Senior Software Engineer - Simulation Tooling

General Motors; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 153,000 - 234,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

GM vehicle discounts

Job summary

General Motors in Sunnyvale, CA seeks a Senior Software Engineer to lead our simulation efforts for autonomous driving, focusing on scalable tooling and robust Python APIs/SDKs.

You will mentor engineers, shape the technical roadmap, and collaborate across teams to deliver production-grade software for validating AI-driven systems and simulations. This role emphasizes performance, reliability, and developer experience in a large-scale platform environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of software development experience, with significant work on large-scale platforms, tooling, or SDKs.
• Proven ability to lead technical projects from concept to production.
• Expert proficiency in Python, including performance optimization and robust APIs/SDKs for external consumers.
• Solid foundation in 3D graphics, computational geometry, or real-time simulation concepts.
• Mentoring and coaching mid-level and senior engineers to raise technical standards.

Responsibilities

• Technical Vision: contribute to the architectural roadmap for the Simulation Scenario Definition platform and its Python SDK.
• Scalable Tooling: design and implement next-generation graphical editing tools for defining traffic, environment, and sensor scenarios.
• Performance & Infrastructure: advance Python infrastructure, focusing on serialization, validation, and cloud integration.
• Mentorship: mentor engineers, set engineering excellence standards for API design, code quality, and testing practices.

Skills

Python

Mentoring

Technical leadership

API design

SDK development

3D graphics

Tools

Unity

Unreal Engine

Job description

Job Description

About the role:

GM’s simulation team is looking for an experienced Senior Software Engineer to be a key technical leader in our mission to deliver autonomous driving technologies safely.This is a high-impact role where your work directly enables the validation of our most complex AI-driven systems.

Responsibilities

• Technical Vision : Contribute to thearchitectural roadmap for our Simulation Scenario Definition platform and/or its programmatic Python SDK.

• Scalable Tooling : Lead the design and implementation of our next-generation graphical editing tools used by hundreds of engineers to precisely define complex traffic, environment, and sensor scenarios.

• Performance & Infrastructure : Drive the evolution of our Python infrastructure, focusing on core algorithms for scenario serialization, validation, and integration with our large-scale cloudcomputecluster.

• Mentorship : Act as a hands-on mentor, setting the engineering excellence standard for API design, code quality, and testing practices across the team.
  

Requires Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional experience in software development, witha significant portionfocused on large-scale platforms, tooling, or SDK development.

• Proven ability to lead technical projects from concept to production.

• Expert-levelproficiencyin Python , including deep knowledge of best practices, performance optimization, and building robust APIs/SDKs for external consumers.

• Solid foundation in 3D graphics, computational geometry, and/or real-time simulation concepts.

• A track recordof mentoring and coaching mid-level and senior engineers, raising the technical bar, and driving code quality standards within a team.
  

Desired Skills (Bonus Points)

• Experience with C++ for performance-critical components or integration with simulation engines.

• Direct experience developing or extending aDomain-Specific Language (DSL)or high-level scripting language.

• Background in game engines (e.g., Unity, Unreal) or other professional simulation software.

• Experience in data visualization techniques for large, complex datasets.

• Familiarity with the architecture ofAutonomous Vehicle (AV) technology(e.g.,perception, planning, controls) or other complex robotics/safety-critical systems.

Compensation:

• The expected base compensation for this role is: $153,200 - $234,100. Actual base compensation within the identified range will vary based on factors relevant to the position.
• You also need to include general information about potential commissions, if applicable.
• 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.

Accommodations

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