# Chief of Staff & Operations - Hardware Engineering **Company**: Ford Motor Company **Location**: Dearborn, MI **Work arrangement**: hybrid **Experience**: executive **Job type**: full-time **Category**: Engineering **Industry**: Automotive **Wikidata**: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q44294 **Apply**: https://efds.fa.em5.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX_1/job/71055?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply **Canonical**: https://yubhub.co/jobs/job_f26624d7-01c ## Description The Chief of Staff & Business Operations Manager for Vehicle Hardware Engineering (VHE) is a leadership position reporting directly to the Vice President of Vehicle Hardware Engineering. In this high-impact role, you will lead and manage the dedicated VHE Business Operations & Strategic Engineering Management Team,the operational engine responsible for strategy, process governance, business performance, and cultural execution across global hardware engineering. As Chief of Staff, you serve as a strategic partner, trusted proxy, and operational integrator for the VP. You will lead your team to bridge Executive Leadership Team (ELT) objectives with ground-level engineering execution, transitioning VHE from a traditional product developer into an enterprise Strategic Asset delivering market-leading product quality, bulletproof reliability, and unmatched cost efficiency. ## Responsibilities The Chief of Staff leads, directs, and develops the VHE Business Operations team across five core functional pillars: ### 1. Executive Support & Chief of Staff Operations - Manage team members representing VHE across enterprise forums (Software, Program Management, Finance, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Quality), ensuring hardware engineering standards and strategic priorities are advocated. - Orchestrate high-stakes communications, drafting executive whitepapers, ELT presentation decks, board materials, and mass organizational updates on behalf of the VP. - Establish structured governance loops between VP, Director, and Chief Engineer levels to accelerate decision-making, remove organizational silos, and maintain transparency. - Lead rapid-response cross-functional teams to resolve urgent operational, technical, or strategic challenges. ### 2. Business Operations & Enterprise Governance - Direct the multi-year planning process, converting ELT strategic objectives into actionable functional roadmaps (3-Year Strategy pillar of VHE Management System). - Oversee the design and implementation of automated, real-time KPI/OKR dashboards, providing unvarnished operational visibility across program execution. - Serve as and manage the team acting as the primary Single Point of Contact (SPoC) for the Office of General Counsel (OGC), regulatory compliance bodies, and internal control test audits. ### 3. Continuous Improvement & Efficiency Leadership - Direct team initiatives to achieve efficiencies (2026–2030) and sustain 3% YoY engineering productivity gains across labor and non-labor spend. - Spearhead cross-functional problem-solving to eliminate engineering friction, increase 'time to engineer,' and optimize workflow execution. ### 4. Organizational Strategy, Culture & Footprint - Institutionalize HRO practices and rapid iteration, fostering psychological safety to surface weak signals early and convert unknown risks into managed solutions. ## Qualifications - Master’s degree in Engineering, Business Administration (MBA), or related technical management field required. Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Systems, or Automotive Engineering strongly preferred. - 2+ years of direct experience managing high-performing teams of operational, process, or program management professionals within complex global manufacturing/automotive organizations. - 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in automotive hardware engineering, D&R processes, GPDS vehicle gateways, FEDE BoM management, and B10 reliability standards. - Demonstrated expertise in 8D root-cause problem solving, Failure Mode Avoidance (FMA), DFMEA, Design for Manufacture & Assembly (DFM/DFA), and Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE). - Proven track record in multi-year strategic planning, engineering productivity modeling, ED&T should-cost analysis, prototype multiplier management, and footprint optimization. - Exceptional oral and written communication skills; ability to synthesize complex technical challenges, present to Executive Leadership Teams (ELT), and drive cross-functional consensus. - Deep commitment to First-Principles thinking, intellectual humility, operational curiosity, and building safe, structural escalation mechanisms for technical risks. ## Benefits - 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. ## Skills ### Required - 8D root-cause problem solving - Failure Mode Avoidance (FMA) - DFMEA - Design for Manufacture & Assembly (DFM/DFA) - Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) - Multi-year strategic planning - Engineering productivity modeling - ED&T should-cost analysis - Prototype multiplier management - Footprint optimization --- Source: [Apply at efds.fa.em5.oraclecloud.com](https://efds.fa.em5.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX_1/job/71055?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply)