VA&AE Strategic Business and Operations Manager

We made history and now we work to transform the future – for our customers, our communities and our families. You'll see your work on the road every day, helping people move freely and pursue their dreams. At Ford, you can build more than vehicles. Come build what matters.

Product Development uses design thinking & user experience methods to deliver breakthrough products and services that delight our customers. We bring innovative, exciting, and sustainable ideas to life. We have opportunities around the world for you to contribute to advancements in autonomy, electrification, smart mobility technologies, and more!

In this position...

The Strategic Business & Operations Manager for Vehicle Architecture and Attribute Engineering (VA&AE) is a high-impact leadership role designed for an exceptional candidate who blends technical engineering expertise with strategic business acumen. Reporting directly to the Director of VA&AE, this individual serves as a strategic partner, operational integrator, and proxy. You will bridge the gap between Executive Leadership Team (ELT) objectives and Vehicle Architecture and Attribute execution, ensuring that the organization’s strategy, engineering discipline, and business operations are aligned to deliver world-class vehicles.

What you'll do...

• Executive Support & Chief of Staff Operations

• Executive Proxy: Serve as a key collaborator across functional teams at the highest levels of the company, representing VA&AE interests with IT/Software, VHE, Program Management, Finance, Supply Chain, and Manufacturing.

• Strategic Communication: Orchestrate and communication strategy, including the drafting and coordination of high-stakes mass communications and organizational updates.

• Leadership Alignment: Facilitate an effective feedback loop between the Chief/Directors and Director/VP levels to ensure transparency and rapid decision-making.

• Special Projects: Lead high-priority VP initiatives, specifically focusing on Engineering Efficiency, defining annual targets, and executing plans to achieve optimized results.

• Organizational Strategy & Business Operations

• Strategic Planning: Translate ELT objectives into actionable, multi-year functional plans and establish a rigorous review cadence to monitor progress.

• Organizational Transformation: Lead organizational culture initiatives and direct structural changes, including headcount optimization and resource planning.

• Performance Management: Develop annual objectives and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs); design and manage the process to monitor, report on, and react to performance results.

• Engineering Process Leadership & Governance

• Process Excellence: Define and maintain Engineering Roles & Responsibilities (R&Rs), Functional Action Plans (FAPs), and critical documentation.

• Lifecycle Management: Oversee GPDS (Global Product Development System) T04 and FEDE (Ford Engineering Design Environment) management.

• Audit & Discipline: Lead internal audits for the VA&AE organization, focusing specifically on engineering discipline and technical rigor.

• Compliance: Serve as the Single Point of Contact (SPoC) for Office of General Counsel (OGC), external audits, and control test audits.

• Continuous Improvement

• Problem Solving: Spearhead cross-functional problem-solving initiatives to remove roadblocks and improve operational flow.

• Operational Excellence: Identify and implement continuous improvement opportunities within the business operations and engineering delivery cycles.

You may not check every box, or your experience may look a little different from what we've outlined, but if you think you can bring value to Ford Motor Company, we encourage you to apply!

As an established global company, we offer the benefit of choice. You can choose what your Ford future will look like: will your story span the globe, or keep you close to home? Will your career be a deep dive into what you love, or a series of new teams and new skills? Will you be a leader, a changemaker, a technical expert, a culture builder…or all of the above? No matter what you choose, we offer a work life that works for you, including:
• Immediate medical, dental, vision, and prescription drug coverage
• Paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, subsidized back-up child care and more
• Family building benefits including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, fertility treatments and more
• Vehicle discount program for employees and family members and management leases
• Tuition assistance
• Established and active employee resource groups
• Paid time off for individual and team community service
• Generous vacation time, sick/personal time, and paid holidays, including between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day

This position is leadership level 5 and ranges from $141,700-$268,300

Final determination of salary grade will be based on candidate's skills and experience, and base salary will be set within the applicable range according to job scope, responsibility and competitive market value.

For more information on salary and benefits, click here: https://fordcareers.co/LL5

Visa sponsorship is available for this position.

Candidates for positions with Ford Motor Company must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status or protected veteran status. In the United States, if you need a reasonable accommodation for the online application process due to a disability, please call 1-888-336-0660.

This position is hybrid with a requirement to be onsite four or more days per week.

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You'll have...

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Business or related field

• 8-10 years of progressive or equivalent combination of relevant education and experience
• Progressive responsibilities in program management and related business operations roles
• Experience implementing business strategy for organizations of significant scope, generating roadmaps, and overseeing implementation
• A well-developed technical and business acumen in Vehicle Architecture, Analytical and Attribute Engineering Processes and strategic

Even better, you may have...

• MBA or other advance degree in any other related engineering or business field preferred
• Exceptional leadership and communication skills
• Experience with presenting and driving alignment with members of Senior Level Mgt
• High degree of initiative, independent work, and confidence
• Ability to work collaboratively with others and navigate complex decision making in a fast-paced environment
• Self-driven to research and investigate new concepts to solve difficult problems
• Experience dealing with a cross-functional organization globally.