2025 Concept Designer - Early Career Concepting & Development Program

Job Description

Are you a recent Industrial Design graduate or an early-career designer with 1-2 years of experience, bursting with ideas and eager to shape the future of mobility?

Ford Motor Company is looking for passionate and talented Industrial Designers to join a unique 3-year rotational program designed to build well-rounded design innovators with a deep understanding of concepting, market dynamics, and human-centered design. This program is an incredible opportunity to gain diverse experience across key strategic functions before specializing back in product concepting.

About the Program:

This isn't just a job; it's a structured launchpad for your career at Ford. Over three years, you will participate in three distinct, one-year rotations:

• Opportunity / Product Concepting (Year 1): Dive deep into the core of design innovation. You'll work alongside experienced designers, strategists, and engineers to explore and visualize future product and service concepts. This is where your sketching, modeling, and visualization skills will be put to the test to bring abstract ideas to life.
• Advanced Marketing (Year 2): Step outside the traditional design studio and into the world of market strategy and consumer insights. You'll learn how concepts are positioned, how target audiences are identified, and how market trends influence product development. This rotation will help you understand the business context and consumer relevance of your design work.
• Human-Centered Design (HCD) / User Experience Research (Year 3): Immerse yourself in understanding the people who use our products and services. You'll learn and apply HCD methodologies, conduct user research, analyze needs, and contribute to creating truly user-centric solutions. This experience will ground your design thinking in real-world human needs and behaviors.
  
  
  

The program is designed with the expectation that upon successful completion, you will transition into a role primarily focused on Opportunity / Product Concepting within Ford Design or a related innovation team, bringing with you a richer perspective gained from your rotations in Marketing and HCD.

Responsibilities

About the Role:

As an Industrial Designer in this program, you won't just be executing tasks; you'll be contributing fresh perspectives and creative energy across different teams. You will:

• Actively participate in brainstorming and concept generation sessions.
• Utilize your design skills (sketching, 2D/3D modeling, rendering, prototyping) to visualize and communicate ideas.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including other designers, engineers, researchers, strategists, and marketing professionals.
• Learn and apply different methodologies (design thinking, HCD, market analysis basics).
• Present your work and insights to various stakeholders.
• Absorb knowledge and mentorship from seasoned professionals across the company.
• Contribute to projects that could shape the future of transportation and mobility services.
  
  
  

This role demands curiosity, adaptability, strong communication skills, and a genuine passion for both the craft of design and the broader context of product development and user needs.

Responsibilities Will Include (but are not limited to, varying by rotation):

• In Concepting: Developing sketches, digital renderings, 3D models (using software like Alias, Rhino, SolidWorks, Blender, VRED, etc.), creating compelling presentations, exploring future trends and technologies.
• In Advanced Marketing: Analyzing market data, assisting in developing target customer profiles, understanding brand guidelines, contributing design perspectives to marketing briefs, researching competitive landscapes.
• In HCD/Research: Participating in user interviews and observations, helping to create user journey maps and personas, contributing to usability testing sessions, synthesizing research findings, creating low-fidelity prototypes for testing.
• Throughout the Program: Documenting your work and process, presenting project updates, actively seeking feedback, building relationships across the company, participating in program-specific training and development activities.
  
  
  

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Transportation Design, or a related field (degree must be completed by start date).
• 0-2 years of experience in Industrial Design (relevant internships are highly valued and count towards experience).
• A strong portfolio demonstrating concept exploration, sketching, 2D/3D modeling, rendering skills, and an understanding of the design process. Please ensure your portfolio is easily accessible (e.g., online link).
• Proficiency in core design software relevant to Industrial Design (e.g., Adobe Creative Suite, 3D modeling software like Rhino, Alias, SolidWorks, Fusion 360, Blender; rendering software like KeyShot, VRED).
• Excellent visual and verbal communication skills.
  
  
  

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with Human-Centered Design methodologies and/or user research.
• Experience or coursework related to marketing, business strategy, or consumer insights.
• Experience with digital sketching tools (e.g., Sketchbook Pro, Procreate).
• Experience with parametric modeling software (e.g., SolidWorks, Fusion 360).
• Experience with VR/AR visualization tools.
• Understanding of manufacturing processes and materials.
• Strong presentation skills and the ability to articulate design decisions clearly.
• A collaborative spirit and the ability to work effectively in team environments.
• Curiosity about the automotive industry and the future of mobility.
  
  
  

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, vision and prescription drug coverage
• Flexible family care days, paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, subsidized back-up child care and more
• Family building benefits including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, fertility treatments, 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: https://fordcareers.co/GSRnon-HTHD

This position is a range of salary grades 5-6.

Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

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.

Onsite work of up to three days per week may be required for candidates within commuting distance of a Ford hub location.

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.