Vehicle Systems Development Engineer

Ford Motor Company • Dearborn, MI

4d • $99,600 - $166,600 • Hybrid

About The Position

In this position, Ford Motor Company believes freedom of movement drives human progress and offers opportunities to accelerate career potential while defining tomorrow’s transportation. The Systems Integration position involves hands-on work with embedded hardware, automotive & robotics sensors, and industrial networking equipment, as well as the software interfaces between these components. This is a highly cross-functional role with responsibilities spanning embedded hardware, sensors, electronics, and software. The role involves working with a tight-knit, cross-functional team to drive the development of Ford ADAS & Autonomy Technology. The ideal candidate is a highly motivated, learning-minded, and self-starting individual with a desire to grow their skill set across multiple domains.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering or related fields
• 5+ years of hands-on experience in embedded systems, robotic systems, and/or automotive sensor technologies (camera, RADAR, LiDAR), including systems integration of complex hardware and software platforms.
• Experience working with Linux, Embedded Linux, QNX or similar UNIX-like OS
• Experience writing C, C++, and/or Python code in a production environment
• Working knowledge of basic circuitry and experience with electrical tooling (soldering, multimeters, cable testers, power supplies, oscilloscopes)

Nice To Haves

• Advanced degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering or related fields
• Exceptional communication skills and the ability to concisely communicate complex ideas.
• Proven ability to work effectively across hardware, software, validation and systems engineering teams.
• Experience breadboarding, rapid-prototyping, and working with electrical components
• Experience working with external APIs/SDKs and writing software to interface with them
• Working knowledge of software development tools, build systems, and compilers like Git, Jira, Docker, CMake, Bazel, and GCC/G++
• Working knowledge of computer architecture, components, and local area networking (LAN)
• Working knowledge of communication interfaces and protocols including UART, SPI, I2C, RS-232, CAN/CAN-FD, automotive Ethernet, and SerDes (e.g., FPD-Link, GMSL), as well as GPS/GNSS and time synchronization protocols (NTP, PTP, PPS, NMEA).
• Strong Linux skills, including CLI-only interfacing, debugging and root-causing faults via kernel/system logs, configuring system services and udev rules, and writing bash scripts to automate repeatable processes — along with experience across x86 and ARM architectures and working knowledge of computer architecture, components, and local area networking (LAN).

Responsibilities

• Work with, configure, troubleshoot, and test embedded hardware, networking hardware, sensors (camera, RADAR, LiDAR, etc.) and power systems.
• Work within Linux, Embedded Linux, and/or QNX environments to configure devices, and profile software performance & resource utilization on embedded compute platforms.
• Gain high-level familiarity with the entire software stack to troubleshoot systems, generate hardware requirements, and develop software to interface between different devices.
• Generate requirements to drive the development of new hardware and help architect complex systems.
• Interface with every functional group and be a key enabler for developing complex and robust ADAS features.
• Learn and maintain a high-level understanding of our hardware and software platform(s).
• Perform both high- and low-level systems analysis, evaluation, integration, documentation, and implementation of very complex applications that require a thorough knowledge of the hardware and software platforms.
• Work with embedded hardware and automotive sensors to perform rapid prototyping, breadboarding, experimentation, testing, debugging, and validation.
• Use and/or develop tools on Linux/Embedded Linux/QNX to profile the performance, resource utilization and latency of our software.
• Develop hardware and software requirements based on understanding of physical, environmental, power, and software constraints.
• Work with suppliers to develop new and/or custom hardware to meet requirements.
• Work with suppliers to evaluate, test, and integrate new hardware and sensors, which typically involves understanding supplier APIs/SDKs and developing software in C/C++/Python to interface with the hardware.
• Quickly become the local expert on hardware being worked with and document learnings and processes to share knowledge with the team.
• Present complex technology and procedures to both technical and non-technical audiences.

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