Senior Embedded Controls Engineer, Body Controls

Ford Motor Company

Embedded Controls Software Engineer developing software for vehicle body control features at Ford. Collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver seamless vehicle experiences.

Posted 6/3/2026full-timePalo Alto • California • 🇺🇸 United StatesSenior💰 $138,800 - $232,700 per yearWebsite

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

PythonRTOS

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Develop control and estimation algorithms for body control features such as window systems, closure systems, lighting, and other actuator-based functions.
Lead the design, integration, and validation of body controls hardware components on electrical test assets, including benches, bucks, lab cars, and vehicles.
Collaborate with software integration teams to bring up core functions and translate software-level requirements into electrical hardware and system requirements.
Apply functional safety principles and participate in safety analyses for complex vehicle subsystems.
Develop and execute comprehensive test plans to validate firmware functionality, stability, robustness, and performance across operating conditions, including low-power modes.
Drive body controls feature development cross-functionally with hardware, software, architecture, systems, validation, and program teams.
Author feature boundary diagrams, subsystem block diagrams, validation strategies, and technical documentation.
Lead subsystem reviews across all phases of vehicle program development.
Support early firmware development activities, including hardware validation, lab car testing, and automation framework development for unit, SIL, and HIL testing.

Requirements

What you’ll need

Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field; or equivalent experience with demonstrated technical capability.
3+ years of experience in electrical hardware applications, prototype bring-up, and systems development.
3+ years of experience with vehicle network protocols such as CAN, LIN, and Automotive Ethernet.
Strong electrical engineering fundamentals and hands-on experience with electrical test equipment, including oscilloscopes, digital multimeters, signal generators, power supplies, and related tools.
3+ years of experience using embedded networking interface tools in automotive, aerospace, or a similar embedded systems environment.
Working knowledge of systems development, vehicle architecture, battery technologies, software and hardware tool development, motor calibration, OBD calibration, functional safety, networks, and diagnostics processes.
Experience creating and executing component-level test procedures and owning test results.
**Even better, you may have...
Highly collaborative mindset with strong written and verbal communication skills.
Experience with driver development and RTOS integration.
Experience with software build tools such as Bazel, SCons, CMake, or similar tools.
Experience with fundamental PCB hardware components and related analysis tools.
Ability to develop test scripts using scripting languages such as Python.
Strong software fundamentals, including software design, maintainability, and code quality.
Hands-on experience with hardware bring-up, system debugging, and code optimization.
Knowledge of electrical engineering fundamentals, including circuit analysis and design.

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

control algorithmsestimation algorithmsvehicle network protocolsCANLINAutomotive Ethernetembedded networkingtest proceduresscripting languagescircuit analysis

Soft Skills

collaborative mindsetwritten communicationverbal communication

Certifications

Master’s degree in Electrical EngineeringMaster’s degree in Mechanical EngineeringMaster’s degree in Computer Science