Principal Security Software Engineer, PKI and Secrets Management

General Motors Company; Washington (District of Columbia); Remote; USD 202,000 - 310,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation benefits available

Job summary

General Motors Company is seeking a Principal Security Software Engineer to define and lead cyber security strategy for complex programs and new technology. You will provide technical leadership, mentor engineers, and shape security patterns across GM's software ecosystem.

You will design secure software components, integrate security into CI/CD, and drive threat modeling and incident response while staying current with threats and technologies.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in a 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/C++).
• Experience with AI-assisted development tools as part of daily workflows.
• Experience designing, implementing, and operating services on major cloud platforms.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain security-focused software components and services.
• Develop automation frameworks and secure patterns for product teams.
• Integrate security controls into CI/CD and cloud deployment workflows.
• Architect and implement resilient security services and APIs.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to embed security requirements in designs.
• Perform secure code reviews, threat modeling, and design reviews.

Skills

Programming languages

Cloud platforms

Security engineering

Agile leadership

Communication skills

Education

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

Tools

GitHub Copilot

Docker

Kubernetes

AWS/Azure/GCP

Job description

Description

The Role

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:

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.

#LI-SB3

GM does not provide immigration-related sponsorship for this role. Do not apply for this role if you will need GM immigration sponsorship now or in the future. This includes direct company sponsorship, entry of GM as the immigration employer of record on a government form, and any work authorization requiring a written submission or other immigration support from the company (e.g., H1-B, OPT, STEM OPT, CPT, TN, J-1, etc.).

This role is categorized as remote. This means the selected candidate may be based anywhere in the country of work and is not expected to report to a GM worksite unless directed by their manager.

Relocation benefits are available for candidates who qualify under company policy.

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.

Total Rewards | 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.

Accommodations

General Motors offers opportunities to all job seekers including individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation to assist with your job search or application for employment, email us [email protected] or call us at 1-800-865-7580. In your email, please include a description of the specific accommodation you are requesting as well as the job title and requisition number of the position for which you are applying.