At Ford Motor Company, we believe freedom of movement drives human progress. We also believe in providing you with the freedom to define and realize your dreams. With our incredible plans for the future of mobility, we have a wide variety of opportunities for you to accelerate your career potential as you help us define tomorrow’s transportation.

The Materials and Manufacturing Research Laboratory in Ford’s Research and Advanced Engineering organization is seeking an employee to work in the Coatings and Surfaces Research Group. The group’s focus is on fundamentally understanding coatings and surfaces that are applied in the manufacturing of automobiles. The research in this group is multidisciplinary and includes topics such as: organic coatings and paints, functional thin films, color science, corrosion science, coating application and processing, battery cell manufacturing, and the simulation of both coating processes and material behavior. This exciting research role requires a multi-functional relationship with several organizations within Ford, which include Ford Model e, Ford Blue, Ford Ion Park, Basic Design, and Vehicle Manufacturing.

The minimum requirements we seek:

• Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry or Polymer Science or a related physical science field of study with a thesis emphasis on organic coatings or organic thin films, OR an MS or BS in Materials Science & Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry or Polymer Science or a related physical science AND 3+ years of experience with organic coatings.
• 3+ years of hands-on experience with the characterization of organic coatings or thin films.
• 3+ years of experience with the analysis of large data sets.

Our preferred qualifications:

• Extensive knowledge of polymer degradation and chemistry
• Hands on experience with the evaluation of organic coatings’ mechanical and optical properties
• Experience with surface and bulk material characterization: SEM, AFM, FTIR, XRD, XRF, GDOES, Raman spectroscopy, and UV spectroscopy.
• Outstanding digital literacy as well as written and oral communication skills.
• Great teammate with strong interpersonal skills.
  

What you will receive in return:

As part of the Ford family, you will enjoy excellent compensation and a comprehensive benefits package that includes generous PTO, retirement, savings and stock investment plans, incentive compensation, and much more. You will also experience exciting opportunities for professional and personal growth and recognition. If you have what it takes to help us redefine the future of mobility, we would love to have you join us. 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. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position, TN holders may be considered.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to a culturally diverse workforce. 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. https://corporate.ford.com/content/dam/corporate/us/en-us/documents/careers/2022-benefits-and-comp-GSR-sal-plan-1.pdf

At Ford, the health and safety of our employees is our top priority. Vaccination has been proven to play a critical role in combating COVID-19. As a result, Ford has made the decision to require U.S. salaried employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, unless employees require an accommodation for religious or medical reasons. Being fully vaccinated means that an individual is at least two weeks past their final dose of an authorized COVID-19 vaccine regimen. As a condition of employment, newly hired employees will be required to provide proof of their COVID-19 vaccination or an approved medical or religious exemption.

What you’ll be able to do:

• Perform fundamental and applied research in the area of organic coatings and thin films with an emphasis on their long-term durability, chemical stability, rheology, and mechanical performance.
• Develop a robust, multidisciplinary research portfolio focused on the behavior of organic coatings in automotive applications. A particular emphasis in this position will be the development of novel experimental techniques to evaluate the durability of coatings and their long-term performance including their appearance, mechanical properties, optical properties, chemical composition, and potential failure modes.
• Use of one’s curiosity to examine and adapt cutting edge coating technologies for use in the automotive industry.
• Use an advanced suite of in-house instruments to probe the behavior of coatings. Available state-of-the-art instruments include thermal analysis, mechanical testing, XPS, ToF-SIMS, AFM, XRD, DMTA, FTIR, UV-Vis, Raman, SEM, TEM, GDOES, and various process equipment.
• Rapidly solve time-critical Company issues using novel experimental approaches.
• Grow a network of collaboration inside of Ford with Vehicle Operations Manufacturing Engineering, Materials Engineering, Ford Ion Park, and the Design Studio; and outside of Ford with universities, government laboratories and suppliers.
• Document research via internal reports and external publications and presentations.