Forward Model Quality Chief, Underbody Systems Engineering, Vehicle Engineering and Design Assurance
Ford · Dearborn, MI
- Level
- Engineer
- Team
- Quality
- Degree
- Required
- Industry
- Automotive
- Posted
- 8 days ago
The role in 30 seconds
An engineer-level quality role at Ford (automotive) in Dearborn, MI.
- They ask for
- degree required
- Tools it names
- Root cause, FMEA, Automation
Read from the posting. The full description is below.
From the plant jobs report · week of November 2, 2026
Quality Engineer roles in Michigan: typical posted base $87k–$149k.
Median of the low and high ends of 23 live postings that list pay, out of 69 quality engineer openings in Michigan, read from manufacturers' own careers sites.
Michigan plant jobs report →Pay by team and state →What moves pay →
How this role compares
Against 68 other live quality postings in Michigan.
- Base pay
- Not listed in this posting
- Experience asked
- Not stated
Typical $87k–$149k, from 23 postings that list pay.
Similar roles usually ask 4+ years.
Skills these teams ask for most
- ✓ Root cause 71%
- ✓ FMEA 51%
- PPAP 49%
- Control plans 42%
- New product launch 39%
- Six Sigma 39%
✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.
Stands out: this posting asks for Power BI / Tableau, which few similar roles mention. If you have it, lead with it.
At a glance
Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.
How to get in at this plant
Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.
- 1
Pick 2–3 people on the Quality team at Ford
We found 7 people at this company and state: 5 in this kind of role, 2 leaders. Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. See them ↓
- 2
Send a short, curious note
One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.
Write to Scott → (free) - 3
Turn a reply into a short call
Questions worth asking about this team:
- What does a normal week look like on your team?
- Which standards drive the work here: ISO 13485, IATF 16949, AS9100?
- How much of the job is customer complaints versus prevention?
- How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
- 4
Apply with someone vouching for you
If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.
- 5
Bring proof to the interview
One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.
This plant: Ford in Dearborn
30 other open roles at this site · 7 people we found in quality roles at Ford.
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Full description from FordAs posted on their careers site.ShowHide
requirements
and anticipate the impact of changing regulations.
- ✓Resolve compliance gaps, escalate readiness risks, and lead internal compliance audits with owned, root-cause follow-up.
- ✓Represent Ford in NHTSA vehicle assessments and other regulatory reviews, as required.
Key Skills...
- ✓Strategic leadership and organizational transformation
- ✓Global people leadership and succession planning
- ✓Automotive product development, quality and manufacturing
- ✓Failure Mode Avoidance, DFMEA, reliability and robustness
- ✓Design assurance and regulatory compliance
- ✓Enterprise risk management and quality governance
- ✓Systemic problem solving and corrective action
- ✓Executive communication and influence
- ✓Data analytics, metrics and reporting (JIRA, Power BI)
- ✓AI-enabled engineering tools and change management
You'll have...
- ✓Bachelor's degree in engineering or a related technical discipline.
- ✓Significant automotive experience in engineering, product development, quality, reliability or design assurance, with increasing leadership responsibility.
- ✓Experience leading and developing large technical teams or multiple levels of leaders.
- ✓Experience setting strategy or leading transformation that improved quality, process or capability at organizational level.
- ✓Strong knowledge of automotive product-development processes and milestone requirements.
- ✓Experience applying and setting standards for DFMEA, reliability planning, Failure Mode Avoidance and s
Show full description ↓Show less ↑
We are seeking a senior engineering and quality leader to join Global Forward Model Quality as the Forward Model Quality Chief for Underbody Systems Engineering, Vehicle Engineering and Design Assurance. You will be accountable for forward-model quality strategy and outcomes across a global vehicle program portfolio, leading a global team of GSR and LL6 engineers, including team members in Brazil and Germany.
In this position...
You will define the operating model for Prevent Action Closure (PAC), Failure Mode Avoidance (FMA), DFMEA, reliability confirmation, program assessments, deliverable recovery and compliance assurance. You will anticipate emerging risks, shape critical program quality decisions, and influence Director-level and executive leaders on trade-offs among quality, cost, timing and compliance. You will also build the leadership bench and capability needed for future vehicle architectures and technologies.
What you'll do...
Strategy and Organizational Leadership
- •Set the multi-year forward-model quality strategy and roadmap, aligned with Global Product Development, Quality and enterprise priorities.
- •Lead a global organization of GSR and LL6 engineers. Set its structure, resourcing, objectives and performance expectations.
- •Lead talent reviews and succession planning, coach leaders, and build a diverse leadership pipeline.
- •Foster a culture of accountability, inclusion, open communication and continuous improvement.
Quality Transformation
- •Lead the shift from reactive to predictive, data-driven quality. Define the target-state operating model, standard work and governance routines that scale across programs and regions.
- •Set the digital and AI-enabled quality strategy (analytics, automation, decision support) and drive adoption across functions to improve productivity and decision quality.
- •Define the metrics and management systems (JIRA, executive dashboards) that give leaders real-time visibility of quality risk and execution.
- •Sponsor process redesign and enterprise improvements that remove systemic barriers and are adopted beyond the organization.
Quality Governance and Risk Management
- •Own PAC governance and the quality escalation framework across forward-model programs.
- •Anticipate product and process risks and escalate strategic risks to executive leadership with clear recommendations.
- •Sponsor cross-functional resolution of the highest-impact issues. Ensure corrective actions are systemic and sustained and hold owners accountable through closure.
- •Represent forward-model quality in senior forums and report performance, trends and strategic risks to executives.
Reliability and Design Quality
- •Set the reliability and robustness strategy through Program Quality Roadmaps so quality is designed in early.
- •Own enterprise standards for DFMEA, reliability confirmation and the Robustness and Reliability Checklist, and evolve them for new technologies.
- •Use field, warranty, teardown and test data to prioritize reliability investments and set B10 improvement strategies with functional leaders.
- •Direct the high-mileage teardown program to find root causes of unexpected wear and feed lessons into design standards and future programs.
Program Assessment, Planning and Recovery
- •Provide independent, executive-level assessment of program quality readiness and milestone deliverables and advise on gateway declarations.
- •Own and evolve the Forward Model Assessment (FMA) process and risk-based audits, including AI-enabled tools, to cover emerging technologies and high-risk areas.
- •Influence program targets, roadmaps, hardware change levels and new-unit quality selection. Communicate risk through Red/Yellow/Green assessments and recommendations.
- •Own governance for recovery of late or at-risk deliverables. Decide on Moderate-3 plans, screen Major-5 plans for Director review, and address root causes to prevent repeat issues.
Engineering Excellence
- •Partner with Functional Directors and Chiefs on Engineering Excellence actions and drive follow-up that lifts capability.
- •Lead consistent deployment of engineering standards and sponsor strategic projects that improve quality effectiveness, efficiency and FMA adherence.
- •Build mechanisms to capture and reuse lessons learned across programs and functions.
Design Assurance and Regulatory Compliance
- •Lead compliance planning, reporting and milestone readiness across vehicle programs. Ensure deliverables meet regulatory and business