Director of Engineering, Robotics
Ford Motor Company· startup· Automotive· Sep 2, 2026 · 2mo ago
Redford, MI, United States
In office
Full-time
Director
$200K–$250K est.
10+ years exp
Job description
We're growing fast and need a Director of Engineering to be the delivery engine of our robotics organization. Reporting directly to the Technical Director of Robotics — who owns technical and product direction and top-level architecture — you'll own how the work actually gets done: the teams, processes, and operational discipline that ship complex hardware-and-software systems on time and at quality.
This is a builder's role at a pivotal moment. You'll stand up and scale engineering teams, install the cadence and delivery practices that keep a fast-growing org predictable, and coordinate execution across hardware, software, and product. You'll work shoulder-to-shoulder with the Technical Director, translating strategy and architecture into concrete roadmaps and results. It's ideal for a strong technical leader who is energized by execution, team-building, and scale.
- Own end-to-end delivery of robotics programs — planning, timelines, milestones, and quality
- Build, structure, and scale engineering teams to keep pace with rapid growth; own hiring, performance, and development
- Install and run operational cadence: roadmaps, sprint/milestone tracking, and status reporting
- Coordinate execution across hardware, software, product, QA, and deployment/field teams
- Drive integration, test, reliability, and deployment discipline from lab to production
- Manage capacity, resourcing, and budget against commitments
- Surface risks early, remove blockers, and keep delivery predictable as the team scales
- Partner with the Technical Director to translate technical and architectural direction into executable plans
- Report delivery health and progress to the Technical Director and ATP leadership
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelors Degree in Engineering or equivalent experience
- 10+ years of professional engineering experience
- 5+ years leading and managing engineering teams
Preferred Qualifications
- Proven track record shipping complex robotics or hardware-plus-software systems to production or field
- Background in robotics or an adjacent domain (autonomy, mechatronics, embedded, controls, or systems engineering)
- Strong operational and program-management skills — you make delivery predictable
- Technically credible enough to guide architecture-level decisions, while choosing to focus on execution
- Excellent cross-functional communication and stakeholder management
- Bachelor's or advanced degree in a relevant engineering field, or equivalent experience
- Nice to have: startup/scale-up experience, manufacturing or production ramp, and field-deployment operations
Application prep
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- Platform
- eightfold
- Effort
- medium