JOBWAVE VERIFIED

Software Engineer — Developer Enablement / Technical Lead

Company: Ford Motor Company
Job ID: 72040
Location: Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Work Mode: Hybrid
Experience: 6+ years
Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field
Preferred Degree: Bachelor of Technology
Employment Type: Full-time
Job Category: Enterprise Technology
Posting Date: October 9, 2026
Application Deadline: October 11, 2026, 12:00 AM (as listed in the posting)
Salary: Not specified
Core Domain: Developer Enablement, DevOps, DevSecOps, Cloud Modernization, AI-Assisted Software Engineering
Primary Stack: Java, Angular, Spring Boot, Git, Gradle, CI/CD
Cloud & Platform: Google Cloud Platform (GCP), OpenShift, GKE, Kubernetes, Terraform
Security & Quality: SonarQube, Checkmarx, Cycode, SAST, FOSSA
AI Technologies: LLMs, Agentic AI, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
Role Level: Technical Lead / Project Lead

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JOBWAVE INSIGHTS

Who Is This Role For?

This role is designed for an experienced software engineer who combines strong Java, Angular, and Spring Boot development skills with technical leadership, developer tooling, CI/CD, cloud infrastructure, and DevSecOps expertise.

The engineer will help multiple development teams become more productive by improving their internal development platform, automating engineering workflows, introducing secure delivery practices, and building AI-powered tools that accelerate coding and reduce technical debt.

The key differentiator: This is not simply a Java full-stack developer role. It is a developer enablement and platform engineering leadership role that requires hands-on software development experience alongside infrastructure automation, cloud adoption, security integration, and team mentoring.

Key Skills

• Backend: Java, Spring Boot, object-oriented design, design patterns
• Frontend: Angular
• Developer Enablement: Developer productivity tools, internal platforms, engineering workflow automation
• CI/CD: Git, Gradle, Tekton, automated builds, testing, deployment pipelines
• Cloud: GCP, Azure, GKE, OpenShift, Kubernetes
• Infrastructure as Code: Terraform
• DevSecOps: SonarQube, Checkmarx, Cycode, SAST, FOSSA
• AI-Assisted Development: LLMs, Agentic AI, RAG, coding assistants
• Architecture: Microservices, API design, software architecture patterns
• Testing: Test-Driven Development (TDD), automated testing, code reviews
• Databases: PostgreSQL preferred; SQL Server and Oracle also relevant
• Leadership: Mentoring, technical guidance, stakeholder communication, presentations
• Methodologies: Agile, Lean, Human-Centered Design, continuous improvement

Priority Skills

Highest Priority

1. Java, Angular, and Spring Boot — All three are explicitly identified as mandatory. Be ready to demonstrate real development experience.
2. Developer Enablement — Experience improving developer workflows, introducing tools, building internal engineering products, or increasing engineering productivity.
3. CI/CD and Automation — Understanding build, test, security scanning, artifact management, and deployment pipelines.
4. Cloud and Container Platforms — GCP is preferred, with GKE, OpenShift, and Kubernetes relevant to application delivery.
5. DevSecOps — Integrating security and code quality checks into the software development lifecycle.
6. Technical Leadership — Mentoring engineers, conducting code reviews, driving adoption, and influencing teams without relying solely on formal authority.
7. Software Architecture and Engineering Practices — Object-oriented design, design patterns, APIs, microservices, TDD, and maintainable code.

Strong Advantages

• Hands-on GCP implementations and cloud-native modernization.
• Building internal developer platforms, reusable templates, or self-service tools.
• Terraform and Kubernetes/OpenShift deployment experience.
• Tekton-based CI/CD pipelines.
• Practical experience integrating SAST, dependency scanning, and code-quality checks.
• Building AI coding assistants or LLM-based tools for code generation, code analysis, and technical debt reduction.
• Agentic AI and RAG implementations.
• PostgreSQL experience.
• Mainframe, COBOL, customs operations, trade compliance, or Free Trade Agreement (FTA) knowledge.

What to Prepare

• Practise Java and Spring Boot coding, REST APIs, exception handling, dependency injection, and unit testing.
• Review Angular components, services, routing, forms, RxJS, and API integration.
• Design a complete CI/CD pipeline covering build, test, quality checks, security scanning, and deployment.
• Understand how Tekton, Git, Gradle, Terraform, Kubernetes, GKE, and OpenShift fit into delivery workflows.
• Prepare an example of improving developer productivity through automation or reusable tools.
• Explain how you would embed security scanning into pull requests and deployment pipelines.
• Review microservices architecture, API design, observability, and deployment strategies.
• Prepare an AI use case using an LLM, RAG, or agentic workflow to accelerate software development.
• Practise explaining technical decisions to developers, architects, security teams, and non-technical stakeholders.
• Prepare examples of mentoring, code reviews, and driving adoption of new tools.

What to Focus On

1. Mandatory Full-Stack Technology

The job specifically names Java, Angular, and Spring Boot as mandatory. Prepare to explain how you have used them in production, including architecture, testing, troubleshooting, and code quality.

Do not focus exclusively on DevOps tools at the expense of these core development technologies.

2. Developer Enablement and Platform Engineering

Understand the difference between delivering application features and building tools that help many developers deliver features more efficiently.

Prepare examples involving standardized project templates, self-service deployment, reusable CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, environment provisioning, and faster feedback loops.

3. CI/CD and DevSecOps

Be able to design a secure delivery pipeline that integrates source control, compilation, automated tests, static analysis, software composition analysis, container builds, deployment, and monitoring.

Know how to handle failed checks, security vulnerabilities, secrets, permissions, and release approvals.

4. GCP and Cloud-Native Development

Prioritize GCP and GKE, while understanding the role of OpenShift and Kubernetes in deploying applications. Explain containerization, environment configuration, deployment automation, scaling, secrets, and observability.

5. AI for Developer Productivity

The description explicitly mentions LLMs, Agentic AI, and RAG. Prepare to explain practical use cases such as codebase search, test generation, legacy-code analysis, documentation generation, and identifying technical debt.

6. Technical Leadership

Prepare evidence of how you influence engineering standards, mentor colleagues, communicate architecture decisions, resolve disagreements, and measure the impact of new tools.

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JOB DETAILS

Original Role Information

Role Overview

Ford Motor Company's Global Customs IT PDO team works with manufacturing, finance, invoicing, and external customs solution providers to support global customs operations, Free Trade Agreement qualifications, and import/export regulatory requirements.

The advertised role is a Project Lead, titled Technical Lead, with a focus on developer enablement. The engineer will improve internal developer tools and infrastructure, promote cloud-native development, drive DevSecOps adoption, and explore AI-powered solutions that increase engineering productivity.

Responsibilities

Developer Productivity and Tooling

• Experiment with and build tools that improve developer productivity.
• Evaluate and promote development technologies and engineering best practices.
• Improve the internal development platform and establish reusable workflows.
• Encourage knowledge sharing and collaboration across development teams in North America, Europe, and IMG.

Cloud-Native Enablement

• Help teams build and deploy applications on GCP, OpenShift, and GKE.
• Improve cloud integration with everyday development workflows.
• Support automation, infrastructure standardization, and scalable engineering platforms.

AI-Powered Development

• Design, develop, and deploy AI-powered developer solutions.
• Use LLMs, Agentic AI, and RAG to accelerate coding and reduce technical debt.
• Explore emerging technologies that improve software delivery and maintenance.

DevSecOps and Software Quality

• Promote security throughout the development lifecycle.
• Improve CI/CD pipelines and automated testing frameworks.
• Encourage code-quality analysis, security scanning, and dependency checks.
• Help teams adopt secure and repeatable software delivery practices.

Technical Leadership

• Provide guidance on development tools, architecture, and engineering best practices.
• Participate in code reviews and improve code quality.
• Mentor developers and support continuous learning.
• Champion continuous improvement across platforms and processes.

Collaboration and Communication

• Work with development teams, architects, product managers, security teams, and the Tools team.
• Explain technical concepts to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Share knowledge through workshops, meetings, and presentations.
• Represent development teams' needs when working with other departments.

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REQUIREMENTS

Experience

• 6+ years of software development experience.
• Experience focused on Java, Angular, and Spring Boot.
• Demonstrated ability to drive adoption of developer tools and engineering best practices.
• Experience with cloud platforms and modern development tooling.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively.