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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Hardware Engineer - **Company:** Ford Motor Company - **Location:** Dearborn, MI, United States - **Experience:** Experienced - **Salary:** $99,600.0 - $192,900.0 - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Board Bringup, Altium Designer, Automation of Tests, Bit Error Rate, Network Analysis, Computer Networks, Ethernet, Failure Mode Effects Analysis, Hardware Design, Networking Hardware, Network Troubleshooting, Network Interface, PCI Express, Cadence Virtuoso, Signal Integrity, USB, Computer Network Technologies, Mentor Graphics - **Published:** July 11, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=572b50bbfab12886 ## About the Role * Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or a similar technical field. * 3+ years of experience in electronic hardware design, mainly focusing on complex high-speed digital and mixed-signal designs. * 2+ years working with SI simulation or PCB design tools (e.g., Altium Designer, Mentor Graphics, Cadence Allegro, HyperLynx, SIwave, Polar Instruments). * 2+ years of hands-on lab experience using equipment like oscilloscopes, Vector Network Analyzers (VNA), Time Domain Reflectometers (TDR), and doing circuit board rework. * Familiarity with standard automotive communication interfaces (CAN, LIN, SerDes, Ethernet). * A solid grasp of transmission line theory, S-parameters, bit error rate (BER) testing, crosstalk, characteristic impedance, eye diagrams, and time-domain analysis. * Good understanding of EMC/EMI principles in automotive settings. * Experience with high-reliability electronics for high-volume production, including using DFMEA and Worst-Case Analysis (WCA)., * PhD with 3+ years of relevant hardware/SI experience, or Master's degree with 7+ years of relevant hardware/SI experience. * 5+ years of experience with SI simulation and PCB design tools. * Strong background in transmission line and electromagnetic theory. * Specific automotive networking experience (e.g., 10BASE-T1S, 100/1000BASE-T1, Multi-Gig T1, GMSL/FPD-Link, CAN-FD, LIN). * Familiarity with how typical vehicle electrical architectures are built and the automotive development process. * Experience with networking hardware architectures, topologies, and protocols. * Experience with EMC/EMI standards and testing (like Ford FMC1278, ISO 7637, CISPR 25). * Experience capturing and writing technical requirements and specifications. * Comfort using vehicle diagnostic tools to troubleshoot network issues. * Prior involvement with standards organizations like IEEE, SAE, ASA, or the OPEN Alliance. * You're comfortable taking ownership of loosely defined goals, asking the right questions to get clarity, and working well with others to get the job done. ## Description We are looking for an experienced Hardware Engineer to own signal integrity (SI) and hardware robustness for high-speed, in-vehicle communication links within Ford's network communications hardware team. Our team is responsible for ISO Layer 1 and 2 of networking. We work on finding and developing the right networking technologies for Ford's next-generation electrical architecture. This means introducing new solutions and tweaking existing ones to help keep overall system costs down while ensuring electrical robustness for automotive use. In this role, you will author Layer 1-2 networking specs and design verification documents that are used across all Ford vehicle programs. You will also lead hardware design reviews, run simulations, do lab validation for network interfaces, and help guide our electrical architecture. Depending on your experience, this position could be filled at the Senior / Lead / Principal level. Ideally, you have hands-on experience building and testing high-performance compute systems and high-speed digital interfaces (like PCIe, USB, Ethernet, FPD-Link, etc.), plus a background in guiding or mentoring other engineers. What you'll do... * Conduct design reviews of ECU circuit designs to ensure they meet industry standards and automotive requirements for SI, EMC, and electrical robustness. * Run simulations to catch potential issues early, and follow up with lab measurements to validate. * Define SI budgets for different parts of the system (board, cable, connector, etc.), keeping jitter, noise, crosstalk, and EMI/EMC in mind. * Formulate board-level requirements for layout, interconnects, routing, and components. * Create design verification test methods and run tests based on industry standards and internal requirements. * Lead functional failure root-cause analysis and corrective actions for prototypes and production vehicles. * Lead component-level qualification of networking components for use in Ford products by reviewing EMI/EMC, interoperability, and other conformance reports. * Work closely with other Product Development teams (like EMC, Electrical Distribution Systems, and Vehicle Validation) to ensure SI is considered throughout the whole process. * Provide technical guidance to Product Development teams on feasibility, design alternatives, and design oversight for in-vehicle network implementations. * Collaborate with software and firmware teams during hardware bring-up and testing. * Build strong relationships with silicon, cable, and connector vendors to evaluate and introduce emerging technologies. * Contribute to industry standards efforts to reduce component cost, improve test automation, and address common automotive challenges in collaboration with industry experts. ## Related Videos - [Building a hypercar from scratch](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/607-building-a-hypercar-from-scratch) - [Prototyping with Hardware and the Web](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/651-prototyping-with-hardware-and-the-web) - [The Gashlycrumb Tinies of AI Networking You Must Know (or Languish!)](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/2067-the-gashlycrumb-tinies-of-ai-networking-you-must-know-or-languish) - [Cybersecurity for Software Defined Vehicles](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/725-cybersecurity-for-software-defined-vehicles) - [Docker network without Docker](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1418-docker-network-without-docker) - [Project Fugu: Extending the web](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/832-project-fugu-extending-the-web) ## Related Articles - [How software is steering vehicle technology](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/515-how-software-is-steering-vehicle-technology) - [Top Characteristics of a Software Engineer](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/166-top-characteristics-of-a-software-engineer) - [What is Software Engineering?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/289-what-is-software-engineering) - [Software Engineer Career: Things You Should Know](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/143-software-engineer-career-things-you-should-know) - [Is Software Engineering Hard?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/448-is-software-engineering-hard) - [How to Write a CV and Interview if You Don't Fully Qualify For The Job](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/183-how-to-write-a-cv-and-interview-if-you-don-t-fully-qualify-for-the-job)