Director, Cloud Platform Engineering

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Michigan.

📋 Description

• Develop Ford's long-term strategic plan for cloud databases and analytics platforms.

• Foster a platform engineering culture utilizing self-service APIs, golden paths, paved roads, and well-defined SLOs.

• Design, provision, and oversee database and analytics infrastructure through version-controlled, testable Infrastructure-as-Code.

• Build, mentor, and lead a global team of platform engineers, architects, and Site Reliability Engineers (SREs).

• Architect and manage GCP-native database platforms such as Cloud SQL, Spanner, AlloyDB, BigTable, and Firestore.

• Take ownership of platform engineering for BigQuery and the wider analytics ecosystem.

• Develop governed, self-service data pipelines and reusable analytics tools.

• Create golden-path templates, service APIs, and automation based on Infrastructure-as-Code.

• Own Ford's Cloud Database-as-a-Service strategy.

• Define database architecture patterns for selecting the appropriate technology.

• Collaborate with Product Development Organizations on design reviews, reference architectures, and reusable templates.

• Lead the enterprise-wide consolidation of SaaS databases and initiatives for cost optimization.

• Oversee platform lifecycle tasks including versioning, patching, upgrades, end-of-life tracking, and decommissioning.

• Manage vendor contracts and negotiate enterprise agreements.

• Define Ford's Agentic Data Cloud strategy.

• Provide patterns for database MCP servers.

• Lead the deployment of the Knowledge Catalog and the rollout of Conversational Analytics.

• Establish guardrails and human-in-the-loop controls aligned with Ford's Agentic AI Rubric.

• Collaborate with Google product and engineering teams on proof-of-concept designs and service launch frameworks.

⛳️ Requirements

• Over 15 years of experience in software engineering, cloud architecture, and data platform services, with considerable leadership experience.

• Proven track record of platform engineering for large-scale database and analytics environments on GCP, including Cloud SQL, Spanner, AlloyDB, BigTable, Firestore, and BigQuery.

• Strong hands-on expertise with Infrastructure-as-Code tools and methodologies.

• Direct experience with SaaS database platforms such as MongoDB, Neo4J, Elastic, and Redis.

• Experience in consolidation and cost-optimization efforts at an enterprise level.

• Demonstrated success in owning DBaaS and defining suitable database architecture patterns adopted by application and product teams.

• Familiarity with agentic AI and data platform concepts, including MCP servers, Knowledge Catalog, Conversational Analytics, and AI governance frameworks.

• Strong foundation in DevOps/SRE practices, automation, CI/CD, and observability.

• A bachelor's degree is required.

• Must have legal authorization to work in the United States.

• Visa sponsorship is not offered.

• A master's degree is preferred.

🏝️ Benefits

• Immediate coverage for medical, dental, vision, and prescription drugs.

• Flexible family care days.

• Paid parental leave.

• Programs to assist new parents in ramping up.

• Subsidized backup child care.

• Family building benefits, including reimbursement for adoption and surrogacy expenses.

• Support for fertility treatments.

• Vehicle discount programs for employees and their families.

• Management lease options.

• Tuition assistance available.

• Active employee resource groups established.

• Paid time off for individual and team community service.

• Generous holiday schedule, including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day.

• Paid time off offered.

• Option to purchase additional vacation time.