Sr. Software Engineer, AI Specialist
- Job ID
- 64284
- Location
- Dearborn, Michigan
- Category
- Global Data Insight & Analytics
Overview
At Ford, you’ll work on ideas that matter, alongside passionate people who want to make a global impact. Together, we’re shaping the next era of transportation—grounded in purpose, driven by progress. Make your move.
- Job Type: Full time
- Work Type: Hybrid
We are seeking an accomplished, hands-on Senior Software Engineer to lead the design and implementation of core artificial intelligence capabilities within our Intelligent Data Analytics Platform, with a particular emphasis on multi-agent orchestration and semantic search. This position is intended for a highly capable individual contributor who is able to operate effectively at both architectural and implementation levels — an engineer who anchors the team technically by producing production-grade code, resolving the most demanding problems, and establishing engineering standards by example.
The successful candidate will serve as a principal contributor to an AI-first platform that enables users to explore, query, and analyze enterprise BigQuery data through agentic tools and capabilities.
1. Architecture and System Design
Contribute to the design of scalable, multi-agent AI architectures.
Design components and modules across agent orchestration, tool systems, and large language model (LLM) integration.
Evaluate trade-offs across architectural choices (e.g., single- versus multi-agent designs, retrieval-augmented generation versus fine-tuning, deterministic versus probabilistic pipelines).
Participate in design reviews and contribute to Architecture Decision Records (ADRs).
2. Hands-On Engineering and Execution
Produce production-grade code across agent frameworks, backend APIs, and frontend interfaces on a daily basis.
Develop and evolve reusable AI components, including agent tools, embedding pipelines, and evaluation frameworks.
Implement LLM-powered workflows, including natural-language-to-SQL generation, semantic search, and metadata enrichment.
Develop services that enable intelligent data access, such as vector search, hybrid retrieval, and query scope management.
Implement guardrails, validation layers, and observability mechanisms for AI-generated outputs.
3. Full-Stack Development
Build performant backend services (Python/ FastAPI) and interactive frontend applications (Angular/React) for data exploration.
Develop both conversational (chat) and structured (API) interfaces for analytical workloads.
Construct evaluation and benchmarking tooling to support continuous measurement of AI quality.
Assume end-to-end ownership of features, from initial design through deployment and ongoing monitoring.
4. Semantic Search and Embeddings
Implement vector embedding pipelines for metadata discovery using pgvector.
Develop semantic retrieval capabilities across datasets, tables, and columns, employing hybrid search strategies.
Optimize search relevance through embedding strategies, re-ranking, and rigorous evaluation metrics.
Contribute to the platform's data quality and governance capabilities.
5. Engineering Excellence
Produce clean, maintainable, and scalable code that adheres to industry best practices.
Participate actively in code reviews and establish quality standards through exemplary personal contributions.
Conduct root-cause analysis on agent failures and implement systematic remediations.
Serve as the team's technical anchor and primary point of reference for complex implementation challenges.
6. Collaboration
Partner with Product, Data Engineering, and Platform teams to ensure successful feature delivery.
Support colleagues through pair programming, knowledge sharing, and technical mentorship.
Contribute to sprint planning, effort estimation, and technical feasibility assessments.
Assist in onboarding new team members and disseminating domain expertise across the organization.
Required Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or a related technical field.
8 + years of professional software engineering experience with demonstrated hands-on coding proficiency.
Demonstrable experience building AI-powered applications or operating LLM-based systems in production environments.
Proven ability to interpret ambiguous requirements and independently deliver functional, well-tested software.
Strong debugging and problem-solving capabilities across the full technology stack.
A demonstrated record of owning and delivering complex features from inception through completion.
Technology Stack
Programming Languages and Frameworks: Python (primary), Java, JavaScript/TypeScript, Angular/React
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: Google ADK, LangChain/LangGraph, OpenAI and Gemini APIs, prompt engineering, retrieval augmented generation (RAG) pipelines
Data and Cloud Infrastructure: Google Cloud Platform (BigQuery, Vertex AI, and Cloud Run preferred)
Backend Technologies: FastAPI, Pydantic, SQLModel/SQLAlchemy, PostgreSQL with pgvector
Frontend Technologies: Angular or React, TypeScript
Continuous Integration, Continuous Delivery, and Infrastructure: Terraform, GitHub Actions, Docker Evaluation: Custom evaluation frameworks, LLM-as-judge methodologies
Preferred Qualifications
Experience with the Google Agent Development Kit (ADK) or comparable agent frameworks, such as CrewAI, or LangGraph.
Applied machine learning experience encompassing embeddings, classification, clustering, natural language processing, and evaluation metrics.
Demonstrated experience with vector databases and semantic retrieval optimization.
Familiarity with data engineering practices and data governance processes.
Prior experience developing internal developer tooling or platform SDKs.
Looking for jobs tailored to you?
Upload Your ResumeChange the world with your ideas.
Speak up. We’re listening. At Ford, we believe the right ideas, and the people behind them, can move an entire industry. Here, you'll work with teams who value your voice, push bold ideas forward, and leave a mark that lasts.
Support designed to go the distance.
From day one, Ford invests in you with medical benefits built to help you plan for what’s next. You’ll also get support for you and your family that meets you at every step, so you can move forward with confidence.
-
Health and Wellness
Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, mental health, and unique wellness perks keep you and your family supported every step of the way.
-
Financial and Retirement Programs
Build a strong financial future with robust retirement contributions, savings programs, and free personalized financial planning tools.
-
Flexible Vacation and Holidays
Enjoy your time away from work with generous vacation, holidays, and flexible family leave designed to help you balance life and work with ease.
-
Vehicle Discount Program
The best thing about building great products is driving them! The second-best thing: sharing your discount with family and friends so they can drive them, too.
-
Family Growth and Support
Grow your family confidently with fertility, surrogacy, and adoption assistance, paid parental leave, and a supportive new-parent ramp-up program.
-
Additional Programs
Enjoy unexpected extras like pet insurance, legal services, identity protection, and access to convenient health and wellness services.
Testimonial
Ford gives me the space to innovate, to lead, and to serve — all while staying true to who I am as an engineer, educator, and parent. It’s not just a career; it’s a community that drives change.
-
Built on one bold idea and the passion to define sustainable transportation for generations to come, Ford is a story about people with a vision that’s still being written.
What We Do -
Ford’s culture fuels the kind of momentum where ideas flow, progress is unstoppable, and our people keep redefining what it means to innovate.
Our People and Culture -
At Ford, your work matters, your life matters and we’re here to back the whole you—from growth to well-being—so you show up ready to realize your full potential.
Your Benefits
Jobs For You.
Explore roles tailored to your interests, based on your preferences and experience.
-
Sr. Software Engineer, AI Specialist
- Dearborn, Michigan
-
Senior Industrial Designer - GBX
- Dearborn, Michigan
-
Problem Resolution and Prevent Recurrence Engineer
- Dearborn, Michigan
-
Senior Software Engineer
- , Remote