Visual Design Principle

In this In-Cabin + Visual Design Principle role at Ford Motor Company, you will lead visual design and motion standards for Ford and Lincoln digital experiences spanning in-vehicle systems, connected devices, and mobile apps. You will act as a trusted design authority, setting direction and raising design quality across teams and products.

You will define and evolve visual design principles and motion guidance for DPD, ensuring consistency while adapting to different products, contexts, and platforms. You will guide high-impact design work from early exploration through prototyping and delivery, and you will help teams apply standards with clarity and craft.

• Set and communicate a clear visual design vision for Ford and Lincoln digital experiences, aligning design direction with brand, customer, product, and technical needs.
• Lead the evolution and governance of visual design and motion standards, patterns, and guidance for DPD.
• Shape high-impact design work from exploration through prototyping and delivery, bringing clarity to complex or ambiguous problems.
• Create and guide exemplar work that reflects expected quality, craft, and interaction principles across products.
• Partner with UX, product, research, brand, and engineering leaders to resolve design challenges and deliver cohesive experiences across in-vehicle and off-vehicle touchpoints.
• Guide teams to apply visual design and motion principles consistently, while adjusting appropriately for different products, contexts, and platforms.
• Collaborate with engineering to assess feasibility, define implementation approaches, and maintain design intent through development.
• Lead design critiques and reviews by providing clear, constructive feedback that improves work quality and builds design capability.
• Mentor and influence designers to strengthen visual design and motion skills and improve outcomes across the organization.
• Use customer research, competitive and industry insights, and automotive landscape knowledge to inform design direction and identify opportunities.
• Present design strategy, concepts, and recommendations to partners and senior stakeholders to build alignment and support sound decisions.
• Improve design processes, documentation, and handoffs to enable consistent, scalable application of visual design.

• Bachelor’s degree in graphic design, visual communication, interaction design, digital product design, or a related field, or equivalent education and experience.
• 8+ years of experience in visual design and/or motion for digital products, including complex, consumer-facing experiences.
• A strong portfolio showing high-level visual craft, design systems or languages, and consistent execution across interactive experiences.
• Experience defining, evolving, and scaling design principles, standards, patterns, or guidelines across products or teams.
• Proficiency with modern design and prototyping tools including Figma, Proto Pie, Adobe Creative Cloud, After Effects, Rive, and/or 3D animation tools.
• Experience leading design work across disciplines and influencing partners without relying solely on formal authority.
• Strong communication and presentation skills, including the ability to explain design rationale and build alignment with diverse stakeholders.
• A collaborative, constructive approach to critique, feedback, and shared problem-solving.

Figma, Proto Pie, Adobe Creative Cloud, After Effects, Rive, and 3D animation tools

• 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
• 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

• Experience working with multidisciplinary product teams that include researchers, designers, product managers, and engineers.
• Experience shaping design direction across multiple products, platforms, or customer touchpoints.
• Experience creating motion specifications, production-ready assets, and documentation that support…