and maintain advanced KPI frameworks that go beyond activity metrics to measure true business impact, including technician/dealer readiness, retention quality, hiring efficiency, and long-term workforce sustainability Translate complex and often fragmented data into clear, compelling narratives that articulate the “story” of workforce performance, influencing senior leadership, dealer partners, and cross-functional stakeholders Identify trends, risks, and opportunities through proactive data analysis, using insights to inform recruiting strategies, retention initiatives, and resource allocation decisions Partner with field teams and vendors to ensure data integrity, consistency, and actionable reporting, driving accountability across all stakeholders Leverage insights to continuously refine and evolve processes, ensuring programs are adaptive, scalable, and responsive to changing market dynamics Establish a forward-looking workforce intelligence approach, using data to anticipate future technician demand, capacity constraints, and skill gaps Drive a culture of data fluency and accountability across the organization, enabling teams to make informed, insight-driven decisions at all levels Process Development & Implementation: Build and implement scalable processes to improve consistency, efficiency, and outcomes Lead training and rollout efforts to ensure adoption and sustained execution across the field Vendor & Field Services Management: Manage key vendor relationships, ensuring performance, accountability, and ROI Oversee field-based service delivery and lead Quarterly Business Reviews Talent Acquisition & Hiring Leadership: Guide and influence best-in-class hiring practices across the network Support talent selection, onboarding, and workforce planning efforts Field Engagement & Market Intelligence: Identify opportunities through dealer visits, market insights, and industry engagement Support technician recruiting and recognition initiatives at the local and national level Training & Onboarding: Develop and enhance onboarding and training programs for field teams Partner with vendors to ensure successful enablement and performance ramp-up

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required
• 10+ years of experience in workforce strategy, field operations, recruiting, or related functions, including 7+ years of direct experience working with field-based or dealership teams.
• 7+ years of experience leading, coaching, and developing high-performing, distributed teams, driving measurable business results.
• Strong understanding of dealership Parts and Service operations, including technician productivity, service capacity, and workforce planning.
• Advanced analytical skills, with experience aggregating, interpreting, and synthesizing complex data into actionable insights; able to leverage AI tools to optimize recruiting, retention, and workforce processes.
• Skilled in translating complex data into compelling narratives to influence senior leadership, cross-functional teams, and dealership partners.
• Demonstrated success in process development, implementation, and training rollout across distributed teams, ensuring adoption and measurable outcomes.
• Experience managing external vendors and field-based service providers with accountability for performance, ROI, and operational results.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in a relevant field.
• 12+ years of hands-on experience in automotive service ecosystems, including dealer operations, service engineering, warranty/claims, and field quality management
• Experience managing field quality concerns, including issue investigation, containment, and resolution.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop a national field team to drive performance against key business metrics
• Establish a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and measurable results
• Design and execute national strategies for technician recruiting, retention, and recognition
• Align workforce initiatives with broader dealer network and organizational goals
• Own the end-to-end data and analytics strategy for technician recruiting, retention, and workforce performance, ensuring decisions are grounded in measurable outcomes and aligned to business objectives
• Own the end-to-end financial strategy and performance ensuring decisions are fiduciarily responsible
• Aggregate, analyze, and synthesize data across multiple systems to evaluate program effectiveness and identify gaps in the technician and dealer pipeline
• Develop and maintain advanced KPI frameworks that go beyond activity metrics to measure true business impact, including technician/dealer readiness, retention quality, hiring efficiency, and long-term workforce sustainability
• Translate complex and often fragmented data into clear, compelling narratives that articulate the “story” of workforce performance, influencing senior leadership, dealer partners, and cross-functional stakeholders
• Identify trends, risks, and opportunities through proactive data analysis, using insights to inform recruiting strategies, retention initiatives, and resource allocation decisions
• Partner with field teams and vendors to ensure data integrity, consistency, and actionable reporting, driving accountability across all stakeholders
• Leverage insights to continuously refine and evolve processes, ensuring programs are adaptive, scalable, and responsive to changing market dynamics
• Establish a forward-looking workforce intelligence approach, using data to anticipate future technician demand, capacity constraints, and skill gaps
• Drive a culture of data fluency and accountability across the organization, enabling teams to make informed, insight-driven decisions at all levels
• Build and implement scalable processes to improve consistency, efficiency, and outcomes
• Lead training and rollout efforts to ensure adoption and sustained execution across the field
• Manage key vendor relationships, ensuring performance, accountability, and ROI
• Oversee field-based service delivery and lead Quarterly Business Reviews
• Guide and influence best-in-class hiring practices across the network
• Support talent selection, onboarding, and workforce planning efforts
• Identify opportunities through dealer visits, market insights, and industry engagement
• Support technician recruiting and recognition initiatives at the local and national level
• Develop and enhance onboarding and training programs for field teams
• Partner with vendors to ensure successful enablement and performance ramp-up

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