Staff Electrical Hardware Engineer - Central Compute

General Motors; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 159,000 - 245,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health & wellbeing benefits

Medical, dental, vision coverage

401(k) retirement savings plan

Tuition assistance

GM vehicle discounts

Job summary

General Motors in Sunnyvale, CA seeks a Staff Electrical Hardware Engineer to lead hardware architecture for Central Compute and high‑performance compute platforms. You will steer complex ECU development and mentor engineering teams from concept to production.

The role requires deep expertise in analog, digital, mixed‑signal, and power electronics, with strong cross‑functional leadership, safety focus, and the ability to balance performance, cost, and manufacturability across programs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or related field.
• 10+ years in automotive or high‑complex electronic systems.
• Expertise in analog, digital, mixed-signal and power electronics design.
• Proven experience leading hardware architecture and ECU programs.
• Experience with schematic design, electrical analysis, and debugging.
• Knowledge of WCCA, DFMEA, reliability engineering, and hardware processes.
• Ability to lead technical decisions and influence cross‑functional teams.
• Strong communication and leadership skills.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive electrical hardware architecture for Central Compute and high‑performance platforms.
• Own system partitioning, power architecture, clocking, high‑speed interconnects, and scalability.
• Lead trade studies and architecture recommendations balancing performance, cost, and reliability.
• Establish design guidelines and standards across hardware teams.
• Review and approve critical design decisions throughout development.
• Provide oversight for complex mixed‑signal, high‑speed digital, and power circuitry.
• Guide schematic development, component selection, and optimization.
• Lead design reviews; ensure compliance with electrical, thermal, reliability, safety, and EMC.
• Drive PCB design strategy including SI/PI and EMI/EMC mitigation.
• Lead electrical robustness assessments (WCCA, power integrity, margins, sequencing, thermal).
• Develop and mitigate DFMEA; partner with Functional Safety to meet ISO 26262.
• Champion design-for-reliability and manufacturability.
• Lead bring-up, integration, and debugging for advanced compute platforms.
• Investigate root causes across hardware, software, systems, and manufacturing.
• Support hardware-software interface specs and platform integration.
• Guide verification planning and validation; ensure coverage aligns with safety targets.

Skills

Electrical hardware development

System-level thinking

Cross-functional leadership

Analog design

Digital/mixed-signal design

Power electronics

WCCA

DFMEA

ISO 26262

EMC/EMI

Hardware bring-up

Hardware-software interface

High-speed interfaces

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering

Tools

ECAD tools

Job description

Job Description

Role Summary

General Motors is accelerating the development of next-generation Central Compute, ADAS, and software-defined vehicle platforms. The Staff Electrical Hardware Engineer will serve as a technical leader responsible for defining hardware architectures, driving complex design decisions, and ensuring successful execution across multiple vehicle programs.

This role requires deep expertise in electrical hardware development combined with strong system-level thinking and cross-functional leadership. The Staff Engineer will influence architecture, mentor engineering teams, resolve complex technical challenges, and drive hardware solutions from concept through production.

Key Responsibilities

Hardware Architecture & Technical Leadership

• Define and drive electrical hardware architecture for Central Compute and high-performance compute platforms.
• Own system partitioning, power architecture, clocking strategies, high-speed interconnects, redundancy concepts, and hardware scalability.
• Lead technical trade studies and make architecture recommendations balancing performance, cost, reliability, manufacturability, and future platform needs.
• Establish design guidelines, best practices, and technical standards across hardware development teams.
• Review and approve critical design decisions throughout product development.

Hardware Design & Development

• Provide technical oversight for complex mixed-signal, high-speed digital, and power circuitry designs.
• Guide schematic development, component selection, and design optimization activities.
• Lead design reviews and ensure compliance with electrical, thermal, reliability, safety, and EMC requirements.
• Drive PCB design strategy, including signal integrity, power integrity, grounding, and EMI/EMC mitigation approaches.

Electrical Analysis, Reliability & Functional Safety

• Lead electrical robustness assessments, including:
  • Worst Case Circuit Analysis (WCCA)
  • Power integrity analysis
  • Interface margin analysis
  • Power sequencing validation
  • Thermal and derating evaluations
• Drive DFMEA development and mitigation strategies across subsystem and system interactions.
• Partner with Functional Safety teams to ensure hardware compliance with ISO 26262 requirements and safety goals.
• Champion design-for-reliability and design-for-manufacturability initiatives.

Hardware Bring-Up & Complex Problem Solving

• Lead first-board bring-up, integration, and debugging efforts for advanced compute platforms.
• Direct root cause investigations involving hardware, software, systems, manufacturing, and supplier teams.
• Resolve complex cross-domain issues impacting performance, reliability, or production readiness.
• Drive corrective actions and lessons learned across programs.

Hardware-Software Integration & System Collaboration

• Define and govern Hardware Software Interface Specifications (HSIS).
• Partner closely with software and systems engineering teams on boot architecture, device drivers, diagnostics, firmware dependencies, and platform integration.
• Ensure hardware architectures support software scalability, maintainability, and future feature growth.
• Influence platform-level integration strategies across compute domains.

Verification, Validation & Program Leadership

• Provide technical leadership across EV, DV, PV, and production launch phases.
• Guide hardware verification planning and validation strategy development.
• Ensure test coverage aligns with system requirements, safety objectives, and product reliability targets.
• Review validation results and drive closure of critical technical issues.

Technical Mentorship & Organizational Impact

• Mentor and develop electrical hardware engineers across multiple experience levels.
• Serve as a subject matter expert for compute platform hardware architecture and design.
• Influence technical roadmaps, engineering processes, and future technology adoption.
• Represent hardware engineering in executive reviews, architecture reviews, and supplier engagements.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or related field.
• 10+ years of experience developing automotive or other high-complexity electronic systems.
• Strong expertise in analog, digital, mixed-signal, and power electronics design.
• Proven experience leading hardware architecture and complex ECU development programs.
• Extensive experience with schematic design, electrical analysis, and hardware debugging.
• Deep understanding of WCCA, DFMEA, reliability engineering, and hardware development processes.
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical decisions and influence cross-functional teams.
• Strong communication, presentation, and technical leadership skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering or related discipline.
• Experience leading Central Compute, ADAS, autonomous driving, or high-performance compute platforms.
• Deep knowledge of Ethernet, PCIe, DDR, SerDes, and other high-speed interfaces.
• Strong understanding of ISO 26262 Functional Safety and cybersecurity requirements.
• Experience defining hardware platform strategies and product roadmaps.
• Experience working with global engineering teams and semiconductor suppliers.
• Proven success launching complex production ECUs in automotive environments.

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 ($159,400 - 245,000). 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.

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