Manufacturing IT Quality Application Product Manager

We are the movers of the world and the makers of the future. We get up every day, roll up our sleeves and build a better world -- together. At Ford, we’re all a part of something bigger than ourselves. Are you ready to change the way the world moves? 

The Manufacturing Quality and Traceability Information Technology (IT) Team, part Industrial Systems IT is at the forefront of modernizing and supporting Ford Motor Company’s global manufacturing production environment. We are responsible for the development, deployment, and support of critical plant floor applications that support the Ford Production System worldwide. Our plant floor systems are core enablers for both quality assurance and end-to-end product traceability for component/part production within the Ford manufacturing process. We are committed to continuous innovation, leveraging the latest technologies, methods, and tools to bring market speed solutions to manufacturing. Join us in our mission to transform automotive manufacturing through intelligent software that delivers significant bottom-line value to Ford Motor Company. 

As Manufacturing IT Product Manager, you will be a strategic leader responsible for leading a global Manufacturing IT Quality Leadership System Component Management (QLS-CM) team that consists of 10-12 software development and product support personnel. In this role you will serve as a change agent, foster a high performing team, drive product enhancements and provide 24x7 support to ensure our product(s) meet current and emergent needs of our Manufacturing business partners across our Ford’s Manufacturing Quality domain. As a leader you will help support the proper production and quality of automotive components, subsystems, powertrain (Engine/Transmission/Axle/Battery/etc..) commodities across our global Vehicle Battery and Powertrain manufacturing facilities. 

What you'll be able to do:

• This is a Manufacturing IT Product Manager position with a focus on system development & global support operations for the Quality Tracking System (QTS) platform - a critical 2-way communication system between manufacturing Operations Technology devices (Process Logic Controllers - PLC) and related IT solutions that are leveraged to build vehicles components (Engine/Transmission/Axle/Battery/etc..). The QTS platform is part of the QLSCM product. You will lead a multi-regional team, across all time zones, and all manufacturing plant production shifts, to collaborate with engineers from the Vehicle Battery & Powertrain Manufacturing Engineering teams, as the accountable person, for Powertrain (and Vehicle Battery) solution development, operations support, as well as strategy (both containment and transformational). 
• You will manage a team of senior technical IT engineers, to support and fulfill the Ford Motor Company’s organizational Objectives (as set by the Business Owners and by the IT leadership).
• You will be responsible for the prioritized decision making, development and ongoing maintenance of products in the manufacturing space using systems thinking, test-driven development principles.  
• As a technical leader you will work closely with your IT team, with Business owners, as well as each Site IT staff (located around the world) and with Incident Escalation Managers, to deliver across 4 main focus areas. 1. Business Advancement (new product features and configurations; new vehicle programs); 2. Modernization (product compliance; device refresh (strategy and implementations, such as servers, databases, and aging floor computers); 3. Run and Protect (support operations for 60 manufacturing plants existing (365/24/7), and for new global programs being stood up); and 4. Compliance which includes improvements for how we do our work (system monitors; health alerts; CI/CD pipeline (continuous integration, continuous delivery)). These efforts aim to minimize Manufacturing production downtime; meet Business demands; improve vehicle (component) Quality (information; tracking; traceability); reduce Company risk.

• Lead the Technical Product team (sustain a strong performing team; mentoring; performance reviews; career planning; on/off boarding)
• Drive and track progress to the 4 focus areas (daily & weekly reviews; 1-1 meetings; escalations; approvals; enablers; policy compliance)
• Drive refresh to long standing tech debt (global data collection targets; licensing; testing certifications; plant scheduling; implementation rollouts; validations; production start-ups)
• Work with IT and Business executives for project proposals, approvals, as well as Supplier contracts (budget approvals; purchases; POs; implementation oversight)
• Lead Technical Strategy planning (governance reviews; escalations; integration management; innovation workshopping; business requirements)
• On call (365/24/7) and Technical Leadership of Incident resolutions, troubleshooting, edge case containment, problem tracking to closure
• Lead software advancement on agile team to deliver working, tested software
• Validate and release applications using continuous integration and continuous delivery tools including ongoing development of automated testing
• Adaption to delivery for core, emerging, and legacy technical architectures
• Help shape the product vision and advocate for the user experiences (Build Verification; Birth History; Component traceability; IT/Machine responsiveness; Quality enablers)
• Communicate effectively with product owners, product designers, software engineers, and other technical experts
• Continuously upskill to share leading industry standards with team
• Provide frontend and backend expertise and mentorship to other software engineers through design and code reviews, documentation, best agile practices, and knowledge-sharing sessions

You'll have: 

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related engineering discipline, OR a combination of education and experience.

• 7+ years of deep Manufacturing technical experience (IT/Engineering/Operations) including PLC, OPC, Middleware, Client Server, Message Queue, Database
  • Working knowledge of full-stack software development processes and tools (Web services / Visual Studio / Machine PLC / or equivalent)
  • Demonstrated strength and experience with Incident Management (Troubleshooting; 8D; 6Sigma; Business continuity; Disaster Recovery; SLA/MTTA/MTTR)
• 5+ years Leader of Project teams (IT / Engineering / Operations)
  • Visionary leadership behaviors (servant leader; transformational; long term resiliency; tactical; strategic)
  • Proven capability to thrive in a challenging & dynamic, global, automotive environment (365/24/7)

  • Excellent written and oral communications skills to a range of target audiences: Executives, Technical Engineers, Plant manufacturing teams, Operators

  • Demonstrated strength and experience with Strategy (Business analysis; ROI; Strategic IT planning; Hidden Factory; GEMBA)

Even better, you may have...

• Master’s degree in (Business / Technical)

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 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. 

For a detailed look at our benefits, click here:

https://fordcareers.co/LL6
This position is leadership level 6 and ranges from $132,800-$250,800.

*Note: This is a hybrid role, you are expected to relocate if you are not within commutable distance, and responsible to be on site 4 days a week.

Work Pattern: 7am-5pm (7am plant shift start pattern)

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 committed to a culturally diverse workforce. 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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