RTOS Embedded Software Engineer at Ford Motor Company
Dearborn, MI
$86,000–$160,000from the description
Jul 18, 2026
Dearborn, MI
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A senior embedded software engineering role focused on automotive systems, where the core work involves designing and implementing firmware for distributed multi-microcontroller platforms running RTOS, building real-time Ethernet and CAN-FD communication drivers, and developing low-level software across the full stack from device drivers to applications. The role also covers memory driver development, AUTOSAR toolchain usage, safety-standard compliance (ISO 26262, ASPICE), and collaboration with validation and integration teams. Suited to experienced embedded engineers with a strong automotive background.
Senior level · 7+ years · Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI · Bachelor's required · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
What the occupation pays Median $133,635 (middle half $104,090–$156,640). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (10)
The job title is not specified in the posting; seniority is inferred from the 7+ years of automotive SW development experience and the depth of requirements.
The degree requirement states 'Bachelors or Masters … or an equivalent engineering degree.' Because an equivalent engineering degree is accepted, this is treated as a Bachelors minimum gate (the 'equivalent' qualifier does not eliminate the degree requirement entirely, but does mean a non-CS/EE degree in a related engineering field is acceptable).
FreeRTOS and SafeRTOS are listed together as a single must-have requirement ('Must have FreeRTOS/SafeRTOS experience'); SafeRTOS is captured as an alternative.
GTest and Parasoft are listed together as a single unit-testing requirement; Parasoft is captured as an alternative.
Linux and QNX are listed together under 'Even better, you may have…' (the nice-to-have section), so they are marked preferred.
IPC, PCIe, and SDIO appear only in the 'Even better, you may have…' section alongside multicore/interprocessor communication experience and are marked preferred.
Python scripting appears in both the responsibilities narrative (unit test automation) and the 'Even better' preferred section with a specific year count (2 years); it is marked preferred because the only explicit year-gated mention is in the nice-to-have block.
AUTOSAR is explicitly required ('At least 3 years of experience with AUTOSAR tool chain'); the opening sentence calling it 'a plus' is superseded by the hard-gated requirements section.
The salary range of $86,000–$160,000 corresponds to salary grades 6–8 per the posting.
The role is hybrid (onsite four days per week) at Ford Motor Company; the posting does not name a specific city but Ford's primary engineering campus is in Dearborn, MI (Detroit CBSA).
Read the full posting
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