Software Development Engineer

We are seeking a highly skilled engineer to design, build, and operate large-scale, cloud-native systems that power Ford’s connected vehicle capabilities. In this role, you will design and support mission-critical cloud platform components, own services that directly impact customer experiences, and help shape the technical direction of platforms operating at extreme scale. You will balance strong data-driven decision-making with the ability to move forward effectively when information is incomplete.

• Design, develop, maintain, and support multiple mission-critical cloud platform components that enable Ford’s connected vehicle ecosystem.

• Own end-to-end delivery of software services powering critical customer experiences, as well as the platform infrastructure that supports them.

• Design, develop, and operate high-performance, cloud-based and microservices-driven platforms at scale.

• Build resilient backend services using technologies such as Java, Spring Boot, Kafka, PostgreSQL, gRPC, REST, and Kubernetes.

• Develop and deploy services on AWS and/or GCP, leveraging managed services.

• Implement and maintain robust CI/CD pipelines with a strong focus on security, reliability, and efficiency.

• Apply TDD and Dev Ops best practices using tools such as Jenkins, ArgoCD, Sonar Qube, Fossa, and Git Hub.

• Champion automation and operational consistency across environments.

• Write clean, maintainable, and well-tested code that meets high quality standards.

• Perform API load, stress, and performance testing to ensure scalability and reliability.

• Own service health by proactively identifying performance bottlenecks and system risks.

• Implement comprehensive monitoring, alerting, and performance management strategies.

• Ensure systems consistently meet SLA and reliability targets, minimizing customer impact.

• Collaborate with team members to establish and evolve best practices that reduce operational risk.

• Proactively identify opportunities to adopt emerging technologies and improve system efficiency.

• Lead or contribute to system refactoring initiatives to improve performance, scalability, and maintainability.

• Anticipate future challenges through data-informed decision-making and pragmatic engineering judgment.

• Work within Agile development environments, partnering closely with product managers and cross-functional teams.

• Translate business and product requirements into incremental, production-ready solutions.

• Participate in and lead design discussions, contributing to architectural decisions and technical standards.

• Influence technical direction while fostering collaboration across teams.

• Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• Drive to sound conclusions even when data is incomplete or ambiguous.

• Stay ahead of emerging industry trends and technologies.

• Align technical solutions with customer needs and business outcomes, ensuring long-term value creation.

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical/Computer Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience)

• 3+ years of progressive experience in cloud-based software development.

• 3+ years of experience designing, deploying, and supporting cloud-based solutions in production environments.

• 3+ years of experience understanding of API design and integration patterns to enable seamless system and data exchange.

• 3+ years of experience supporting mission-critical, always-on applications with high reliability, availability, and performance requirements.

• 3+ years of hands‑on expertise with GCP or AWS and cloud-native services including Cloud Run, Pub/Sub / MSK, Apigee / Tyk, Observability technologies and container orchestration platforms such as GKE, EKS, or Kubernetes.

• 5+ years of progressive experience in cloud-based software development.
  
  Solid knowledge of cloud security principles with the ability to design and implement secure software solutions.

• Experience with infrast…