ADAS Lighting Feature System Engineer

Do you have what it takes to make smart vehicles for a smart world? Join the Ford Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) team! Utilizing Design Thinking and User Experience methods, you will work to deliver breakthrough products and services that delight our customers. We are seeking forward-thinking, laser-focused professionals with a passion for bringing innovative, exciting, and sustainable ideas to life. We have opportunities around the world for you to contribute to such advancements as autonomy, electrification, smart mobility technologies and more!

We bring engineering ideas to life. In ADAS, we make driving more exciting, enjoyable, and safe. Ford's ADAS team designs and develops intelligent exterior lighting features that enhance nighttime visibility and safety, including Auto High Beam, Adaptive Front Lighting Systems (AFS) {includes Dynamic Bending Lights, Glare-Free/Matrix LED High Beam, and Cornering Lamps}.

We are seeking a professional who can contribute to our efforts with experience and passion in the development of adaptive lighting features, functions, sensors, ECUs, models, and software.

What you'll do...

o    Act as the technical authority for ADAS Lighting features—including Auto High Beam, Adaptive Front Lighting System (AFS), Glare-Free/Matrix High Beam, and Cornering Lamps—leading requirements decomposition, cross-domain orchestration, and roadmap definition in collaboration with Product, Lighting Hardware, and Digital Design teams.
o    Lead the development of feature engineering deliverables including Concept, Logical and Technology requirements, Boundary diagrams, design analysis, Failure Mode Avoidance, robustness fields, and test procedures.
o    Develop and refine vehicle-level use cases, sensor/actuator interfaces, and feature-level specifications that govern beam pattern control, automatic high/low beam switching logic, and steering- and speed-dependent headlamp articulation.
o    Ensure global regulatory compliance (e.g., FMVSS 108, ECE/UNECE R48, R123, R149 for adaptive and matrix systems, ) and functional safety (ISO-26262) by partnering with the Automotive Safety Office and Functional Safety team to develop item definitions, hazard analyses, and safety concepts.
o    Ensure product requirements are compatible with delivering public domain for IIHS standards.
o    Establish feature objectives and ensure system operation meets end-user/customer objectives through a structured system-level test methodology, including photometric and field-of-illumination performance.
o    Work with Hardware (lighting module/LED driver), Software, and Test teams to ensure feature requirements are cascaded, aligned, and accepted, and that camera-based detection of oncoming/preceding vehicles correctly drives beam control.
o    Ensure new lighting features seamlessly integrated with existing ADAS features (camera perception, body control, steering angle, vehicle dynamics) to provide a superb customer experience.
o    Drive feature robustness through Failure Mode Avoidance (FMA) and advanced validation (HIL/SIL/Vehicle); lead complex root cause investigations (8D/5-Why) and present technical solutions to enterprise leadership.
o    Work with virtual validation teams to establish CAE/photometric simulation procedures (Craig asking for additional info for testing work) to reduce dependence on vehicle-level and nighttime track testing.
o    Plan and help execute real-world evaluation of lighting features via vehicle/HIL/virtual testing—including night drives and glare evaluations—and identify system problems/issues.
o    Support sign-off of feature-level performance for first vehicle program implementation.
o    Gather quality history to manage and drive feature quality and improvements (i.e., Data Analytics/VOCF/Launch Feedback/Warranty/External Metrics such as JD Power).
 

You'll have...

• Bachelor's Degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Systems, Computer Engineering, or related degree; or foreign equivalency degree, or a combination of equivalent experience and education.
• 3+ years of experience developing features in the ADAS domain using radars, cameras, LIDAR, ultrasonic sensors and/or other related vehicle systems (e.g., body, electrical, chassis, powertrain, etc.).
• 2+ years of experience in system engineering including experience with the System V, Functional decomposition, design analysis, Concept, Logical and technology level requirements development, System integration and FMA analysis.
• Strong leadership skills with a passion for quality and customer happiness.
• Excellent communication, teamwork, interpersonal and project management skills.
• Ability to work well independently and take initiative.

 

Even better, you may have....

• 2+ years of work experience designing and developing automotive exterior lighting systems or the software/sensing systems that deliver adaptive lighting features.
  Master's Degree in Electrical, Computer, or Mechanical Engineering.
• Knowledge of automotive lighting regulations and standards (FMVSS 108, UNECE R48/R123/R149, SAE lighting standards).
• Experience with photometric design and analysis, including beam pattern development, luminance/illuminance measurement, luxmeters and/or goniometers, and glare evaluation.
• Familiarity with LED matrix/pixel headlamp architectures, LED drivers, and thermal management of lighting modules.
• Experience with camera-based perception used for vehicle detection in Auto High Beam control logic.
• Experience with SysML/MagicDraw/Jama/Jira.
• Understanding of embedded hardware and software design.
• Experience with model-based design (e.g., MATLAB, Simulink, Stateflow, state machine development).
• Verification proficiency (e.g., design verification methods, data acquisition/analysis, hardware-in-the-loop).
• Knowledge of virtual validation methods (e.g., HIL, MIL, SIL) and optical/photometric simulation tools (e.g., LucidShape, SPEOS, Zemax).

 

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
• Flexible family care days, 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 
• A generous schedule of paid holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day 
• Paid time off and the option to purchase additional vacation time. 
 

This position ranges from a salary grade of 6-8 from  $100,000 - $150,000.

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

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.

This position is hybrid (onsite four days per week). 

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