Principal Security Software Engineer, PKI and Secrets Management

generalmotors; United States; Remote; USD 202,000 - 310,000; Full time

Job summary

General Motors is seeking a Principal Security Software Engineer to define and lead cyber security strategy for new technologies and complex features. You will guide engineering teams, implement secure patterns, and advance security across GM's software ecosystem.

The role requires deep software engineering experience, cloud and container tech, and strong communication to translate security concepts for both technical and non-technical audiences.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Cybersecurity, or related technical field (or equivalent practical experience).
• 7+ years of experience as a software engineer building and owning production systems or in-house applications.
• Advanced proficiency in at least one modern programming language (Python, Go, Java, or C++) with solid fundamentals.
• Experience using AI-assisted development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot) as part of daily workflows.
• Experience designing, implementing, and operating services on a major cloud platform (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
• Hands-on experience with containerization and orchestration technologies (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Solid understanding of core security concepts in software engineering: PKI, encryption, secrets management, secure coding.
• Experience partnering with security and audit/compliance teams and translating security requirements into engineering work.
• Proven ability to plan and manage work in an Agile environment and take ownership of features from design to production.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, able to explain security concepts to technical and non-technical audiences.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain security-focused software components, services, and tools across GM’s app ecosystem.
• Develop automation frameworks and internal platforms to help product teams adopt secure patterns.
• Integrate security controls into CI/CD pipelines and cloud deployment workflows.
• Architect and implement resilient, scalable security services and APIs (authentication, authorization, policy eval).
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to embed security requirements into designs.
• Perform secure code reviews, threat modeling, and design reviews to remediate vulnerabilities.
• Build security telemetry systems: logs, metrics, and alerts for detection and incident response.
• Support incident response and post-incident reviews for security services and tooling.
• Stay updated on threats and translate them into engineering roadmaps and requirements.
• Provide mentorship on secure coding and security architecture to engineers.

Skills

Python

Go

Java

C++

AWS

Docker

Kubernetes

CI/CD

Security fundamentals

Agile

GitHub Copilot

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Cybersecurity, or related field

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Terraform

Job description

Job Description

The Role

The Principal Security Software Engineer defines and leads Cyber Security strategy for new technology, highly complex features, or significant improvements for current, new, or major programs. Provides technical leadership to execution teams for development and integration. Stays abreast of new security technology and competitive products and defines GM direction. Provide, communicate, and support common best practices among the Cyber Security community. Performs other related duties as assigned. Actively participates in hiring, development of technical questionnaires, resume reviews and performs interviews. Participates in projects eligible for patent application.

What You'll Do:

• Design, build, and maintain security-focused software components, services, and tools used across GM’s application ecosystem.

• Develop automation frameworks and internal platforms that make it easy for product teams to adopt secure patterns (e.g., identity, authorization, secrets management, logging).

• Integrate security controls and checks into CI/CD pipelines, build systems, and cloud-native deployment workflows.

• Architect and implement resilient, scalable security services and APIs (e.g., authentication, authorization, policy evaluation, event ingestion).

• Collaborate with application, infrastructure, and platform engineering teams to embed security requirements into system and service designs.

• Perform secure code reviews, threat modeling, and design reviews to identify and remediate vulnerabilities early in the SDLC.

• Build and maintain systems for security telemetry: logging, metrics, and alerting that support detection, triage, and incident response.

• Contribute to incident response and post-incident reviews as an engineering owner for security services and tooling.

• Stay current with emerging security threats, vulnerabilities, and technologies, and translate them into concrete engineering requirements, patterns, and roadmaps.

• Provide technical mentorship on secure coding, design patterns, and security architecture to other software engineers.

Your Skills & Abilities (Required Qualifications):

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Cybersecurity, or a related technical field (or equivalent practical experience).

• 7+ years of experience as a software engineer building and owning production systems or in-house applications.

• Advanced proficiency in at least one modern programming language (for example: Python, Go, Java, or C++) with a strong understanding of software engineering fundamentals (data structures, algorithms, design patterns).

• Experience using AI-assisted development tools (for example, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, or similar) as part of day-to-day engineering workflows.

• Experience designing, implementing, and operating services on a major cloud platform (AWS, Azure, or GCP), including use of managed services and infrastructure-as-code.

• Hands-on experience with containerization and orchestration technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).

• Solid understanding of core security concepts as applied to software engineering, including:

• PKI including cert issuance, management.

• Encryption in transit and at rest, key/secrets management.

• Secure coding practices, input validation, and common vulnerability classes (e.g., injection, XSS, CSRF, insecure direct object references).

• Experience partnering with security and audit/compliance teams and translating security requirements into engineering work.

• Proven ability to plan and manage work in an Agile environment, taking ownership of features and services from design through production.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain identity and security concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.

What Can Give You a Competitive Advantage (Preferred Qualifications):

• Extensive experience designing and operating PKI and cryptographic services at enterprise scale.

• Experience modernizing and automating security platforms for broad adoption across engineering teams.

• Proven technical leadership, setting direction and influencing across organizations.

• Strategic thinker and champion of change who balances security with business needs.

• Strong integrity, accountability, and communication skills.

Compensation: The compensation information is a good faith estimate only. It is based on what a successful applicant might be paid in accordance with applicable state laws. The actual base salary a successful candidate will be offered within this range will vary based on factors relevant to the position, as well as geography of the selected candidate.

The salary range for this role is $201,600 - 309,900. The actual base salary a successful candidate will be offered within this range will vary based on factors relevant to the position.

Bonus Potential: An incentive pay program offers payouts based on company performance, job level, and individual performance.

Benefits:

Benefits: GM offers a variety of health and wellbeing benefit programs. Benefit options include medical, dental, vision, Health Savings Account, Flexible Spending Accounts, retirement savings plan, sickness and accident benefits, life insurance, paid vacation & holidays, tuition assistance programs, employee assistance program, GM vehicle discounts and more.

About GM

Our vision is a world with Zero Crashes, Zero Emissions and Zero Congestion and we embrace the responsibility to lead the change that will make our world better, safer and more equitable for all.

Why Join Us

We believe we all must make a choice every day – individually and collectively – to drive meaningful change through our words, our deeds and our culture. Every day, we want every employee to feel they belong to one General Motors team.

Benefits Overview

From day one, we're looking out for your well-being–at work and at home–so you can focus on realizing your ambitions. Learn how GM supports a rewarding career that rewards you personally by visiting Total Rewards resources.

Non-Discrimination and Equal Employment Opportunities (U.S.)

General Motors is committed to being a workplace that is not only free of unlawful discrimination, but one that genuinely fosters inclusion and belonging. We strongly believe that providing an inclusive workplace creates an environment in which our employees can thrive and develop better products for our customers.

All employment decisions are made on a non-discriminatory basis without regard to sex, race, color, national origin, citizenship status, religion, age, disability, pregnancy or maternity status, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran or protected veteran, or any other similarly protected status in accordance with federal, state and local laws.

We encourage interested candidates to review the key responsibilities and qualifications for each role and apply for any positions that match their skills and capabilities. Applicants in the recruitment process may be required, where applicable, to successfully complete a role-related assessment(s) and/or a pre-employment screening prior to beginning employment. To learn more, visit How we Hire.