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Ford Motor Company

Sr. Design Technologist & Prototyper

Posted 10 Hours Ago
Be an Early Applicant
Hybrid
Palo Alto, CA, USA
147K-277K Annually
Senior level
Hybrid
Palo Alto, CA, USA
147K-277K Annually
Senior level
The Sr. Design Technologist & Prototyper will create prototypes for digital and physical experiences on the Universal Electric Vehicle platform, collaborating with designers and engineers to validate concepts and support usability testing.
The summary above was generated by AI

We made history and now we work to transform the future – for our customers, our communities and our families. You'll see your work on the road every day, helping people move freely and pursue their dreams. At Ford, you can build more than vehicles. Come build what matters.

Digital Product Design (DPD) at Ford is committed to envisioning and creating simple, thoughtful, enjoyable, and compelling product experiences that our customers need and love. We work in close partnership with product and engineering to deliver best-in-class interactions experiences that meet the needs of people today, and in the future. Our team is comprised of a dynamic group of product designers, researchers, visual designers, industrial designers, modelers, and project managers.

In this position...

We’re looking for a Sr. Design Technologist & Prototyper to help bring the next generation of digital and physical experiences to life on our Universal Electric Vehicle (UEV) platform. This role sits at the intersection of design, engineering, and research, turning early concepts into high-fidelity, testable prototypes that accelerate decision-making, validate feasibility, and raise the craft of experience execution.
You’ll partner closely with the team of product designers to transform concepts into compelling, usable experiences—supporting fast iteration cycles, design reviews, and real-world customer evaluation. This team culture emphasizes cohesive, platform-minded thinking over one-off feature solutions, and relies on prototyping as a core mechanism for learning and alignment.

What You’ll Do...

  • Rapidly prototype next-generation UEV experiences across digital and physical touchpoints.
  • Translate early concepts into interactive and functional prototypes that clarify journeys, flows, and interaction models.
  • Support design reviews, leadership demos, and milestone presentations with compelling prototypes.
  • Build prototypes to enable usability testing, customer clinics, and real-world validation.
  • Iterate quickly based on feedback from research, engineering, and product partners.
  • Develop reusable prototyping patterns and workflows that scale across the UEV platform.

Who You’ll Work With...

You’ll collaborate with a multidisciplinary group of product designers, researchers, engineers, and program stakeholders. You’ll often act as the connective tissue between design intent and technical feasibility, helping teams align through tangible, testable artifacts.

Why This Role Matters...

The Universal Electric Vehicle platform is foundational to the future of vehicle experiences. Prototyping is critical to ensuring ideas scale, feel intuitive, and are feasible to build. In this role, you’ll help shape experiences that move beyond concepts into reality—impacting customers across vehicles, use cases, and generations.

 

You'll have...

  • Bachelors or equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.
  • Strong experience creating prototypes across multiple levels of fidelity.
  • 5+ years of experience in Prototyping
  • Comfort working across design and engineering disciplines.
  • Solid understanding of interaction design, UI architecture, and systems thinking.
  • Ability to communicate ideas clearly through prototypes and storytelling.
  • Experience working in fast-paced, iterative, cross-functional environments.

Even better, you may have...

  • Experience with automotive HMI, IVI, or embedded systems.
  • Familiarity with electrification, energy, charging, or power-management experiences.
  • Experience supporting research studies or customer clinics.
  • Ability to prototype both digital and physical interactions.

You may not check every box, or your experience may look a little different from what we've outlined, but if you think you can bring value to Ford Motor Company, we encourage you to apply!

As an established global company, we offer the benefit of choice. You can choose what your Ford future will look like: will your story span the globe, or keep you close to home? Will your career be a deep dive into what you love, or a series of new teams and new skills? Will you be a leader, a changemaker, a technical expert, a culture builder…or all of the above? No matter what you choose, we offer a work life that works for you, including:
• Immediate medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage
• Flexible family care days, paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, subsidized back-up childcare 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.
 

This position is a leadership level 6 and ranges from $146,520-276,600.  Final determination of salary grade will be based on candidate's skills and experience, and base salary will be set within the applicable range according to job scope, responsibility and competitive market value.

For more information on salary and benefits, click here: https://fordcareers.co/LL6

Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Candidates for positions with Ford Motor Company must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status or protected veteran status. In the United States, if you need a reasonable accommodation for the online application process due to a disability, please call 1-888-336-0660.

This position is hybrid. Candidates who are in commuting distance to a Ford hub location may be required to be onsite four or more days per week. #LI-Hybrid

#DPDJOB  #LI-LS1 

Top Skills

Digital Prototyping
Interaction Design
Physical Prototyping
Prototyping
Ui Architecture

Ford Motor Company Palo Alto, California, USA Office

3200 Hillview, Palo Alto, CA, United States, 94304

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