Ford Racing Performance Engineering Manager

In 1901, Henry Ford design and built the racecar called "Sweepstakes." On October 10 that year, he drove Sweepstakes against Alexander Winton, a famous racer and builder. Against all odds, Ford won. That was the beginning -- "the race that changed the world" -- and it continues today. From our victories at Le Mans in 1966 and again fifty years later in 2016, to championships in NASCAR, World Rally Championship, Off-Road, Sports Cars, NHRA, and other series across the globe, the spirit of Henry Ford lives with us every day through our motorsports efforts around the world.

Ford Racing is seeking a talented, committed engineer to be a part of their motorsports team as the Performance Engineering Manager. 

In this position...

The rapid growth and increasing complexity of Ford Racing’s high-performance road, track, and off-road programs demand a visionary leader to steer our Performance Engineering strategy. As the Performance Engineering Manager (LL5), you will lead Ford Racing’s elite competition performance engineering team.

In this role, you will oversee vehicle dynamics, aerodynamic development, advanced simulation, trackside engineering, and data analysis to maximize the on-track and off-road competitiveness of our race cars. You will collaborate with elite global racing teams, tier-1 technical partners, and internal Ford engineering teams to win world-class races and championships, while seamlessly facilitating "Race-to-Road" and "Road-to-Race" technology transfer.

This role is hybrid and requires at least 4 days onsite in either Allen Park, MI (preferred) or Concord, NC. Relocation support is available.

What you'll do...

Strategic Leadership & Global Team Management

• People & Resource Leadership: Lead, mentor, and grow a newly formed, globally integrated Performance Engineering department. Manage resource allocation, balance operational budgets, and build technical capability across the team.
• Race-to-Road Technology Transfer: Act as the primary bridge between Ford Racing and Ford's production vehicle programs, ensuring that racetrack innovations (aerodynamics, lightweighting, simulation methods) are captured and integrated into Ford’s future road cars.
• Program Delivery: Own overall vehicle performance delivery aligned to racing season schedules and program timing. Develop the engineering roadmap, manage development budgets, and present performance status to senior leadership.

Multi-Disciplinary Systems Integration

• Cross-Functional Orchestration: Lead the interface between mechanical powertrain, eDrive systems, chassis architecture, and digital performance features, optimizing the entire vehicle as a cohesive, high-performance system.
• Aerodynamics Leadership: Direct a specialized team of aerodynamicists in the design, wind-tunnel testing, CFD modeling, and track validation of all Ford Racing products.
• Chassis & Kinematics Optimization: Oversee the evaluation of suspension/steering kinematics, packaging constraints, track width, and tire sizing to push the absolute boundaries of mechanical capability within motorsports regulations.

Simulation & Trackside Performance

• Performance Strategy: Define and execute the optimization strategy for aerodynamics, power delivery, and vehicle dynamics in tight coordination with our external race team and engineering partners.
• Virtual Toolsets: Lead the development and utilization of Driver-in-the-Loop (DiL) simulators, lap time simulation, and multi-body dynamics to accelerate pre-event setup and vehicle development.
• Data-Driven Decisions: Oversee trackside data analysis strategy, ensuring the team effectively leverages telemetry, tire modeling, and simulation to drive continuous performance improvements.

You'll have...

• 10+ years of progressive engineering experience in motorsports and high-performance racing vehicle development
• Proven track record delivering both closed-course racetrack programs and high-speed desert/off-road racing programs
• Hands-on trackside race engineering experience, including developing vehicles setups and race-day decision-making
• 3+ years formally leading race engineering teams, managing performance, and developing technical talent
• Direct experience with race tire development, objective vehicle testing, and performance data analysis in a competitive racing environment
• Experience working within a race team structure — collaborating with drivers, crew chiefs, and race operations to execute a unified performance strategy
• Experience running Driver-in-the-Loop (DiL) simulation programs — developing session plans, working directly with drivers and race engineering teams to correlate simulator findings with on-track/on-trail setup and performance decisions

Even better, you may have...

• Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Active personal or professional involvement in competitive motorsports (e.g., professional racing series, club racing, or off-road competition).
• An established, high-level network within the global motorsports, vehicle development, or advanced simulation industries.
• Experience managing multi-million dollar operational, testing, and program budgets.

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.

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.

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