AI Engineering, Senior Manager

The  AI Engineering, Senior Manager is a critical leadership position responsible for shaping and executing Ford's AI strategy within FCSD. This role will be instrumental in delivering FCSD AI Big Bets and driving the transformation of FCSD through advanced AI technologies, including Generative AI and Agentic AI. This individual will lead end-to-end delivery of AI products, scale solutions across platforms, and establish best-in-class AI engineering practices.

As a seasoned and hands-on leader, this individual will:

• Define and communicate the AI roadmap aligned with FCSD's strategic priorities.
• Build and mentor world-class AI teams, fostering innovation and technical excellence.
• Engage directly in solution design, model development, and deployment to ensure scalability and reliability.
• Collaborate with business and technology stakeholders to integrate AI into core offerings and deliver measurable outcomes.

This role requires a unique blend of strategic foresight, technical depth, and leadership capability to transform FCSD and position Ford as a leader in AI-driven customer experiences.

Strategic Thinking & Leadership

• Act as a visionary and execution leader, shaping FCSD AI strategy with a focus on Generative AI, Agentic AI, and advanced Data Science.
• Partner with business leaders to translate complex challenges into scalable AI solutions that deliver measurable impact.
• Define and own product vision and delivery, ensuring alignment with enterprise priorities.
• Establish clear success metrics and drive accountability through forecasting, goal setting, and trend analysis.

AI Technical Leadership

• Provide hands-on technical leadership, actively engaging in solution design, model development, and deployment.
• Lead technical and design reviews to ensure robustness, scalability, and compliance with best practices.
• Prioritize and direct advanced AI research to accelerate product capabilities.
• Build and scale the AI Engineering practice, setting standards for architecture, MLOps, and software engineering rigor.

Delivery Focus

• Own end-to-end delivery of AI products and services, from concept to production, in partnership with Product, Engineering, and cross-functional teams.
• Influence product direction through data-driven insights and compelling executive presentations.
• Ensure rapid iteration and deployment while maintaining quality and reliability at scale.

Team Development

• Recruit, mentor, and grow world-class AI talent, fostering a culture of innovation and technical excellence.
• Drive knowledge sharing and best practices through Communities of Practice, enabling enterprise-wide AI maturity.
• Champion continuous learning and develop future AI leaders within the organization.

Anchor Role – Technical Depth

• Expert in cloud-based AI platforms (GCP, Azure) and modern ML frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch, Keras).
• Proven ability to design and implement end-to-end ML pipelines, including data ingestion, modeling, and deployment.
• Strong proficiency in Python, containerization (Docker), and version control (Git).
• Deep expertise in Generative AI frameworks, Agentic AI applications, and advanced ML algorithms.
• Ability to apply software engineering principles to AI development for scalable, maintainable solutions.
• Hands-on experience with large-scale data processing, model optimization, and production deployment.

Minimum Requirements

• Education:
  Bachelor's Degree in a related field (e.g., Data Science, Predictive Analytics, Statistics, AI, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science).
• Delivery Leadership:
  Seasoned leader in Generative AI and Agentic AI applications, with proven experience delivering and scaling multiple AI solutions in production environments.
• Technical Expertise:
  • 5+ years of hands-on experience with AI/ML and data science software (e.g., Python-based tools), including Generative AI or Agentic AI.
  • 4+ years acting as senior technical lead, facilitating solution tradeoff discussions for new AI feature implementations.
  • Experience using cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, or GCP) and enterprise AI platforms.
  • Demonstrated proficiency in Gen AI technologies and modern ML frameworks.
• Leadership & Team Development:
  • 4+ years leading and managing direct reports.
  • Proven ability to hire, grow, and mentor high-performing AI and Data Science teams.

Preferred Requirements

• Recognized thought leader in AI with industry influence.
• PhD in a related field (e.g., Data Science, Machine Learning, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, AI).
• Expert-level knowledge of advanced and predictive analytical methods (e.g., Simulation, Design of Experiments, Genetic Algorithms, Ensemble Methods, Naïve Bayes, Neural Networks, Regression, Image Processing, NLP).
• Working knowledge of Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
• Expertise in open-source data science technologies such as Python, R, Spark, SQL.