Principal Systems Engineer – AV Sensor Design

General Motors; Sunnyvale (CA); Hybrid; USD 239,000 - 366,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

GM vehicle discounts

Health and wellbeing benefits

Job summary

General Motors is advancing hands-off autonomous driving by investing in lidar technology, sensors, and scalable architectures for broad deployment. The principal systems engineer will lead the lidar design and integration within multi-modality sensing, collaborating with perception, localization, and vehicle teams to deliver robust autonomy across diverse operating conditions.

The role focuses on system-level decisions, optical path design, calibration, data processing, and productionization of

Qualifications

• Master's degree or higher in Electrical/Optical Engineering or related field.
• 13+ years in remote sensing, lidar development, or photonic systems with lidar concentration.
• Proven authority in lidar technology and decision-making on technical direction.

Responsibilities

• Define lidar technical strategy within multi-modality sensing suites.
• Lead trade studies on performance, cost, and integration for lidar products.
• Coordinate with perception, localization, and simulation teams to drive production-ready designs.
• Evaluate prototype and production data to identify improvements.
• Work with production teams and vendors to transition tech into production.
• Define performance requirements for robust autonomy across broad operating design domains.

Skills

Lidar development

Signal processing

Calibration methods

SPAD lidars

Data analysis

Communication skills

Weather/environmental robustness

Autonomy product knowledge

Root cause analysis

Education

Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering or Optical Engineering

PhD in related field (preferred)

Job description

Job Description

General Motors is developing hands-off and eyes-off autonomous driving systems intended for broad deployment across consumer vehicles. As part of this effort, GM is investing in sensors and architectures that can be integrated, validated, and operated reliably at scale across diverse vehicle programs and operating environments.

We are seeking a principal systems engineer to join the AV Sensing Design team to lead the technical direction of lidar technology from system-level decisions as part of multi-modality sensing suites through to detailed evaluation of production paths.

As a recognized authority on lidar technology, you will leverage your deep technical expertise to drive the technology path on optical path, signal processing, calibration, failure modes and own the trajectory of how lidars integrate with our autonomy products to achieve performance and cost-effective programs. You will work directly with component, Perception, localization, simulation, and vehicle teams to see performance and efficacy be realized on consumer vehicles.

What You'll Do

You will get the opportunity to be part of the following:

• Own the technical strategy for lidar development as a part of current and future autonomy program multi-modality sensing suites
• Work alongside technical experts in sensors and perception to define leading-edge autonomy products
• Lead trade studies taking into account performance, cost, and integration to influence the next-generation of lidar development
• Evaluate data products from prototype and production platforms to assess opportunity for improvement
• Work with production teams and vendors to see technology realized into production designs
• Define lidar performance requirements to achieve next-generation autonomy capabilities with robustness across broad ODDs

Your Skills & Abilities (Required Qualifications)

• Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Applied Physics or related field
• 13+ years of experience in a remote sensing, lidar development, photonic system development or related, with a majority of that experience concentrated in lidars
• Demonstrated role as a recognized lidar authority on a program or within an organization with decision making authority on technical direction of lidar technology development
• Direct experience developing lidar hardware and signal processing as well as calibration methodology and data consumption or analysis
• Experience with productionization challenges of lidar technology and the trade spaces therein
• Deep command of lidar fundamentals and their practical impacts to design across optical link budget analysis, target phenomenology, detector physics, noise, laser safety, optical path design, window optics, spectrum selection, and signal processing techniques.
• Experience developing robust solutions for weather and environmental effects
• Experience developing lidar for autonomy products
• Significant experience with SPAD lidars
• Hands-on proficiency with data analysis and ability to lead root cause analysis and analytic efforts
• Strong verbal and written communication skills with the ability effectively communicate technical strategy to a wide range of audiences of varying background

What Will Give You a Competitive Edge (Preferred Qualifications)

• PhD in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Applied Physics or related field
• Patents, publications, or recognized industry contributions in lidar or electro-optical sensing
• Experience working on L4 (or equivalent) autonomous vehicle programs with an understanding of autonomy behaviors
• Experience developing or supporting simulation models
• Knowledge of lidar perception models and sensor fusion consumption of lidar data, including how point cloud characteristics drive ML model performance
• Experience with extrinsic calibration techniques, localization, or other related topics
• Experience designing validation and test plans

_ 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 compensation may not be representative for positions located outside of New York, Colorado, California, or Washington.

• The salary range for this role is 238,700 to 365,700. 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.
  This role is categorized as hybrid. This means the selected candidate is expected to report to a specific location at least 3 times a week {or other frequency dictated by their manager}.Relocation benefits are available for candidates who qualify under company policy.

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