Technical Program Manager (TPM), Seating Systems

At Ford Motor Company, we believe freedom of movement drives human progress. We also believe in providing you with the freedom to define and realize your dreams! With our incredible plans for the future of mobility, we have a wide variety of opportunities for you to accelerate your career potential as you help us define tomorrow’s transportation.

Ford Model E is responsible for developing the key technologies and capabilities – such as EV platforms, batteries, e-motors, inverters, charging and recycling – to create ground-up breakthrough electric vehicles. By joining the best software, engineering, design and UX talent, you will be a part of creating new technologies and concepts that can be applied across the Ford enterprise. Being on the Ford Model E team means building the future as Ford’s center of innovation and growth through electric and connected vehicles and services. 

As a Technical Program Manager, you’ll use your technical expertise to drive complex problems to completion. You’ll work amongst the team to scope work, plan requirements, identify risks, estimate budgets, and clearly communicate ongoing progress.

You will be working on a small high performing team that will have a high interaction and collaboration quotient to deliver fully integrated EV vehicle seating systems that achieve aspirational targets associated with cost, weight, efficiency, and exceed operational tolerances required to deliver the ambitious project scope. Engineering trade-offs are minimized by the development of solutions and innovations to minimize settling for an inferior product or solution. This team will be highly technical in nature and will come from engineering and data centric team environments that have had to deliver the holistic end to end engineering life cycle from ideation through design, engineering, test and ensuring efficient industrialization. This environment is not for everyone but will enrich the best talent with the opportunity to perform some of the best work of their careers.

Program Planning and Execution:

• Define program scope, objectives, and deliverables for automotive seating programs, in alignment with vehicle program milestones.
• Develop detailed program plans, including timelines, resource allocation, and budget management, considering the automotive development cycle (e.g., APQP).
• Manage program execution, ensuring adherence to automotive OEM timelines, budget constraints, and rigorous quality standards (e.g., IATF 16949).
• Identify and proactively mitigate risks and issues specific to automotive seating development, escalating as necessary.

Cross-Functional Leadership:

• Drive engineering teams towards containment and resolution of issues raised from design reviews, virtual builds, and build events to protect the program’s schedule to start of production (SOP) and ongoing production
• Lead and motivate cross-functional teams, including engineering (design, materials, testing), manufacturing, quality, purchasing, and sales.
• Facilitate clear communication and collaboration among team members to ensure alignment on technical requirements, design changes, and validation plans.
• Drive decision-making and conflict resolution within the program team, considering the impact on vehicle integration and performance.
• Maintain supplier relationships in collaboration with Supply Chain team to ensure timely deliveries for build events
•  Monitor work outputs and deliverables for potential systems and vehicle incompatibilities and opportunities for greater integration, velocity, and collaboration.
• Ensure problems are transparent and risks are identified and proactively ensure that risk mitigating actions are ongoing within relevant engineering teams
• Set agenda for key decisions to be made at each meeting to eliminate bottlenecks and retire risks
• Support key decisions working cross-functionally across engineering, finance, and strategy to reach the right conclusions.
• Work on final landing cost status for seat and seat components including freight and production cost.
• Manage DV, PV testing samples and test JIRA and timing plan for testing and validation
• Manage program timing with managing individual component timing for production or build support.
• Lead cost optimization efforts and product improvements related to feature content.

 

Technical Management:  Preferred but not mandatory.

• Possess a strong understanding of automotive seating system technologies, including:
• Seat structures and mechanisms
• Foam and trim materials
• Occupant restraint systems (seatbelts, airbags)
• Comfort features (heating, ventilation, massage)
• Electrical and electronic integration (sensors, actuators, ECUs)