Maintenance Engineer, Ford Energy

Ford Energy is a newly formed, wholly-owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company dedicated to accelerating U.S. energy independence. Leveraging Ford’s century of manufacturing excellence and world-class battery energy storage systems (BESS) technology, Ford Energy designs, manufactures, and services grid-scale and commercial DC battery energy storage systems (BESS). We are uniquely positioned to capture the growing demand for reliable, US-built energy storage systems. At Ford Energy, you have the backing of an industrial manufacturing powerhouse with the agility of a dedicated energy startup offering industry leading technology.

About the role

As a Maintenance Engineer, you will play a vital role in leading maintenance operations that keep our battery cell and BESS module/container manufacturing lines running with precision and uptime. You will ensure the safe, reliable, and disciplined operation of production and facilities equipment, optimize equipment programs, troubleshoot to root cause, and drive predictive/preventive maintenance practices in a greenfield manufacturing environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead Maintenance Operating System (MOS) initiatives within the production and facilities department.
• Optimize current production processes and maintenance tasks across battery cell and BESS assembly equipment.
• Lead equipment rebuilds and coordinate project and shutdown planning with engineers and production teams.
• Develop preventative and predictive maintenance practices to ensure 100% equipment uptime.
• Own the MOS Board, maintain spare parts inventory, and utilize Maximo to track and report on key maintenance metrics.
• Champion continuous improvement, ensuring capability is developed at the lowest level of the organization.
• Embrace the Gemba philosophy: regularly engage on the floor to monitor equipment health, listen to technicians, and solve problems where the work happens.
• Proactively troubleshoot equipment issues to identify root cause and eliminate constraints impacting production.
• Collaborate across functions with production and engineering teams to support new model and equipment launches.
• Train and coach both hourly and salary team members on maintenance best practices and equipment ownership.
• Provide input on new equipment design and purchase as the site builds out battery cell and BESS assembly capacity.
• Conduct spare part inventory auditing to ensure parts availability aligns with maintenance demand.
• Report out on key metrics around maintenance performance and equipment reliability.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in engineering required.
• Maintenance experience with the ability to optimize equipment programs and troubleshoot to root cause.
• Flexibility to support business needs by working across various shifts.
• Domestic and international travel may be required.

Qualifications

• 3-5 years of experience in manufacturing (preferred).
• Computer efficiency; excellent communicator able to train hourly and salary team members.
• Lean implementation experience.
• AutoCAD and Maximo proficiency.
• High-volume manufacturing/assembly experience; battery or energy storage manufacturing a plus.
• Excel proficiency.
• Ability to read and interpret engineering blueprints and technical manuals.
• Data-driven mindset with a focus on "value-added" reporting and problem-solving.

Skills

• Resilient Problem Solver: Able to optimize equipment programs and troubleshoot issues to identify root cause quickly.
• Self-Starter: Takes ownership of projects and drives them to completion with limited supervision.
• Strong Communicator: Bridges the gap between shop floor technicians and corporate engineering teams.
• Agile Mindset: Comfortable working across shifts and navigating the ambiguity of a startup manufacturing environment.
• Decisive Under Pressure: The ability to remain calm and make rapid, data-driven decisions during equipment failures or production constraints.
• Adaptability: The resilience to lead a team through the ambiguity of a new site startup, where processes are being built and refined in real-time.
• Business Partner: The ability to translate technical maintenance needs into clear, actionable plans for production and engineering stakeholders.
• ONE FORD Leadership: Demonstrates outstanding interpersonal, teambuilding, and communication skills across the organization.

Benefits

• Immediate medical, dental, vision, and prescription drug coverage.
• Flexible family care days, paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, subsidized back-up child care, 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.

Pay

This position is a range of salary grade 5-8 and ranges from $65,100-$166,200. 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.

Visa sponsorship is not available for this position. Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire.

As Ford establishes a wholly owned subsidiary focused on Battery Energy Storage Systems, this role will initially be employed by Ford and is expected to transition to the subsidiary within one year.