Applied Data Scientist – Vehicle Prognostics

Ford Motor Company

Applied Data Scientist developing breakthrough prognostic features in battery and vehicle systems for Ford's electric vehicles. Leveraging data science and engineering skills to improve performance and reliability.

Posted 7/1/2026full-timeDearborn • Missouri • 🇺🇸 United StatesMid-LevelSenior💰 $85,400 - $160,000 per yearWebsite

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

CloudHadoopPythonSparkSQL

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Own the process for prognostic feature development from conceptual to feature deployment to our production vehicles.
Pioneer Physics-Informed Machine Learning (PIML): Fuse first-principles physics modeling with advanced machine learning to develop hybrid, high-fidelity prognostic models that capture complex degradation behaviors across both EV and ICE powertrains.
Architect Prognostics & RUL Frameworks: Design and deploy state-of-the-art prognostics models to accurately estimate the Remaining Useful Life (RUL) of critical vehicle subsystems, transforming noisy fleet data into actionable maintenance alerts.
Deploy Edge Models in C++: Translate complex predictive models into highly optimized, low-latency C++ code, bridging the gap between cloud-based data science and resource-constrained on-board vehicle electronic control units (ECUs).
Harness High-Frequency Signal Processing: Architect custom Digital Signal Processing (DSP) pipelines and time-series analytics to extract clean, high-frequency physical signatures from multi-sensor vehicle networks, isolating early-stage wear patterns before they manifest as failures.
Design Multi-Sensor Fault Detection & Isolation (FDI): Develop and validate intelligent, multi-sensor anomaly detection frameworks capable of real-time Fault Detection and Isolation (FDI) to ensure vehicle safety, system redundancy, and fault-tolerant control.
Apply Statistical Causal Inference: Leverage advanced statistical methods (including causal inference, multivariate analysis, ANOVA, and PCA) to differentiate between mere correlation and true physical root causes of component degradation across massive, connected vehicle fleets.
Own the End-to-End Pipeline (HIL to Production): Direct the entire prognostic lifecycle—moving seamlessly from mathematical conceptualization and simulation in MATLAB/Simulink to physical validation on Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) benches, prototype vehicles, and ultimately to production vehicle deployment.
Synthesize Deep Subsystem Domain Knowledge: Partner closely with EV and ICE component subject matter experts to translate deep physical domain knowledge (thermal, mechanical, chemical, and electrical) into robust on-board and off-board diagnostics.
Build Scale with Big Data & Calibration Tools: Ingest and process large-scale telemetry data using Python, SQL, Spark, and Hadoop, while leveraging industry-standard calibration tools (such as ATI and ETAS) to fine-tune algorithms for real-world driving environments. Interact with subject matter experts to understand component/system functions, leverage existing connected vehicle data to model on-board and off-board prognostics algorithms.
Operate cross-functionally to ensure successful code implementation on production vehicles.

Requirements

What you’ll need

Bachelor's in Mechanical, Electrical, Computer Science, Computer engineering, Physics, Mathematics or related fields or a combination of education and equivalent experience
4+ years of experience of practicing statistical methods and their accurate application e.g. ANOVA, principal component analysis, correspondence analysis, k-means clustering, factor analysis, multi-variate analysis, Neural Networks, causal inference, Gaussian regression, etc.
3+ Experience with Python (and related modules), SQL
Experience with embedded controls, onboard Diagnostic, Sensor Processing, General First Principles Physics Modeling and simulation using numerical computational tool (e.g. MATLAB, ATI, Simulink)
Experience with Digital Signal Processing (DSP) data structures, algorithms, and software engineering principles
Self-motivated, strong analytical, excellent interpersonal and communication skills required
**Even better, you may have...**
Master's or PhD in Mechanical, Electrical, Computer Science, Computer engineering, Physics, Mathematics or related fields or a combination of education and equivalent experience
Experience in Dynamic Systems, Control, Robotics, Prognostics and Health Management
Familiarity working with Automotive prognostics feature development using connected vehicle data.
2+ Experience in application of statistical and machine learning methods e.g., ANOVA, PCA, clustering methods, causal inference, time series forecasting, random forest, multi-variate analysis, neural networks, etc.
Expertise in open-source data science technologies such as Python, R, Spark, Hadoop, etc. acquired through college course work, online training and certification or project development.
Experience in software development for automotive controls with hands on experience using MATLAB for large scale data and understanding of programming fundamentals and experience with C++ programming in embedded environments. ATI and ETAS calibration tool familiarity
Excellent verbal and written skills. Highly credible in organizational, time management, decision making and problem-solving 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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Hard Skills & Tools

PythonSQLMATLABSimulinkDigital Signal ProcessingStatistical AnalysisNeural NetworksCausal InferenceMultivariate AnalysisEmbedded Controls

Soft Skills

Analytical SkillsInterpersonal SkillsCommunication SkillsTime ManagementProblem-Solving Skills