ECU Lead Architect - Automotive Platforms

Global Connect Technologies; Michigan; On-site; USD 170,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Global Connect Technologies in Auburn Hills, MI seeks an experienced ECU Lead Architect to serve as the technical authority for end-to-end ECU definition, integration, and governance across HPCs, ZCUs, and Domain Controllers.

You will translate vehicle and system requirements into cohesive architectures covering hardware, software, safety, cybersecurity, networking, diagnostics, and performance, guiding cross-functional teams and suppliers to secure delivery.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Computer Science, Embedded Systems, or Software Engineering.
• Significant experience in automotive ECU/system hardware or software architecture.
• Experience delivering HPCs, Zonal Controllers, Domain Controllers, or safety-critical platforms.
• Strong knowledge of AUTOSAR Classic/Adaptive and diagnostics, networking, SOA.

Responsibilities

• Analyze and consolidate functional, safety, cybersecurity, performance, regulatory, and non-functional requirements for the ECU.
• Establish and maintain the ECU technical baseline with traceability across lifecycle stages.
• Define and govern ECU hardware, software, safety, cybersecurity, communication, diagnostics, and deployment architectures.
• Define resource allocation for processors, memory, networks, and power management.
• Own the ECU pinout architecture ensuring consistency with hardware and vehicle needs.
• Allocate requirements across hardware and software domains and derive interfaces and state-management concepts.
• Develop architectural solutions meeting ISO 26262 and ISO/SAE 21434 requirements.
• Lead FMEA activities and risk assessments; drive architecture reviews and technical risk mitigation.
• Interface between internal teams, vehicle/system teams, and suppliers for alignment.

Skills

ECU architecture

Safety concepts

AUTOSAR

ISO 26262

Cybersecurity engineering

Requirements engineering

DOORS NG / Polarion

Jira / Git

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Electrical/Electronics/CS/Embedded Software

Tools

DOORS NG

Polarion

Jama

Jira

Git

Job description

Location: Auburn Hills, MI

Job Type: Full-Time

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced ECU Lead Architect to serve as the technical authority for the end-to-end definition, integration, and governance of complex automotive Electronic Control Units (ECUs), including High Performance Computers (HPCs), Zonal Control Units (ZCUs), Domain Controllers, and other next-generation vehicle computing platforms.

The ECU Lead Architect will translate vehicle and system-level requirements into a cohesive ECU architecture spanning hardware, software, functional safety, cybersecurity, networking, diagnostics, and performance.

This role will work closely with cross-functional engineering teams, program leadership, and suppliers to ensure architectural consistency, technical feasibility, requirements traceability, and successful product delivery.

Key Responsibilities

• Analyze and consolidate functional, safety, cybersecurity, performance, regulatory, and non-functional requirements allocated to the ECU.
• Establish and maintain the ECU technical baseline and ensure bidirectional traceability across requirements, architecture, implementation, verification, and release deliverables.
• Define, maintain, and govern ECU hardware, software, safety, cybersecurity, communication, diagnostics, and deployment architectures.
• Define ECU resource allocation strategies covering processors, memory, communication networks, power management, I/O, and system resources.
• Own the ECU pinout architecture and ensure consistency across hardware, software, sensors, actuators, network connectivity, and vehicle integration requirements.
• Allocate functional, safety, cybersecurity, performance, and non-functional requirements between hardware and software domains.
• Derive and maintain hardware/software functional requirements, safety requirements, and cybersecurity requirements.
• Define and manage hardware/software interfaces, communication interfaces, signal ownership, and ECU state-management concepts such as power modes, startup, shutdown, and wake-up.
• Develop architectural solutions supporting ISO 26262 Functional Safety and ISO/SAE 21434 Cybersecurity Engineering requirements.
• Provide technical leadership and support for FMEA activities, including Hardware FMEA, Software FMEA, and safety mechanism analysis.
• Define ECU-level verification strategies, performance targets, startup-time requirements, timing requirements, resource-utilization targets, and component test strategies.
• Own the collection, maintenance, and configuration management of sensor, actuator, and external device datasheets.
• Lead architecture reviews, technical reviews, design reviews, trade-off studies, and technical risk assessments across engineering disciplines.
• Ensure architecture and technical deliverables remain aligned with program quality and industrialization milestones, including APQP, PPAP, PCIEE, and product development governance.
• Provide engineering leadership with visibility into architecture maturity, technical risks, open issues, dependencies, and mitigation plans.
• Serve as the primary technical interface between internal engineering teams, vehicle/system teams, and external suppliers.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Computer Science, Embedded Systems, Software Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• Significant experience in automotive ECU, system, hardware, or software architecture for complex embedded systems.
• Demonstrated experience delivering High Performance Computers (HPCs), Zonal Controllers, Domain Controllers, or other safety-critical automotive computing platforms.
• Strong understanding of modern vehicle E/E architectures, Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) concepts, centralized computing, and zonal architectures.
• Deep knowledge of embedded hardware platforms, microcontrollers, SoCs, multicore architectures, operating systems, and middleware.
• Strong knowledge of AUTOSAR Classic and/or AUTOSAR Adaptive, automotive diagnostics, networking, and service-oriented architectures.
• Experience with requirements engineering, requirements allocation, architecture modeling, system decomposition, and traceability.
• Strong understanding of ISO 26262 Functional Safety and ISO/SAE 21434 Cybersecurity Engineering.
• Experience with FMEA, safety analysis, architectural trade-off studies, and technical risk assessments.
• Strong knowledge of automotive communication technologies, including:
• CAN / CAN-FD
• LIN
• Automotive Ethernet
• SOME/IP
• DoIP
• Familiarity with ASPICE, APQP, PPAP, PCIEE, and automotive product development processes.
• Experience with requirements and lifecycle management tools such as DOORS NG, Polarion, Jama, Jira, Git, or equivalent tools.
• Strong technical leadership, problem-solving, communication, negotiation, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Ability to work effectively across hardware, software, systems, safety, cybersecurity, validation, manufacturing, and supplier organizations.

Preferred Experience

• Experience with next-generation Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) architectures.
• Experience with centralized vehicle computing and zonal E/E architectures.
• Experience integrating complex ECUs across vehicle networks and multiple domains.
• Experience working directly with Tier 1 automotive suppliers and OEM engineering organizations.
• Experience leading architecture decisions from concept through production launch.
• Strong understanding of ECU industrialization, production readiness, and vehicle integration.