Software Engineer – Distributed Systems, Networking

Ford Motor Company

. Contribute to the architecture and delivery of backend services that broker and orchestrate API integrations across distributed systems .

Posted 9/19/2026full-timePalo Alto • California • United StatesMid-LevelSenior💰 $138,800 - $232,700 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in backend software engineering with a focus on API design, integration, and distributed systems. Proficient in implementing authentication and authorization mechanisms while ensuring system reliability and security.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Backend Software EngineeringAPI Design and IntegrationProficiency in Go, Java, or PythonDistributed Systems CommunicationCI/CD Pipelines and Infrastructure as Code

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

API DevelopmentEvent-Driven FlowsOAuth 2.0OpenID ConnectMTLSJWTRate LimitingSecrets ManagementLogging and TracingScalable Systems

Soft Skills

CollaborationCommunicationWillingness to Learn

Tools & Technologies

RESTGRPCPub/SubCI/CD ToolsObservability Tooling

Industry Keywords

Distributed SystemsService-to-Service IntegrationPrivate PeeringTechnical DocumentationOn-Call Rotations

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

Distributed SystemsGRPCIoTJavaPythonGo

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Contribute to the architecture and delivery of backend services that broker and orchestrate API integrations across distributed systems
Design and implement reliable APIs and event-driven flows (REST/gRPC, webhooks, Pub/Sub), including rate limiting, retries, backoff, and circuit breakers, under guidance from senior engineers
Implement authentication and authorization for service-to-service and partner integrations using OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, mTLS, and JWT
Support secrets management and key rotation processes
Integrate services with enterprise infrastructure, identity, networking, and observability tooling
Assist with secure network connectivity and private peering between environments
Help define and monitor SLIs/SLOs; contribute to logging, tracing, and alerting setups
Participate in on-call rotations
Contribute to CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure as code
Collaborate with security, legal, privacy, enterprise architecture, and data teams
Participate in design and code reviews
Maintain technical documentation and runbooks
Support product and integration teams in onboarding partners, including partner-facing contracts, SDKs, and sandbox/testing flows

Requirements

What you’ll need

3+ years of backend software engineering experience
Proficiency in one or more languages: Go, Java, or Python
Working understanding of distributed systems communication patterns (REST/gRPC, asynchronous messaging via Pub/Sub, API-first design)
Experience building and supporting scalable, available systems in production
Good collaboration and communication skills across cross-functional teams
Willingness to learn and grow technical leadership skills over time
Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States
Nice to have: Experience building services for physical devices (vehicles, phones, IoT)

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