Ford has been on a digital modernization journey with GCP the last 3 years. We are seeking an experienced and dynamic GKE Platform Engineering Director to lead our cloud infrastructure team. In this role, you will drive the strategic vision and execution of our Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) platform initiatives, ensuring scalability, reliability, and innovation in our cloud environments. You will be both a technical leader and a strategic thinker, with a deep understanding of GKE and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

Key Responsibilities:

• Strategic Leadership: Develop and execute the strategic roadmap for our GKE platform, aligning with the company’s overall business goals and technological advancements.
• Technical Expertise: Provide hands-on technical guidance and leadership in designing, deploying, and managing GKE clusters, ensuring best practices in scalability, security, and performance.
• GKE Automation: Implement and manage automation tools and scripts to streamline GKE operations. Leverage tools like Terraform for infrastructure as code, Kubernetes Operators for automating complex application management, and CI/CD pipelines for automated deployment and scaling. Utilize Google Cloud's Deployment Manager or Anthos Config Management (As applicable) to automate policy enforcement and configuration management across multiple clusters.
• Cluster Management: Oversee the configuration and management of GKE clusters, including node pool management, autoscaling, and workload orchestration.
• Networking & Security: Implement advanced networking and security practices within GKE, including VPC design, network policies, service mesh (e.g., Istio), and identity and access management.
• CI/CD Integration and SRE: Integrate continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines with GKE, utilizing tools such as Jenkins, GitLab CI, or Google Cloud Build to streamline application delivery. Strong proven SRE capabilities to stand up and maintain the platform.
• Monitoring & Logging: Utilize Google Cloud's operations suite (formerly Stackdriver) for monitoring and logging, ensuring comprehensive visibility into system performance and health.
• Service Management: Implement service discovery and management practices using Kubernetes-native tools and configurations such as ConfigMaps, Secrets, and Helm charts.
• Team Development: Lead, mentor, and grow a high-performing team of cloud engineers, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Collaboration: Work closely with cross-functional teams, including software development, EA (Infrastructure architects), security, and operations, to ensure seamless integration and operation of cloud services.
• Cost Management: Optimize cloud resource utilization and costs, implementing effective monitoring and management practices to ensure budget adherence and efficiency.
• Security & Compliance: Ensure that all GKE deployments meet stringent security standards and compliance requirements, proactively addressing potential vulnerabilities.
• Innovation & Adoption: Stay abreast of emerging technologies and industry trends, driving the adoption of new tools and practices that enhance our GKE platform capabilities.
• Reliability & Performance: Implement SRE principles to ensure the reliability and performance of our cloud services, including monitoring, incident management, and disaster recovery strategies.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Communicate complex technical concepts to stakeholders at all levels (Ford developers to seniormost IT leaders), providing insights and recommendations that drive business value.

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering preferred, or equivalent work experience.
• Must have 10+ years of experience in cloud infrastructure and platform engineering, with a proven track record of leadership in managing GKE environments on GCP.
• 5+ years in strong leadership and team management skills, with experience in building and leading diverse engineering teams.
• Deep understanding of Kubernetes and GKE, container orchestration, and GCP services. Experience with infrastructure as code (IaC) tools such as Terraform or Ansible, and proficiency in using Kubernetes-native tools like Helm. Well versed with programming languages like Python, Go, Java, Node.js etc
• Ability to develop and implement strategic plans that align with business objectives and drive technological innovation.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to convey complex technical information to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to make data-driven decisions and manage risk effectively.
• Certifications: Relevant certifications such as Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect, Kubernetes Administrator, GCP network/security or similar are a plus.

You may not check every box, or your experience may look a little different from what we've outlined, but if you think you can bring value to Ford Motor Company, we encourage you to apply!

As an established global company, we offer the benefit of choice. You can choose what your Ford future will look like: will your story span the globe, or keep you close to home? Will your career be a deep dive into what you love, or a series of new teams and new skills? Will you be a leader, a changemaker, a technical expert, a culture builder…or all of the above? No matter what you choose, we offer a work life that works for you, including:

• Immediate medical, dental, and prescription drug coverage

• Flexible family care, parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, subsidized back-up child care 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.

For a detailed look at our benefits, click here: Benefit Summary

*This is a remote role but if you live within commuting distance to Dearborn, MI or Palo Alto, CA, you be required to be on-site up to 3 days/week.”

*Visa Sponsorship is NOT provided for this specific role*

*Relocation assistance IS provided for this specific role but relocation is NOT mandatory*

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.

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. In the United States, If you need a reasonable accommodation for the online application process due to a disability, please call 1-888-336-0660.

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