Director of Agentic Systems

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 Ford Motor Credit Company team helps put people behind the wheels of great Ford and Lincoln vehicles. By partnering with dealerships, we provide financing, personalized service and professional expertise to thousands of dealers and millions of customers in over one hundred countries around the world.

In this position...

Help shape the future of Ford Credit by driving the execution and improvement of Ford Credit’s operations and customer experience by building agentic systems! This role will lead a specialized team of engineers to build the platform, standards, and governance for agentic AI use across the organization. The role requires a strong technical background in generative AI, robotic process automation, and cloud systems. Alongside this, it requires strategic thinking in solutions architecture and strong leadership to guide a team in a new and evolving space.

The Director of Engineering – Agent Systems will have autonomy in shaping the future by being accountable for the budget, performance, and results of the agentic AI CoE. This role involves leading and mentoring a team of forward-deployed engineers, overseeing the platform for and governance of agentic AI, and navigating the technical complexities of building and integrating agentic solutions. A key aspect of this position is to champion the use of AI agents and agentic systems to drive efficiency and innovation across the organization, especially in upskilling other engineering teams. This includes working with engineering delivery teams to collaborate with business and product on AI-driven opportunities. The director will also be responsible for establishing best practices for process mapping, the selection of appropriate technology platforms, and the governance of non-deterministic systems.

What you'll do...

• Lead, mentor, and grow a high-performing team of forward-deployed AI engineers, managing workload distribution and providing guidance on complex technical challenges.
• Drive the architectural design and development of scalable and resilient AI agentic systems, with a strong emphasis on the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and its AI/ML services like Vertex AI, Vertex Agent Engine, and Agentspace.
• Oversee the entire lifecycle of AI agent development, from initial concept and requirements gathering to deployment, maintenance, and continuous improvement
• Develop and implement robust governance frameworks for non-deterministic AI systems to ensure ethical, secure, and reliable operation.
• Stay current with the latest advancements in generative AI, large language models (LLMs), and agentic architectures, and drive the integration of new technologies into the team's solutions.
• Partner with various technical teams, including data science, platform engineering, and cybersecurity, to ensure seamless integration and interoperability of AI solutions.
• Help define, build and track key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the impact and effectiveness of deployed AI agents across the organization.
• Manage departmental budgets and ensure resources are allocated effectively to achieve strategic goals.
• Handle talent management responsibilities, including recruitment, performance reviews, and professional development for the AI Agents team.

You'll have…

• Bachelor's degree or higher in related field
• A minimum of 10 years of experience in software engineering or a related field, with at least 5 years in a leadership role.
• Proven experience in building and deploying generative AI and machine learning solutions in a production environment.
• Deep understanding of generative AI, large language models (LLMs), AI agents, and agentic system capabilities.
• Expertise in & passion for coding assistants (e.g., Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Google CodeAssist, GH CoPilot)
• Experience in building with agent development kits (e.g., ADK, LangGraph, CrewAI)
• Understanding of robotic process automation.
• Extensive hands-on experience with the Google Cloud Platform (GCP), particularly with services like Vertex AI, BigQuery, and Apigee.
• Strong background in solutions architecture and experience with system integration and API development.
• Familiarity with non-deterministic systems and the principles of AI governance and ethics.
• Experience with process mapping and business process analysis.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and develop a technical team in a fast-paced, innovative environment.

Even better, you may have...