Job description

In this position... The Senior Manager, Business Operations, Ford Energy will serve as a people leader and the primary connective force driving Ford Energy's stand-up as an independent business unit. Reporting to the Director, Business Operations, Ford Energy, this person will lead and develop a team of business operations professionals while personally owning the alignment between Business Integration and Systems Integration workstreams — ensuring business process design, operational structure, and technology implementation move forward as one coordinated effort. This role carries direct accountability for execution outcomes across the business, not just process design: setting team priorities, removing roadblocks, holding workstreams accountable to milestones, and representing Business Operations in senior cross-functional forums. This is a foundational leadership role with significant opportunity to grow in scope and influence as Ford Energy scales. What you'll do... Reporting Line & Scope Reports to: Director, Business Operations, Ford Energy. Direct reports: Leads a team of one business operations professional (analysts/managers) supporting Business Integration and Systems Integration workstreams along with overall enterprise governance. Key partners: Ford Energy Systems Integration leadership; corporate function leads across finance, HR, legal, supply chain, and IT. Scope: Owns the cross-functional business process stand-up spanning finance, HR, legal, supply chain, IT, and corporate integration — acting as the connective tissue and single point of accountability that keeps Business Integration and Systems Integration workstreams synchronized and moving together. Key Responsibilities: • People Leadership: Build, lead, and develop a team of business operations professionals; set clear priorities, provide coaching and performance feedback, and create a high-accountability team culture. • Business & Systems Integration Alignment: Act as the connective tissue between Business Integration and Systems Integration teams, ensuring business process design directly informs system requirements and system implementation supports business readiness — resolving misalignment before it becomes risk. • Execution Ownership: Drive execution of business process design, implementation, and governance workstreams end to end, holding cross-functional teams and own team accountable for milestones, dependencies, and decisions. • Business Process Design: Partner with stakeholders across finance, HR, legal, supply chain, IT, and other functions to map current-state processes and design and implement the future-state, end-to-end business processes Ford Energy needs to operate as a standalone business. • Operational Structure & Governance: Define and stand up the operational structures, decision rights, and governance forums needed for Ford Energy to run independently. • Corporate Integration: Own coordination of integration points between Ford Energy and Ford's broader corporate functions, ensuring new processes align with policy, controls, and reporting needs. • Implementation & Change Management: Lead the rollout of new processes, including documentation, stakeholder communication, training, and readiness activities. • Program Tracking & Reporting: Own tracking of stand-up workstreams, risks, issues, and decisions; deliver clear, concise, and influential updates to senior leadership. • Stakeholder & Influence Management: Build and leverage strong relationships across a broad set of business partners and senior stakeholders to keep work moving, resolve roadblocks quickly, and drive decisions in ambiguous or contested situations. What You'll Bring: • A natural connector and influencer who builds trust and drives alignment across many teams and stakeholders, including senior leaders, with or without formal authority. • A people leader who coaches, develops, and motivates a team, and who models accountability and ownership for the people around them. • Structured, first-principles thinking, with comfort designing process and structure — and driving execution against it — in ambiguous, "zero-to-one" situations. • A strong ownership mindset — proactively spotting gaps, driving issues to resolution, and holding self and team accountable for outcomes rather than just plans. • Clear, confident, and persuasive communication skills, able to translate complex, cross-functional work into concise updates and recommendations for senior leadership. • The ability to balance sharp attention to detail with big-picture thinking about how a business runs end to end. • Comfort with a fast pace and evolving priorities that come with standing up a new business, while keeping a team focused and unblocked. • A growth mindset and drive to expand scope, team, and impact as the business grows. You'll have... Required: • Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Finance, or a related field. • 8+ years of experience in business operations, business process improvement, program/project management, management consulting, or a similar role, including experience leading or managing people. • Demonstrated experience designing and implementing business processes across multiple functions, with accountability for execution and outcomes. • Experience working with corporate functions such as finance, HR, legal, IT, or supply chain. • Proven ability to lead, coach, and develop a team. • Strong facilitation, communication, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to connect, align, and influence diverse teams and senior leaders. • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with comfort operating in ambiguous, fast-changing environments. • High ownership mindset with strong follow-through and attention to detail. • Ability to manage multiple concurrent workstreams, priorities, and direct reports simultaneously. Even better, you may have... Preferred: • Experience supporting new business stand-ups, carve-outs, spin-offs, or joint ventures. • Experience partnering with systems integration or IT teams on ERP or other core system implementations. • Management consulting background with a focus on process design or operating model development. • MBA or other advanced degree. • Lean/Six Sigma or process excellence certification. • Experience in a large, complex corporate or manufacturing environment. Location & Travel: • Location: Dearborn, MI. • Travel: Limited — occasional domestic travel expected to support cross-functional workshops and stand-up activities, as needed. You may not check every box, or your experience may look a little different from what we've outlined, but if you think you can bring value to Ford Motor Company, we encourage you to apply! As an established global company, we offer the benefit of choice. You can choose what your Ford future will look like: will your story span the globe, or keep you close to home? Will your career be a deep dive into what you love, or a series of new teams and new skills? Will you be a leader, a changemaker, a technical expert, a culture builder…or all of the above? No matter what you choose, we offer a work life that works for you, including: • 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. This position is leadership level 5 and ranges from $141,700-$268,300. Final determination of salary grade will be based on candidate's skills and experience, and base salary will be set within the applicable range according to job scope, responsibility and competitive market value. For more information on salary and benefits, click here: fordcareers.co Visa sponsorship is not available for this position. Candidates for positions with Ford Motor Company must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status or protected veteran status. In the United States, if you need a reasonable accommodation for the online application process due to a disability, please call 1-888-336-0660. This position is hybrid with a requirement to be onsite four or more days per week. #LI-Hybrid Company: As Ford establishes a wholly owned subsidiary focused on Battery Energy Storage Systems, this role will initially be employed by Ford and is expected to transition to the subsidiary within one year. #LI-KF2 #FordEnergy

Requirements

Must-haves

In this position...
What you'll do...
Reporting Line & Scope
Reports to: Director, Business Operations, Ford Energy.
Direct reports: Leads a team of one business operations professional (analysts/managers) supporting Business Integration and Systems Integration workstreams along with overall enterprise governance.
Key partners: Ford Energy Systems Integration leadership; corporate function leads across finance, HR, legal, supply chain, and IT.
People Leadership: Build, lead, and develop a team of business operations professionals; set clear priorities, provide coaching and performance feedback, and create a high-accountability team culture.
Execution Ownership: Drive execution of business process design, implementation, and governance workstreams end to end, holding cross-functional teams and own team accountable for milestones, dependencies, and decisions.
Operational Structure & Governance: Define and stand up the operational structures, decision rights, and governance forums needed for Ford Energy to run independently.
Corporate Integration: Own coordination of integration points between Ford Energy and Ford's broader corporate functions, ensuring new processes align with policy, controls, and reporting needs.
Implementation & Change Management: Lead the rollout of new processes, including documentation, stakeholder communication, training, and readiness activities.
Program Tracking & Reporting: Own tracking of stand-up workstreams, risks, issues, and decisions; deliver clear, concise, and influential updates to senior leadership.
A natural connector and influencer who builds trust and drives alignment across many teams and stakeholders, including senior leaders, with or without formal authority.
A people leader who coaches, develops, and motivates a team, and who models accountability and ownership for the people around them.
Structured, first-principles thinking, with comfort designing process and structure — and driving execution against it — in ambiguous, "zero-to-one" situations.
A strong ownership mindset — proactively spotting gaps, driving issues to resolution, and holding self and team accountable for outcomes rather than just plans.
Clear, confident, and persuasive communication skills, able to translate complex, cross-functional work into concise updates and recommendations for senior leadership.
The ability to balance sharp attention to detail with big-picture thinking about how a business runs end to end.

Nice-to-haves

Experience supporting new business stand-ups, carve-outs, spin-offs, or joint ventures.
Experience partnering with systems integration or IT teams on ERP or other core system implementations.
Management consulting background with a focus on process design or operating model development.
MBA or other advanced degree.
Lean/Six Sigma or process excellence certification.
Experience in a large, complex corporate or manufacturing environment.

Application prep

Use the role’s language and application details while tailoring your materials.

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Effort: medium

Benefits

Benefits detected in the listing.

Dental

Vision

Paid Time Off

Parental Leave