Staff Hardware Engineer- NFC Digital Key

General Motors; United States; On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

General Motors seeks a Staff Hardware Engineer to architect, design, and validate NFC hardware for Digital Key in millions of GM vehicles. You will work at the intersection of hardware, RF systems, security and vehicle access, collaborating with GM teams and key silicon/module vendors.

You will lead NFC hardware development, define readers, enable passive entry/start, and ensure coexistence with other radios across platforms and regions.

Qualifications

• Experience with NFC hardware design and validation.
• Ability to define hardware requirements for NFC readers in automotive packaging.
• Proven track record bringing up NFC readers and secure elements.
• Experience creating RF test plans and performance characterization.
• Strong collaboration across hardware, software, security and vehicle access teams.

Responsibilities

• Act as NFC hardware SME for Digital Key and short-range access systems.
• Define hardware requirements for NFC readers including passive entry/start.
• Lead concept and requirements for Digital Key system development.
• Translate use cases into link budgets, performance targets, and alignment needs.
• Lead coexistence analysis with UWB, BLE, Wi-Fi and other radios.

Skills

NFC hardware design

RF engineering

Schematic/PCB reviews

Lab bring-up & validation

Tools

Schematic capture

PCB layout

RF test instrumentation

Job description

Job Description

Why Join Us:

Digital Key enables customers to use their phones and other devices to securely access and start their vehicles. These experiences rely on advanced Near-Field Communication (NFC), Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Ultra-Wideband (UWB), technologies that must perform reliably in challenging automotive environments alongside Bluetooth, Wi‑Fi, cellular, and GNSS systems.

The Team:

The Short Range Wireless Technology team develops and validates GM's short-range wireless capabilities-particularly NFC, BLE, UWB, and Digital Key-covering RF architecture, hardware bring-up, antenna performance, coexistence, testing, and collaboration with software, cybersecurity, vehicle-access, and supplier teams.

The Role

As a Staff Hardware Engineer- NFC Digital Key Hardware , you will help architect, design, and validate the Wireless hardware that makes secure, precise Digital Key experiences possible for millions of vehicles and customers worldwide. You will work at the intersection of hardware, RF systems, security, and vehicle access, and you will collaborate with teams across GM and with leading silicon and module vendors.

What You Will Do (Responsibilities):

• Act as a hardware and wireless subject matter expert for NFC within GM's Digital Key and short‑range access systems.
• Define hardware and requirements for NFC readers that support features such as passive entry, passive start, trunk access, and NFC card and phone access.
• Lead the concept and requirements for vehicle Digital Key system development.
• Translate vehicle level use cases and customer scenarios into clear link budgets and performance targets for NFC, including accuracy, precision, latency, robustness, and reader field strength and alignment in automotive packaging.
• Provide NFC input into short range wireless and antenna roadmaps that can scale across nameplates and regions.

Hands‑on RF Design, Bring‑up, and Validation

• Lead schematic and PCB layout reviews for NFC and Secure Element subsystems on Digital Key controllers, and NFC readers, focusing on NFC reader coil geometry, tuning networks, interaction with nearby metals (for example, the wireless charging coil), and coupling paths to other radios.
• Bring up and debug Digital Key hardware in the lab, including reader front‑end components, coils, tuning networks, power and clocking, calibration, and performance optimization for real vehicle environments.
• Develop and execute NFC‑focused test plans covering realistic positions, orientations, doors or zones, and packaging conditions that reflect real customer access paths, and validating behavior for key Digital Key use cases.
• Use RF and time domain instrumentation to conduct NFC‑specific tests such as field strength and load‑modulation maps over the pad area, coupling and detuning versus phone cases and nearby metals, and ISO/IEC 14443/15693 interoperability and timing margin checks across voltage, temperature, and mechanical conditions.

ShortRangeCoexistence Leadership

• Lead coexistence analysis and test content for Digital Key NFC readers in the presence of other technologies maintaining robust NFC detection and transaction reliability under multi-radio activities.
• Coordinate with UWB, BLE, Wi‑Fi, Bluetooth, Cellular, and GNSS teams on time domain and resource sharing strategies where appropriate, ensuring coexistence remains a shared responsibility while you provide technical leadership on problem framing, test design, and mitigation plans.

CCCDigitalKey, Security, and System Alignment

• Ensure NFC hardware implementations support current and emerging Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC) Digital Key expectations, particularly for secure, precise ranging and multi device operation.
• Work with Digital Key system and software leads so that NFC, BLE and UWB behaviors, limitations, and coverage concepts are correctly reflected in system architecture, algorithms, and test strategies.

Execution, Documentation, and Mentorship

• Build reusa