Job DescriptionResponsibilitiesIn this position...Vehicle Engineering is seeking a Squeak & Rattle Vehicle Functional Group (VFG) Leader to lead the Squeak & Rattle attribute across Ford North America current-production and launch programs.
This role has direct responsibility for driving Squeak & Rattle customer quality by providing technical and operational leadership across assembly plants, the Plant Vehicle Team (PVT), Manufacturing, Incoming Quality, Product Development, Core Engineering, Launch and functional engineering organizations.
The Squeak & Rattle VFG Leader serves as the FNA attribute lead and primary escalation point for production Squeak & Rattle quality, connecting plant execution with customer data, engineering expertise, launch readiness and long-term prevention.
The successful candidate must be comfortable operating equally well on the plant floor, in a vehicle diagnosing a concern, analyzing customer and warranty data, coaching engineers, leading cross-functional problem solving, and presenting attribute status and strategy to leadership.
This is a highly cross-functional role with direct influence on vehicle quality and customer satisfaction.
What you'll do...- Squeak & Rattle VFG Leader: Core Responsibilities
- Team Leadership & Technical Issue Resolution
- Influence cross-functional organizations without relying on direct authority.
- Lead FNA current-production S&R strategy, priorities, and escalations.
- Coach PVT engineers and standardize execution across plants.
- Connect plants, Product Development, Core Engineering, launch, and global teams.
- Detect emerging concerns through warranty, survey, IQS, and plant data.
- Drive root cause, containment, corrective action, and systemic prevention.
- Lead vehicle evaluation and advanced diagnosis for high-impact issues.
- Process Governance & Continuous Improvement
- Establish robust launch control plans, surveillance, tracking, and escalation.
- Govern consistent S&R processes, including road evaluations, 4-poster testing, and audits.
- Protect surveillance capability through reliable facilities, equipment, and resources.
- Convert customer insights and production lessons into engineering priorities.
- Prevent recurrence through improved standards, training, tools, and design guidance.
- Share proven practices across programs and plants.
Key InterfacesThe Squeak & Rattle VFG Leader collaborates across Vehicle Engineering, PVT, Manufacturing, Quality, Product Development, Launch, suppliers, customer-data teams, and global S&R organizations.
Success requires the ability to influence organizations where the VFG Leader may not have direct organizational authority.
This position is leadership level 6 and ranges from $115,500-$218,100Final 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.This position is hybrid with a requirement to be onsite four or more days per week. #LI-JF1 #LI-Hybrid
QualificationsYou'll have...- Bachelor's degree in Engineering
- Strong vehicle-level problem-solving and analytical capability.
- Experience in automotive engineering, manufacturing, vehicle quality, NVH, PVT or a closely related discipline.
- Demonstrated ability to lead complex technical issues across multiple organizations.
- Ability to analyze internal and external quality data and convert findings into actionable priorities.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to communicate effectively from plant-floor operators and engineers through senior leadership.
- Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple vehicle programs, plants and priorities simultaneously.
- Willingness and ability to travel to assembly plants, vehicle launch locations and engineering facilities as required.
- Ability to work effectively in a fast-moving manufacturing and launch environment.
Even better, you may have...- Direct Squeak & Rattle, NVH, Vehicle Engineering or PVT experience.
- Experience working in an automotive assembly plant or launch environment.
- Experience with vehicle-level noise diagnosis and root-cause analysis.
- Knowledge of customer-quality metrics, warranty analysis and customer survey data.
- Experience leading cross-functional problem-solving teams.
- Familiarity with S&R test tracks, 4-poster evaluation equipment and vehicle surveillance processes.
- Knowledge of quality operating systems, containment, campaign management and corrective-action processes.
- Experience developing or improving engineering procedures, standards, training or quality processes.
- Demonstrated experience coaching and developing engineers.
What Success Looks Like- The successful Squeak & Rattle VFG Leader will build an organization that sees problems early, understands them quickly and drives them to permanent resolution.
- They will establish a clear connection between what the customer experiences, what the data identifies, what plants detect and what Engineering changes to prevent recurrence.
- Most importantly, this leader will create an environment where the S&R team operates as one connected organization across plants, launch and Product Development, with a common objective.
- Deliver quiet, high-quality vehicles to our customers and continually improve the processes that make that possible.
