Director of Engineering, Robotics
Ford Motor
Redford, MI · Posted September 2, 2026
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Rankings about engineering jobs
- Best cities for software and engineering jobs #1 San Francisco (3,412 openings)
- Best cities for engineering pay after cost of living #1 San Mateo ($216k)
- Most requested AI skills in engineering jobs #1 AI tools in daily work (6.1%)
- AI tools named most often in engineering jobs #1 Claude (1.7%)
- Employers with the most engineering jobs #1 Amazon (2,992 roles)
Pay compared with the market
This listing does not state pay. Across 54 open director of engineering listings that state pay, the middle half runs $200,000 to $296,500 and the median is $253,000.
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AI use among architectural and engineering managers is little observed so far. Measured exposure for architectural and engineering managers: 3% (little observed).
Share of this job’s tasks that AI is already used for at work, from real usage. It is not a forecast of job loss, and a low number means no use seen yet. Source: Anthropic Economic Index.
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About the job
We're growing fast and need a Director of Engineering to be the delivery engine of our robotics organization. Reporting directly to the Technical Director of Robotics — who owns technical and product direction and top-level architecture — you'll own how the work actually gets done: the teams, processes, and operational discipline that ship complex hardware-and-software systems on time and at quality.
This is a builder's role at a pivotal moment. You'll stand up and scale engineering teams, install the cadence and delivery practices that keep a fast-growing org predictable, and coordinate execution across hardware, software, and product. You'll work shoulder-to-shoulder with the Technical Director, translating strategy and architecture into concrete roadmaps and results. It's ideal for a strong technical leader who is energized by execution, team-building, and scale.
- Own end-to-end delivery of robotics programs — planning, timelines, milestones, and quality - Build, structure, and scale engineering teams to keep pace with rapid growth; own hiring, performance, and development - Install and run operational cadence: roadmaps, sprint/milestone tracking, and status reporting - Coordinate execution across hardware, software, product, QA, and deployment/field teams - Drive integration, test, reliability, and deployment discipline from lab to production - Manage capacity, resourcing, and budget against commitments - Surface risks early, remove blockers, and keep delivery predictable as the team scales - Partner with the Technical Director to translate technical and architectural direction into executable plans - Report delivery health and progress to the Technical Director and ATP leadership
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelors Degree in Engineering or equivalent experience
- 10+ years of professional engineering experience
- 5+ years leading and managing engineering teams
Preferred Qualifications - Proven track record shipping complex robotics or hardware-plus-software systems to production or field - Background in robotics or an adjacent domain (autonomy, mechatronics, embedded, controls, or systems engineering) - Strong operational and program-management skills — you make delivery predictable - Technically credible enough to guide architecture-level decisions, while choosing to focus on execution - Excellent cross-functional communication and stakeholder management - Bachelor's or advanced degree in a relevant engineering field, or equivalent experience - Nice to have: startup/scale-up experience, manufacturing or production ramp, and field-deployment operations
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