Principal Engineer, Ford Mobile Applications

In the position as a Principal Engineer, Ford Mobile Applications, you will be a key technical leader influencing the architecture, design, and development of our global retail and professional consumer applications that serve millions of users via mobile interfaces. This role focuses on driving robust backend systems, scalable cloud infrastructure, and seamless API integrations that power these experiences.

You will be a senior leader and a subject matter expert within Ford’s Connected Vehicle Software organization, collaborating with engineers across various domains (backend, cloud, mobile, web, vehicle) to ensure high-quality, performant, and reliable solutions. Quality and a negligible change failure rate are paramount as we support a massive global user base.

This is your chance to join a team that's redefining the automotive landscape through connected experiences. If you're ready to take on complex architectural challenges across distributed systems and leave a lasting impact on millions of users, this is the opportunity you've been waiting for!

What you’ll do…

n
• n

  Lead and drive technical strategy, architecture, and design for scalable and reliable full stack solutions supporting global retail and professional applications, encompassing backend services, cloud infrastructure, APIs, and integration patterns with our mobile applications.

  n
n
• n

  Collaborate closely with senior leadership to define, align, and execute engineering business objectives from a full stack perspective.

  n
n
• n

  Support leaders across vertical delivery teams (including mobile, and cloud) and horizontal foundational teams to ensure consistent enablement of platform and feature development across the entire application ecosystem.

  n
n
• n

  Champion a customer-focused approach alongside partners in Digital Product and Digital Design, translating user needs into technical requirements and delivering high-quality features across the stack.

  n
n
• n

  Partner and consult across multiple technical domains, including cloud, verification & validation, DevOps, cybersecurity, and vehicle integration, ensuring a cohesive system architecture.

  n
n
• n

  Serve as a key consultant on strategy and alignment for verification, validation, and DevOps practices across backend and cloud systems.

  n
n
• n

  Exemplify high-quality software development standards, regularly serving as a mentor and guide to software engineers ranging from early career engineers to staff engineers and engineering managers, fostering expertise across full stack domains.

  n
n
• n

  Demonstrate deep expertise in backend technologies, cloud architecture, API design, and native mobile app development, with a strong understanding of how best to integrate these components.

  n
n
• n

  Anticipate and/or evaluates changes in the industry, technology approaches and incorporate into strategies and plans.

  n
n
• n

  Advocacy of cutting-edge technologies in innovative ways that further the organization and company’s objectives

  n
n
• n

  Influence industry practices by participating in internal and external events and forums, and regularly writing papers, blogs.

  n
n
• n

  Play a role in defining and championing strategic process improvement initiatives.

  n
n
• n

  Apply advanced concepts, theories, and principles to create cross functional initiatives and solutions for highly complex technology or business situations.

  n
n
• n

  Hands-on delivery mindset, working through our most challenging concerns

  n
n
• n

  Leverage deep understanding of mobile and cloud architecture to design the development of cutting-edge consumer applications

  n
n
• n

  Provide technical leadership and guidance for mobile and cloud teams encouraging systems thinking, documentation, and high-quality software.

  n
n
• n

  Design robust mobile and cloud solutions ensuring an emphasis on security, performance, and reliability.

  n
n
• n

  Collaborate cross functionally across mobile, web, cloud, and vehicle engineering teams as well as product and design counterparts to deliver best in class consumer experiences.

  n
n
• n

  Drive innovative solutions for seamless app to cloud to vehicle communication and leverage the latest technologies and trends in mobile development for broad use cases.

  n
n

You'll Have…

n
• n

  Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a combination of education and equivalent work experience.

  n
n
• n

  10+ years of progressive experience as a software engineer, with a strong focus on designing and building scalable backend systems and cloud solutions that power native mobile applications.

  n
n
• n

  5+ years serving in a technical leadership capacity, guiding engineering teams on architecture and implementation.

  n
n
• n

  3+ years experience designing, developing, and deploying robust backend services and APIs (e.g., using languages like Java, Kotlin, Python, Node.js, Go, etc.).

  n
n
• n

  1+ year experience in cloud platforms (e.g., GCP, AWS, Azure) and related services (e.g., serverless functions, databases, messaging queues, caching systems).

  n
n

Even better if you have…

n
• n

  Master’s Degree or higher in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent work experience. 

  n
n
• n

  Extensive experience supporting a global application with 24/7 operations across millions of users

  n
n
• n

  A passion for developing systematic improvements that benefit the end product and customer, as well as the organization

  n
n
• n

  Extensive experience creating evolutionary architectures with appropriate operational characteristics: scale, reliability, security, performance, etc.

  n
n
• n

  Demonstrated leadership experience driving cross functional teams and guiding and influencing solutions for a product line.

  n
n
• n

  Strong understanding of mobile application architecture from a backend perspective, including experience designing and optimizing backend systems and APIs to effectively support mobile application performance, features, and integration patterns.

  n
n
• n

  Comprehensive knowledge of industry trends, regulatory requirements (e.g., data privacy), and emerging technologies across the full stack.

  n
n
• n

  Track record of engaging with and influencing technical discussions, potentially through internal presentations, technical documentation, or external contributions (blogs, talks, etc.).

  n
n
• n

  Demonstrated leadership presence, with examples of presenting to senior leadership on at least an annual basis

  n
n
• n

  Proven record of building and growing technical relationships with senior leaders.

  n
n
• n

  Experience leveling up engineers and upscaling engineering teams through mentoring, documentation and process improvements

  n
n
• n

  Experience putting in place tools and processes that dramatically improve software quality.

  n
n
• n

  Experience writing complex technical requirements and contributing to the technical planning function for large-scale systems.

  n
n

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 childcare 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 a leadership level 5.

For more information on salary and benefits, click here:

Salary varies depending on your experience and location.

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 .

This position is hybrid (onsite four days per week) for candidates who are in commuting distance to a Ford hub location or remote for non-local candidates. #LI-Hybrid #LI-Remote #LI-CS2

Requisition ID : 52372