Senior Exterior Designer

Ford Motor Company

Senior Exterior Designer creating innovative automotive exterior designs at Ford. Collaborating with teams to shape the future of adventure vehicles.

Posted 5/9/2026full-timeDearborn • Missouri • 🇺🇸 United StatesSenior💰 $65,100 - $166,200 per yearWebsite

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Create compelling and innovative exterior design experiences and visions for Design Projects.
Coordinate the work of other design personnel to achieve holistic design visions.
Create future brand focused design visions.
Span digital and physical (software and hardware) thinking.
Problems solve around topics of connectivity, mobility and consumer segments.

Requirements

What you’ll need

A portfolio to share that focuses on Automotive Exterior Design.
Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design, Transportation Design, or equivalent; can include graduates earning their degree in the same calendar term
Automotive or Transportation Design experience; including experience with final design product execution, and Internships with transportation design companies
Ability to interpret customer needs and global trends into compelling design.
Ability to work independently and provide strong technical aesthetic judgment to lead team members.
Awareness of global automotive and consumer electronics to ensure Ford competes with the ability to lead.
Demonstrated creative exterior design perceptions and capability. A design portfolio (pdf) must be provided upon application.
Collaborate with Engineering, Suppliers and other partners to progress the design development.
Must have exceptional design intuition, strong problem-solving skills and a superior ability to visually communicate through sketches, and renderings.
Ability to translate 2D to 3D and think three-dimensionally with a strong emphasis on proportions and a refined sense of form also required.
Familiarizes self and maintains interest with design trends within and across design professions and global cultures (automotive, fashion, architectural, etc.)
Outstanding teamwork, leadership, visual, written, and verbal communication skills

Benefits

Comp & perks

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.

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

Automotive Exterior DesignTransportation Design2D to 3D translationSketchingRenderingDesign executionCreative design perceptionProblem-solvingVisual communicationProportions and form

Soft Skills

TeamworkLeadershipCommunicationIndependent workTechnical aesthetic judgmentCustomer needs interpretationCollaborationDesign intuitionAdaptability to trendsStrong problem-solving

Certifications

Bachelor’s degree in Industrial DesignBachelor’s degree in Transportation Design