Systems Engineering Transformation Lead

About Us 

Lead. Grow. Transform.  

Ford Australia is constantly evolving and innovating, committed to delivering smarter, more connected vehicles for all Australians, now and for generations to come. 

Looking ahead, Ford is excited about the future. With an expanding vehicle lineup, growing digital services, and a strong dealer network, we are well-positioned to support Australian businesses in new ways. 

As Australia’s largest automotive OEM employer, we proudly have around 1,500 talented engineers, designers, sales, marketing and specialist staff working at sites across Victoria and interstate regional offices. Crucially, Australia is a key global development hub for Ford, and the local design and engineering team lead the creation of vehicles including the Ranger, Ranger Raptor, and Everest – models sold in around 180 markets worldwide. Our product development footprint spans key sites across Campbellfield, Geelong and the You Yangs Proving Ground, giving Ford Australia a broad and diverse capability for designing, engineering and validating vehicles for global markets. 

Complementing this technical network, Ford Australia’s National Sales Company (NSC), located in Richmond, is the central hub for commercial and customer engagement activities across the country, supported by regional offices in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, with dedicated sales, fleet, service and technical staff providing localised support to Dealers and customers nationwide.

Why Ford?  

For a century, we've been a driving force across Australia, building a legacy that truly speaks for itself. Leading the way, the Ranger continues its rein as Australia's No. 1 Selling Vehicle and our iconic Mustang proudly holds its position as Australia’s No. 1 Sports Car. 

These remarkable achievements are a testament to our unwavering commitment to innovation and a customer-focused approach that has delivered success across our entire lineup, giving us so much to be excited about! But we believe we do more than just build award-winning vehicles—we build careers. 

• Discounted lease car options. 
• Multiple Employee Resource Groups – Ford Pride, Women of Ford and Ford Empowering Diverse Abilities. 
• Flexible Work Arrangements.            
• Growth and development opportunities via internal and external training. 
• Paid parental leave from day 1.  
• Comprehensive Employee Assist Program.   
• Wellness Programs including Free Flu Vaccinations and Health Checks. 
• Paid volunteer days.     

About the Role  

As the Systems Engineering Transformation Lead, you will guide our cross-functional engineering team to rethink and modernize how we achieve product excellence. We are seeking a technically credible, systems-thinking leader who brings a fresh perspective, challenges the status quo, and breaks the mold to drive transformation across International Markets Group (IMG) Product Development. 

In this pivotal role, you will lead the strategy, operational execution, and adoption of Systems Engineering (SE) and Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE). You will translate complex engineering, physics and first principles into scalable, practical methods—all while coaching, inspiring, and empowering teams. 

This position is full time, reports directly to the Systems Engineering Manager and is based at our International Market Groups (IMG) Product Development hub in Broadmeadows operating on a hybrid schedule with four days in the office with some outside-hours global collaboration. 

• Strategic Vision & Change Management: Define and execute the IMG Systems Engineering strategy and roadmap in consultation with global counterparts. Act as a primary change agent to drive adoption, process modernisation, and a systems-thinking culture across the enterprise. 
• Engineering Excellence & Technical Rigor: Champion first-principles engineering problem-solving across all disciplines. Oversee data integrity, model quality, and analysis, while leveraging MBSE and emerging technologies such as AI and SysML v2 to maximize efficiency and decision-making rigor. 
• Program Execution & Stakeholder Engagement: Drive early-program SE based design development, guiding technical trade-offs, risk management, and decision frameworks. Serve as a trusted advisor across cross-functional teams to align strategy with program milestones. 
• Team Leadership & Capability Development: Directly lead, develop, and mentor a team of six Systems Engineers across Australia and India. Conduct capability gap analyses and design targeted coaching and training programs to embed SE methodologies across the Product Development organization.

• Bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering or Engineering (Masters degree preferred) with 5+ years of relevant professional SE experience.  
• INCOSE certification (ASEP or higher) or equivalent highly desirable. Additional qualifications in Design Thinking, Lean Six Sigma, or an MBA are well regarded.
• Strong early-stage Systems Engineering experience, with diverse domain experience, and proven management of business needs such as product cost, combined with deep technical knowledge of MBSE, SysML, Requirement/ Function/Form application, trade studies, data analysis and insight creation.
• Strategic thinker, with sound and transparent decision making, able to define the problem before implementing tactics; proven ability to develop long-term engineering strategies (using frameworks such as Play-to-Win).
• Demonstrated ability as a change agent, practically implementing transformation across a broad business, through user insight, organisational understanding, strong project planning/execution and deep curiosity.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to articulate complex technical and strategic concepts to diverse stakeholders at all levels, gaining commitment, whilst in an ambiguous/agile environment.
• Strong team leadership experience, including demonstrated ability to mentor and coach, and ability to create high performing teams. 

Equal Opportunity 

Ford Australia is inclusive employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment. 

A pre-employment criminal/ background check will be required at the time of hire. 

---Applications will open on Friday 14 August and close on Sunday 13 September, however, please do not delay your application as interviews will commence before the closing date---

Please note due to the high numbers of applications we will only be able to contact shortlisted candidates.

*Ford Motor Company of Australia Pty Limited ACN 004 116 223 (Ford) is collecting your personal information in order to consider you for a role at Ford. Ford may also collect personal information about you from third parties such as referees and recruitment agencies for this purpose. Ford may disclose your personal information to its related companies and third-party service providers for purposes such as screening and background checks, aptitude testing and health and safety and human resources management activities. Ford’s privacy policy (available at www.ford.com.au) states how you can seek to access or correct any personal information Ford holds about you, how to complain about a privacy breach by Ford and how Ford will deal with a privacy complaint. You can contact Ford at 13 FORD (13 36 73) or via the contact details set out in Ford’s privacy policy.