Forward Deployed Engineer – Advanced Manufacturing

Ford Motor Company

. Design, develop, and deploy software systems connecting automated equipment, sensors, PLC-adjacent data, MES workflows, quality systems, warehouse systems, and cloud platforms .

Posted 9/29/2026full-timeDearborn • Michigan • United StatesMid-LevelSenior💰 $115,000 - $192,900 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in designing and deploying IIoT architectures, integrating manufacturing systems, and building analytics for operational intelligence. Proficient in secure software delivery and production software development across cloud, edge, and data layers.

Highest-signal resume keywords

IIoT Architecture DesignManufacturing Analytics DevelopmentGo ProgrammingMQTT MessagingOPC-UA Connectivity

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Software EngineeringProduction Software DevelopmentSystem IntegrationData Layer OperationsEvent-Driven ArchitecturesTime-Series Data ManagementAPI DesignContainerized ServicesInfrastructure-as-CodeCI/CD

Soft Skills

Excellent CommunicationRelationship BuildingTroubleshooting

Tools & Technologies

OpenShiftGCPEdge GatewaysIndustrial ProtocolsSecure Deployment Practices

Industry Keywords

Manufacturing SystemsAutomation SystemsMES IntegrationsPlant-Floor DataQuality Systems

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

CloudCyber SecurityGoogle Cloud PlatformOpenShiftPythonTypeScriptGo

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Design, develop, and deploy software systems connecting automated equipment, sensors, PLC-adjacent data, MES workflows, quality systems, warehouse systems, and cloud platforms
Build custom edge capabilities for observability, reliability, and continuous improvement in highly automated facilities
Design and operate IIoT architectures, MQTT messaging, OPC-UA connectivity, edge gateways, time-series data, event-driven systems, and manufacturing data models
Work directly with manufacturing operations, controls, maintenance, quality, process engineering, product, and business stakeholders to identify production problems and deliver software solutions
Build analytics and operational intelligence for throughput, uptime, downtime, OEE, quality, scrap, traceability, cycle time, bottlenecks, energy usage, and launch readiness
Own delivery across application engineering, cloud infrastructure, edge deployment, integrations, automation, observability, and production support
Deliver production-ready systems while addressing safety, reliability, change control, cybersecurity, secure access, network segmentation, data protection, uptime, latency, data quality, and maintainability
Engineer secure operations involving identity, access control, secrets management, network boundaries, auditability, vulnerability management, and secure software delivery
Apply generative AI, applied ML, anomaly detection, predictive analytics, intelligent automation, and AI-assisted development to manufacturing operations
Contribute code and designs, participate in architecture and code reviews, define integration patterns, and establish software, data, security, and deployment standards

Requirements

What you’ll need

5+ years of experience as a software engineer, manufacturing systems engineer, industrial software engineer, solutions engineer, or similar hands-on engineering role
Strong background in building production software, integrating systems, and operating across application, cloud, edge, and data layers
Demonstrated experience working with manufacturing environments, automation systems, plant-floor data, MES integrations, industrial equipment, quality systems, maintenance workflows, or production operations
Hands-on familiarity with IIoT architectures, MQTT, OPC-UA, edge gateways, industrial protocols, event-driven architectures, time-series data, sensor data ingestion, and secure connectivity between plant-floor systems and cloud platforms
Ability to build or support manufacturing analytics for OEE, throughput, downtime, cycle time, bottleneck detection, quality, scrap, traceability, energy consumption, and asset performance
Experience with Go, Python, TypeScript, API design, OpenShift, GCP or comparable cloud platforms, containerized services, infrastructure-as-code, CI/CD, observability, and secure production operations
Experience with identity and access management, secrets handling, vulnerability remediation, audit logging, network controls, and secure deployment practices is strongly preferred
Track record of taking ambiguous, high-stakes operational problems from first conversation to working software in production
Comfortable spending time onsite with operators and engineers and troubleshooting real systems
Excellent communication and relationship-building skills across software engineering, controls, operations, quality, maintenance, product, and business stakeholders
Comfortable operating with minimal process and significant latitude
Legally authorized to work in the United States
Must be able to work onsite four or more days per week
Visa sponsorship is not available

Benefits

Comp & perks

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
Adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement
Fertility treatments
Vehicle discount program for employees and family members
Management leases
Tuition assistance
Established and active employee resource groups
Paid time off for individual and team community service
Generous schedule of paid holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day
Paid time off
Option to purchase additional vacation time
Performance-based bonuses
Opportunity to shape the energy strategy of Ford Energy
Competitive compensation package