Automotive MCU Hardware Engineer – ECU Systems

General Motors; Warren (MI); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

General Motors is seeking a Hardware Engineer – MCU to own MCU hardware deliverables for in‑house ECU designs, guiding I/O mapping, DFMEA, and validation through board bring‑up. You’ll work with ECU hardware design, software, safety teams, and silicon suppliers to ensure robust first‑time designs.

Responsibilities include defining MCU interfaces, performing DFMEA, and executing electrical characterization, test plans, and hands‑on debugging with ARM cores.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or a related field.
• 4+ years of experience in hardware design and development, including component- or board-level ownership.
• Knowledge of microcontroller subsystems and IP blocks, including processor cores, memory, analog/ADC, communication peripherals (SPI, I2C, UART/LIN, CAN, ethernet), timers/PWM, and GPIO.
• Demonstrated experience with MCU I/O and resource mapping, pin planning, and translating system/connector requirements into a hardware pin definition.
• Hands‑on experience with circuit design and analysis, including worst‑case analysis, DFMEA, circuit simulation tools, and schematic capture tools (e.g., Mentor Graphics).
• Experience with board bring‑up, electrical characterization, and hardware validation of MCUs or similar silicon.
• Hands‑on experience with hardware debugging tools such as oscilloscopes and JTAG/debug probes.
• Exceptional collaboration and teamwork skills; proven ability to work across functional and organizational boundaries.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple assignments simultaneously, including planning, execution, and monitoring.
• Strong problem‑solving skills and ability to learn quickly.

Responsibilities

• Own MCU I/O and resource mapping for in-house ECU designs, reserving and allocating pins across GPIO, ADC, eMIOS/PWM, SPI, I2C, LIN, and other peripherals, and optimizing use of I/O expanders and ADC MUXes to meet system requirements.
• Develop and maintain MCU application deliverables including the HSIS signal matrix, pin-mapping documentation, reference schematics, and symbol/library content, ensuring alignment with requirements and electrical design intent.
• Lead component-level Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (DFMEA) for MCU sub-circuits (power, crystal, MCU-to-networking, MCU-to-PMIC, MCU-to-Driver, etc.) and ensure findings roll up correctly into ECU (system) level DFMEA.
• Establish and execute electrical characterization and functional test plans for MCUs and supporting silicon including board bring‑up, voltage‑rail and ADC verification, and interface validation to confirm design intent ahead of formal qualification.
• Perform hands‑on debug and validation using tools such as oscilloscopes and JTAG/debug probes on ARM cores, including GPIO toggling and register‑level verification.
• Define MCU‑to‑peripheral interfaces (PMIC, ethernet switch, I/O expander, etc) and support change‑control activities, coordinating design changes across suppliers and internal stakeholders.
• Collaborate cross‑functionally with ECU hardware design, HWIO/software, functional safety, Power, and PCB layout teams to define specifications and align on architectural and system‑level requirements.
• Develop clear component specifications within your scope to enable timely sourcing decisions aligned with electronic development and vehicle program milestones.
• Partner with silicon and tooling suppliers (e.g., MCU vendors and analysis partners) to resolve technical issues and align on requirements.
• Stay current with MCU product portfolios, supply‑chain dynamics, and emerging technology roadmaps.

Skills

MCU I/O mapping

DFMEA

Electrical characterization

Hardware bring-up

Oscilloscope

JTAG

Schematic capture

Pin planning

Cross-functional collaboration

Automotive MCU familiarity

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering

Master's degree (Preferred)

Tools

Mentor Graphics

Lauterbach TRACE32

Job description

General Motors is seeking a Hardware Engineer – MCU to own MCU hardware deliverables for in‑house ECU designs, guiding I/O mapping, DFMEA, and validation through board bring‑up. You’ll work with ECU hardware design, software, safety teams, and silicon suppliers to ensure robust first‑time designs.

Responsibilities include defining MCU interfaces, performing DFMEA, and executing electrical characterization, test plans, and hands‑on debugging with ARM cores.