Director, Core Runtime & Platform Engineering

Ford Motor Company is transforming manufacturing into a software-defined, intelligent, and globally connected system. Within the Advanced Technology & Platforms (ATP) organization, the Core vertical builds the foundational platform stack that powers this transformation across Ford’s global manufacturing network.

· CoreOS — the operating and orchestration layer for software-defined manufacturing

· FMIL (Ford Manufacturing Intelligence Layer) — the real-time signal, execution, and decisioning layer connecting factory systems, devices, and applications

· CoreDS — the data platform enabling traceability, analytics, and enterprise-scale intelligence

In this position…

The Director, Core Runtime & Platform Engineering leads the engineering organization responsible for the runtime, edge, connectivity, cloud infrastructure, developer platform, and reliability layers that enable CoreOS and FMIL to operate securely and at scale across plants, vehicle programs, and ATP product platforms.

This leader builds the platform backbone that connects industrial devices, controls, real-time signals, and manufacturing applications into a unified execution environment, while also delivering APIs, SDKs, and reusable platform services that allow teams to build once and scale consistently across Ford.

Reporting to the Director of Software, Controls & Diagnostics (CoreOS, FMIL & CoreDS), this role is central to delivering the runtime and signal layer that powers ATP’s “Build Once, Scale Everywhere” strategy and enables closed-loop learning across manufacturing systems.

What you’ll do…

1. Lead the Core Runtime Platform

· Architect and deliver the runtime platform that powers CoreOS and FMIL across Ford manufacturing environments

· Build a secure, scalable execution layer supporting orchestration, device integration, event processing, and platform interoperability

· Enable FMIL as the real-time signal, orchestration, and decisioning layer connecting factory systems and applications

· Establish platform standards for runtime services, deployment models, lifecycle management, and system interfaces

· Drive the evolution of Core from point solutions into a globally managed industrial software platform

2. Build the Core Developer Platform (APIs & SDKs)

· Define and deliver platform APIs, SDKs, and shared services enabling ATP products and engineering teams to build on Core

· Create reusable primitives for telemetry, eventing, orchestration, device abstraction, identity, and policy control

· Establish developer standards, tooling, and integration patterns to eliminate one-off solutions across plants and products

· Enable Forge, Sight, Print, Volt, and future platforms to extend Core through standardized interfaces and services

· Drive platform adoption by improving developer productivity, consistency, and reuse

3. Industrial Edge & Distributed Systems

· Lead development of edge computing platforms for real-time manufacturing environments

· Architect distributed systems supporting high-throughput, low-latency workloads across thousands of factory devices

· Build resilient edge runtimes supporting local processing, failover, and intermittent connectivity

· Establish orchestration patterns across cells, lines, plants, and global manufacturing networks

4. Device Connectivity & Industrial Middleware

· Own the middleware connecting PLCs, robotics, vision systems, and industrial equipment to Core platforms

· Standardize interfaces for telemetry, command/control, and interoperability across manufacturing systems

· Define integration patterns across protocols such as EtherCAT, Profinet, Ethernet/IP, CAN, OPC UA, MQTT, TCP/IP, and gRPC

· Build reusable adapters, APIs, and SDKs that simplify onboarding of factory devices and applications

· Ensure consistent publishing of factory signals into FMIL and CoreDS

5. Cloud & Hybrid Platform Infrastructure

· Architect and operate hybrid edge-cloud infrastructure connecting plant environments with centralized cloud platforms

· Build and manage cloud-based control planes for orchestration, fleet management, telemetry aggregation, and lifecycle control

· Design secure edge-to-cloud patterns enabling global visibility, coordination, and system-level optimization

· Develop cloud-native services supporting CoreOS, FMIL, and CoreDS at enterprise scale

· Partner with data and enterprise teams to enable scalable storage, compute, and processing capabilities

· Implement solutions using AWS, GCP, Azure, Kubernetes, and related technologies

6. Real-Time Data, Telemetry & CoreDS Integration

· Build real-time ingestion and streaming systems connecting factory signals to CoreDS

· Ensure seamless integration between edge-generated data and cloud data platforms

· Enable high-fidelity data pipelines supporting AI/ML, diagnostics, analytics, and traceability

· Support closed-loop systems where factory signals → insights → actions continuously improve performance

· Contribute to manufacturing data models, access patterns, and system-wide data consistency

7. Observability, Diagnostics & Runtime Integrity

· Build platform-wide observability across edge and cloud environments using tools such as Prometheus, Grafana, and OpenTelemetry

· Enable real-time monitoring, alerting, and diagnostics across all deployments

· Ensure runtime and telemetry signals are high-quality, structured, and actionable

· Support diagnostics and AI/ML systems through reliable signal and data availability

· Improve transparency and operational trust across engineering, launch, and plant teams

8. Reliability, Deployment & Global Scale

· Define deployment, rollout, upgrade, and rollback strategies across edge, on-prem, and cloud environments

· Establish SRE and release engineering practices for mission-critical manufacturing systems

· Define SLAs for uptime, latency, reliability, and deployment stability

· Lead global rollout of Core platforms aligned to ATP lifecycle models (TRL/MRL/IRL) and launch playbooks

· Partn