Functional Safety AI Principal Engineer

Ford Motor Company

. Connect AI functional safety to software and quality engineering .

Posted 10/7/2026full-timeDearborn • Michigan • United StatesLead💰 $141,700 - $268,300 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in AI Functional Safety, including the implementation of safety guardrails and assurance strategies for AI systems. Proficient in regulatory compliance, safety architecture, and quality engineering within automotive environments.

Highest-signal resume keywords

AI Functional SafetyISO 26262Automotive SPICEMLOps Quality EngineeringSafety-Critical Embedded Systems

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Hard Skills

ISO 21448ISO/PAS 8800UL 4600AI/ML System Safety ArchitectureRisk AnalysisFault InjectionFMEA/FMEDAModel ValidationScenario CoverageSafety Requirements

Soft Skills

Excellent CommunicationCollaboration SkillsProven LeadershipMentoring AbilitiesProblem-Solving

Tools & Technologies

Safety Management SystemsQuality MetricsAnalytics ToolsSimulation-Based ValidationTraceability Tools

Industry Keywords

EU AI ActNHTSA/FMVSS FrameworksNIST AI Risk Management FrameworkUNECE RegulationsType-Approval Framework

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

Cyber Security

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Connect AI functional safety to software and quality engineering
Implement safety guardrails through existing development pipelines, quality gates, and metrics
Drive system safety architecture and assurance strategy for AI across Ford’s ADAS/AD, driver-monitoring, and connected/embodied-AI programs
Lead adoption of emerging AI-safety standards and process frameworks and prepare Ford for AI-specific regulation
Serve as principal technical authority bridging architecture, safety, software quality, AI/ML engineering, and program execution
Provide day-to-day technical leadership on active programs
Mature Ford’s AI-safety, security, and quality methods, tooling, and standards posture
Assess AI maturity within projects, process frameworks, and Ford infrastructure
Develop and own an AI in FuSa Health Dashboard, including maturity metrics, criteria, tracking, and analytics
Identify safety-related process and work-product gaps with software, data-integrity, and supplier engineering teams
Develop capability maturity plans with engineering stakeholders
Apply and champion methods, tools, and practices for embedded software safety
Define and deploy Ford’s AI in FuSa maturity model and safe-AI development framework
Collaborate with product/program management, validation and verification, software, hardware, design, integration, quality, and architecture teams
Perform system engineering, risk analysis, troubleshooting, and root-cause analysis for software-related issues
Align functional safety, cybersecurity, and quality assurance
Report health status, insights, risks, and opportunities to executive leadership and stakeholders
Translate Ford’s AI-safety vision into a multi-year roadmap and establish governance, decision gates, sign-off authority, escalation paths, and accountability
Own AI/ML system safety architecture, safety concepts, safety requirements, fail-safe/fail-operational behavior, degradation strategies, and minimal-risk-condition attainment
Lead SOTIF activities, triggering-condition analysis, scenario coverage, residual-risk evaluation, and ODD-based safety requirements
Apply model validation, robustness and adversarial testing, fault injection, runtime monitoring, STPA, HARA, FMEA/FMEDA, and simulation-based validation
Embed AI safety requirements into software quality management systems and stage-gate reviews
Define MLOps quality controls, versioning, reproducibility, traceability, quality metrics, release criteria, and field-quality feedback loops
Develop structured assurance and safety cases, including GSN-based arguments
Lead integration of AI-safety, software-quality, automotive-safety, cybersecurity, and AI-governance standards into Ford’s lifecycle
Prepare regulatory compliance evidence and documentation for AI-enabled features
Flow down AI safety requirements to suppliers and Tier-1 partners and review supplier safety cases and evidence
Mentor AI functional-safety engineers, build methods and training, and support capability building
Drive applied research and innovation projects for safe AI from research through productization
Report to the Director of the Office of Functional Safety Assurance

Requirements

What you’ll need

M.S. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or Embedded Systems, with substantial industry experience
Deep, hands-on command of ISO 26262, ISO 21448, and ISO/PAS 8800
Working knowledge of UL 4600, ISO/IEC TR 5469, and ISO/IEC 23894
Familiarity with the EU AI Act, EU General Safety Regulation and type-approval framework, UNECE regulations, US NHTSA/FMVSS frameworks, and NIST AI Risk Management Framework
Experience with Automotive SPICE and software/ML quality engineering, including quality gates, metrics, test strategy, and MLOps practice
10+ years architecting, designing, and validating safety-critical embedded systems in automotive environments
Solid understanding of AI/ML in embedded and real-time systems and AI-specific failure modes
Proven delivery across complex, cross-functional programs
Excellent communication and collaboration skills
Proven leadership abilities, including mentoring and guiding technical teams
Ability to comprehend end-to-end systems of systems and apply systemic and strategic reasoning
Comfort with ambiguity and ability to structure approaches to complex problems
Ability to drive innovation and continuous improvement
Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or Embedded Systems is an optional preferred qualification
Must be legally authorized to work in the United States
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
Family building benefits including 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