Staff Embedded Platform Engineer

You will own core platform firmware for a distributed embedded system of multiple microcontrollers building reusable drivers services and test infrastructure on Zephyr RTOS. This is a platform-facing role. Youll close real gaps across the stack from standing up a device watchdog/supervision design to building driver test suites for our automotive Ethernet PHY driver to hardening real-time Ethernet and custom serial protocols so application teams can build on a stable scalable foundation.

What youll do...

• Design and implement reusable platform software across a multi-MCU distributed embedded system favoring clean driver/service abstractions and portable component interfaces over app-specific one-offs.
• Architect and implement device reliability infrastructure from the ground up including watchdog and task-supervision design (feeding strategy timeout policy fault capture and recovery/reset-reason reporting).
• Own real-time Ethernet communication including 10BASE-T1S with PLCA IEEE 1588/PTP time synchronization and UDP transport and tune it for reliability under bandwidth-constrained congested networks (including interaction with over-the-air updates).
• Develop and maintain custom serial protocols over UART I2C and SPI (e.g. multi-device I2C command/streaming protocols with CRC/PEC integrity firmware-update windowing and robust error handling) for reliable exchange between MCUs and external components.
• Specify design implement and test both bare-metal and RTOS low-level firmware including device drivers HAL abstractions and Kconfig/devicetree integration for a scalable multi-board platform.
• Build component test infrastructure: author unit/integration test suites (e.g. Twister emulators/mocks hardware-in-the-loop) for drivers and libraries that today lack coverage and drive maturity stability and release-readiness metrics.
• Resolve ambiguity in requirements specifications and hardware/vendor documentation and turn open items into concrete testable designs.
• Bring up hardware and debug at bench and hardware-in-the-loop level using logic analyzers oscilloscopes and JTAG/SWD debuggers to verify software against silicon.
• Define and implement system-level power compute and communication requirements enabling different applications to select different capability/configuration combinations (including low-power modes).
• Profile power CPU and bus utilization at the submodule and system level and drive optimizations.
• Collaborate with verification and validation teams to build comprehensive test plans and validate firmware functionality stability and performance across operating and low-power conditions.
• Interface with external silicon/module vendors: review firmware/register specifications provide design guidance and integrate and validate vendor code releases.
• Maintain clear concise documentation of design decisions driver/service APIs and firmware architecture.
• Replace temporary or placeholder subsystems with long-term maintainable architectures.

Youll have...

• Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering Computer Science or Computer Engineering (or equivalent experience).
• 10 years of relevant embedded development experience in C.
• Hands-on experience in both bare-metal and RTOS environments.
• Experience authoring and maintaining automated firmware test suites (unit integration and hardware-in-the-loop).
• Experience with issue-tracking and documentation tools (e.g. JIRA/Confluence or equivalent) for tracking requirements tasks and results.
• Knowledge of electrical engineering fundamentals including circuit analysis and design.

Even better you may have...

• Zephyr RTOS experience (devicetree Kconfig Twister driver model west) strongly preferred.
• Experience developing and testing networking drivers/stacks especially automotive/industrial Ethernet (10BASE-T1S PLCA MAC-PHY interfaces PTP/time synchronization).
• Experience designing watchdog fault-handling and safe-recovery mechanisms on resource-constrained MCUs.
• Deep experience with UART/I2C/SPI protocol design and debugging (CRC/PEC framing retry/backoff bus contention).
• Experience integrating vendor source code and silicon and reviewing register-level specifications.
• Experience with build tooling such as CMake Bazel SCons west.
• Proficiency scripting test and automation tooling in Python.
• Familiarity with security-adjacent firmware concerns (secure boot credential storage diagnostics such as UDS/DoIP).
• Strong software fundamentals (design maintainability code review) and hands-on hardware bring-up system debugging and code optimization.
• Collaborative mindset with strong written and verbal communication and genuine interest in partnering with vendors to integrate new technology.

You may not check every box or your experience may look a little different from what weve 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 builderor 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 Years Day
Paid time off and the option to purchase additional vacation time.

This position is a leadership level 6 and ranges from $150200-$283500.
Final determination of salary grade will be based on candidates 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: 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 the United States if you need a reasonable accommodation for the online application process due to a disability please call 1-.

This position is hybrid. Candidates who are in commuting distance to a Ford hub location may be required to be onsite four or more days per week. #LI-Hybrid

#LI-MZ1 #UEV