Principal Engineer, Retail Applications

In the position as a Principal Engineer, Retail Applications, you will influence our efforts in the development of multiple global mobile applications, supporting both our retail and professional consumers. This team is seated within Ford’s Connected Vehicle Software organization – in which you will be a senior leader and subject matter expert amongst thousands of software engineers.  Quality is paramount, as maintaining a negligible change failure rate is important to us. As a key member of our mobile app development organization, you will support millions of customers in our retail consumer applications. 

This is your chance to join a team that's redefining the automotive landscape. If you're ready to take on a challenge that will push your skills to the limit and leave a lasting impact, this is the opportunity you've been waiting for!

What you’ll do in this role  

• Lead technical strategies for native iOS/Android mobile app development across multiple global customer brands, including our Ford and Lincoln retail and professional user bases  

• Collaboration with senior leadership to develop, align, and execute engineering business objectives  

• Support leaders across vertical delivery teams and horizontal foundational teams to ensure consistent enablement of platform and feature development  

• Lead with customer focus alongside partners in the software development triad, including Digital Product + Digital Design, to deliver high-quality features to our customers  

• Partner and consult across multiple domains in the broader software organization, including but not limited to cloud, verification & validation, DevOps,   

• Consultant on strategy and alignment of verification, validation, & DevOps 

• Exemplify high-quality software development, regularly serving as a mentor and guide to software developers ranging from early career engineers to staff engineers and engineering managers  

• Demonstrate expertise in native  mobile app technologies​, in conjunction with in-depth knowledge of cloud system architecture that best integrates with mobile app experiences. 

• Anticipate and/or evaluates changes in the industry, technology approaches and incorporate into strategies and plans.  

• Advocacy of cutting edge technologies in innovative ways that further the organization and company’s objectives  

• Influence industry practices by participating in internal and external events and forums, and regularly writing papers, blogs.   

• Play a role in defining and championing strategic process improvement initiatives.  

• Apply advanced concepts, theories, and principles to create cross functional initiatives and solutions for highly complex technology or business situations.  

• Hands-on delivery mindset, working through our most challenging concerns 

Minimum requirements we seek:    

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent work experience.  
• 10 years as software engineer, with at least 8 years developing mobile applications specific to iOS/Android  
• At least 5+ years being an engineer in a technical leadership capacity  
• Comprehensive knowledge of industry trends, regulatory requirements, and emerging technologies.  
• Track record of engaging with and influencing the industry by regularly writing papers, blogs, participating in industry forums; and establishing strategic relationships with partners.   
• Demonstrated leadership presence, with examples of presenting to senior leadership on at least an annual basis  
• Proven record of building and growing technical relationships with senior leaders.  
•  Experience leveling up engineers and upscaling engineering teams through mentoring, documentation and process improvements 
• Experience putting in place tools and processes that dramatically improve software quality. 
• Experience writing complex and cross-platform technical requirements, and leveling up the organization’s technical planning function. 

  Our Preferred Requirements:  

• Master’s Degree or higher in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent work experience.
• Extensive experience supporting a global application with 24/7 operations across millions of users  
• A passion for developing systematic improvements that benefit the end product and customer, as well as the organization 
• Extensive experience creating evolutionary architectures with appropriate operational characteristics: scale, reliability, security, performance, etc. 
• Demonstrated leadership experience driving cross functional teams and guid