Principal Software Engineer - Developer Experience

General Motors; Michigan; On-site; USD 160,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

General Motors is seeking a Principal Software Engineer for the Developer Experience (DevEx) team to improve engineer productivity and satisfaction. The role blends engineering strategy with data-driven insights to modernize workflows across GM.

You will drive AI-enabled tooling, define golden paths, and mentor engineers while collaborating with platform, product, security, and infrastructure leaders to convert insights into concrete improvements for the SDLC.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software development experience in senior/principal roles.
• Proficient in at least one modern language (e.g., Java, Go, C#, Python, TypeScript).
• Deep experience designing and operating CI/CD pipelines and release processes.
• Hands-on experience with developer platforms and SDLC tooling (GitHub/GitLab, Jira/ADO, secrets management, feature flags).

Responsibilities

• Set and lead technical strategy for platforms and workflows to improve productivity.
• Define and drive adoption of golden paths for shipping software including CI/CD, testing, security and observability.
• Build automation and self-service capabilities to reduce manual toil.
• Lead strategy for embedding AI into engineering workflows and tools.
• Partner with product, security, infra, and application leaders to translate pain points into improvements.
• Mentor engineers and promote best practices in software engineering and AI-assisted development.
• Define and own outcome-focused metrics and use data to guide investments.
• Govern engineering standards and reference architectures across Core IT.

Skills

Technical leadership

Systems thinking

Product mindset

AI/ML in dev workflows

Cross-team influence

Excellent communication

Tools

GitHub/GitLab

CI/CD tooling

Jira/ADO

Secrets management

Feature flags

Job description

Job Description

Principal Software Engineer - Developer Experience role sits within the Developer Experience (DevEx) team at the intersection of DevEx, data, and business strategy. The team provides tools, platforms, metrics, and enablement programs that reduce friction for engineers, streamline software delivery workflows, and improve developer satisfaction and productivity across General Motors. In this role, you will focus on Developer Productivity & Insights - defining how we measure and understand engineering effectiveness, partnering with platform and product teams to synthesize signals across SDLC systems, and translating those insights into clear narratives and recommendations for senior engineering leadership up to the CISO office. Rather than owning a single platform, you will drive change through influence and strategy: shaping our metrics strategy, defining and evolving golden paths, evaluating how AI is transforming developer workflows, and turning data into better tools, workflows, and outcomes for engineers. The DevEx team exists to make life dramatically better for software engineers at GM. As a Principal Software Engineer, you’ll help lead the shift from a traditional IT model to an AI-native engineering organization - setting direction and designing and building automation, golden paths, and AI-driven solutions that remove friction from developer workflows while mentoring and upskilling engineers across IT.

What you’ll do

• Set and lead technical strategy and delivery for platforms, tools, and workflows that improve developer productivity, quality, and satisfaction across GM.
• Define and drive adoption of golden paths (opinionated, paved-road workflows) for shipping software - covering repo structure, CI/CD, testing, security, observability, and deployment.
• Build automation and self-service capabilities that reduce manual toil (e.g., environment provisioning, pipeline setup, guardrail enforcement, standards checks).
• Lead the strategy for embedding AI into engineering workflows, including agents and copilots that assist with planning, coding, testing, documentation, and operations.
• Partner with and influence product, security, infra, and application leaders to understand pain points and translate them into concrete platform and tooling improvements.
• Act as an org-wide multiplier and mentor, coaching engineers and providing guidance on software engineering, AI-assisted development, and recommended practices.
• Define, socialize, and own the strategy for outcome-focused metrics (e.g., lead time for changes, PR cycle time, change failure rate, developer satisfaction) and use data to guide investments.
• Shape and govern engineering standards, patterns, and reference architectures used across Core IT and beyond.

What you bring

• Proven experience as a Principal Engineer or senior technical leader driving technical strategy and execution across multiple teams or organizations.
• Strong systems thinking and product mindset - you treat developers as customers and design solutions that are intuitive, resilient, and maintainable.
• AI-native mindset: experience using and integrating AI/ML into engineering workflows (e.g., AI coding assistants, agentic workflows, intelligent automation), or strong evidence you can ramp quickly.
• Track record of technical leadership without formal authority: mentoring others, leading design reviews, influencing roadmaps, and driving cross-team alignment.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to articulate technical tradeoffs and build trust with engineers, managers, and partners.

Minimum Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in software development, including significant time in senior/staff/principal-level roles.
• Strong proficiency in at least one modern language (e.g., Java, Go, C#, Python, TypeScript) and in designing, building, and operating distributed systems in production.
• Deep experience designing and operating modern CI/CD pipelines and release processes, including build, test, deploy, release strategies, rollback, and environment promotion.
• Hands-on experience with developer platforms and SDLC tooling (e.g., GitHub/GitLab, CI/CD systems, Jira/ADO, artifact repositories, secrets management, feature flags).

What Will Give You A Competitive Edge (Preferred Qualifications)

• Experience in platform engineering, SRE, or internal developer platforms.
• Background in large, regulated, or safety-critical environments where security, compliance, and reliability are first-class concerns.
• Prior work in Developer Experience / Developer Productivity / DevTools organizations.

Gm does not provide immigration-related sponsorship for this role. Do not apply for this role if you will need gm immigration sponsorship (e.g., h-1b, tn, stem opt, etc.) Now or in the future.

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. 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 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.