Technical Program Manager- Vehicle Connectivity & Mobility (Vc&M)

The Technical Program Manager (TPM) is an expert technical leader responsible for the successful execution of complex, high-impact technical programs and cross-functional, dependent products. Operating with a high degree of autonomy, this role bridges the gap between business strategy, product management, and engineering execution.

The TPM possesses a deep architectural understanding of the entire project ecosystem, its integration points, and future scalability needs. They are responsible for strategically aligning senior leadership, driving continuous operational model improvements, translating product strategy into detailed technical requirements, and mitigating complex technical and platform-level risks.

Based in Dearborn, MI, this is a hybrid position with a required four-day onsite presence each week.

Ford's Electric Vehicles, Digital and Design (EVDD) team is charged with delivering the company's vision of a fully electric transportation future. EVDD is customer-obsessed, entrepreneurial, and data-driven and is dedicated to delivering industry-leading customer experience for electric vehicle buyers and owners. You'll join an agile team of doers pioneering our EV future by working collaboratively, staying focused on only what matters, and delivering excellence day in and day out. Join us to make positive change by helping build a better world where every person is free to move and pursue their dreams.

What you'll do...

1. Technical Acumen & Architectural Alignment

• Technical Deep-Dives: Deep-dive into complex technical issues to understand root causes, evaluate trade-offs, and propose strategic, scalable solutions.

• Architectural Understanding: Maintain a robust, end-to-end architectural understanding of the project ecosystem, integration points, and future scalability needs.

• Platform Impact Analysis: Analyze project and engineering plans for potential impacts on other products, systems, or the broader platform, proposing adjustments to mitigate negative cross-program consequences.

• Technical Adaptability: Quickly develop technical depth in unfamiliar or emerging technologies to understand proposed solutions and highlight technical risks or concerns.

• Scope & Dependency Management: Identify technical dependencies or solution misalignments across multiple products and bring them to the surface for rapid resolution.

2. Program Leadership & Execution

• Complex Program Delivery: Lead and manage complex, high-impact programs of a highly technical nature, consistently ensuring on-time, high-quality, and within-budget launches.

• Risk & Blockers Mitigation: Anticipate less-common technical and business risks that engineering teams encounter; proactively design and implement robust mitigation and escalation paths.

• Capacity & Scope Optimization: Design and implement sophisticated capacity management models and resource allocation strategies to optimize team capacity and protect technical teams from distractions.

• Agile Governance: Champion agile execution and data integrity. Establish and enforce standards for Jira usage, backlog grooming, and dependency management. Lead and facilitate complex backlog grooming sessions for Epics, ensuring strong alignment to MVP and point values.

3. Strategic Influence & Collaboration

• Product-to-Engineering Bridge: Work closely with engineers to translate high-level product strategy into detailed requirements and establish a shared technical understanding of project goals across engineers.

• Cross-Functional Leadership: Lead and facilitate complex collaboration across diverse, stakeholders on complex technical topics.

4. Documentation, Change Control & Data Integrity

• Comprehensive Documentation: Author comprehensive, highly technical, and business-centric project documentation (including roadmaps, logical/physical architecture diagrams, and dependency maps) in coordination with Engineering.

• Change Control & Compliance: Ensure robust change control documentation, audit trails, and historical context are maintained for long-running products.

• Data Integrity Standards: Establish and enforce standards for data integrity in relevant tools (e.g., Jira), ensuring that the system of record is a direct, reliable reflection of actual engineering work.

5. Innovation, Learning & Mentorship

• Process Innovation: Design and implement innovative project management strategies, frameworks, and governance models to optimize flow and predictability.

• VC&M Landscape Alignment: Stay current with industry trends in product management, agile methodologies, and the evolving VC&M technical landscape to drive modern, data-driven decision-making.

What you'll do...

1. Technical Acumen & Architectural Alignment

• Technical Deep-Dives: Deep-dive into complex technical issues to understand root causes, evaluate trade-offs, and propose strategic, scalable solutions.

• Architectural Understanding: Maintain a robust, end-to-end architectural understanding of the project ecosystem, integration points, and future scalability needs.

• Platform Impact Analysis: Analyze project and engineering plans for potential impacts on other products, systems, or the broader platform, proposing adjustments to mitigate negative cross-program consequences.

• Technical Adaptability: Quickly develop technical depth in unfamiliar or emerging technologies to understand proposed solutions and highlight technical risks or concerns.

• Scope & Dependency Management: Identify technical dependencies or solution misalignments across multiple products and bring them to the surface for rapid resolution.

2. Program Leadership & Execution

• Complex Program Delivery: Lead and manage complex, high-impact programs of a highly technical nature, consistently ensuring on-time, high-quality, and within-budget launches.

• Risk & Blockers Mitigation: Anticipate less-common technical and business risks that engineering teams encounter; proactively design and implement robust mitigation and escalation paths.

• Capacity & Scope Optimization: Design and implement sophisticated capacity management models and resource allocation strategies to optimize team capacity and protect technical teams from distractions.

• Agile Governance: Champion agile execution and data integrity. Establish and enforce standards for Jira usage, backlog grooming, and dependency management. Lead and facilitate complex backlog grooming sessions for Epics, ensuring strong alignment to MVP and point values.

3. Strategic Influence & Collaboration

• Product-to-Engineering Bridge: Work closely with engineers to translate high-level product strategy into detailed requirements and establish a shared technical understanding of project goals across engineers.

• Cross-Functional Leadership: Lead and facilitate complex collaboration across diverse, stakeholders on complex technical topics.

4. Documentation, Change Control & Data Integrity

• Comprehensive Documentation: Author comprehensive, highly technical, and business-centric project documentation (including roadmaps, logical/physical architecture diagrams, and dependency maps) in coordination with Engineering.

• Change Control & Compliance: Ensure robust change control documentation, audit trails, and historical context are maintained for long-running products.

• Data Integrity Standards: Establish and enforce standards for data integrity in relevant tools (e.g., Jira), ensuring that the system of record is a direct, reliable reflection of actual engineering work.

5. Innovation, Learning & Mentorship

• Process Innovation: Design and implement innovative project management strategies, frameworks, and governance models to optimize flow and predictability.

• VC&M Landscape Alignment: Stay current with industry trends in product management, agile methodologies, and the evolving VC&M technical landscape to drive modern, data-driven decision-making.