Staff Robotics Engineer - Planning and Controls

General Motors Ventures; United States; On-site; Confidential; Full time

Job summary

General Motors Ventures is seeking a Technical Lead in Embodied AI within the Local Planner Controller team. You will drive optimization, safety, and compute-efficient vehicle dynamics and controls software for GM's Super Cruise system.

You will architect interfaces with perception, prediction and planning, lead technical reviews, mentor engineers, and establish verification strategies including simulation and on-road testing to ensure robust autonomous driving capabilities.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. or MS with strong work in controls or trajectory optimization.
• Experience in motion planning and autonomous systems.
• Solid understanding of vehicle dynamics and safety-critical software.

Responsibilities

• Define multi-quarter roadmaps for dynamics and controls software.
• Architect system designs and interfaces with perception, prediction, and planning.
• Lead technical reviews and enforce best practices across teams.

Skills

Motion planning

Vehicle dynamics

Optimization concepts

Education

Ph.D. in controls/optimization/path planning

MS in related field

Tools

C++

Python

Job description

Job Description

At General Motors, our product teams are redefining mobility. Through a human-centered design process, we create vehicles and experiences that are designed not just to be seen, but to be felt. We're turning today's impossible into tomorrow's standard -from breakthrough hardware and battery systems to intuitive design, intelligent software, and next-generation safety and entertainment features.

Every day, our products move millions of people as we aim to make driving safer, smarter, and more connected, shaping the future of transportation on a global scale.

Role:

As a Technical Lead you will be a senior individual contributor in the Local Planner Controller team within Embodied AI. We formulate and solve optimization problems online, considering kinematic feasibility, collision avoidance and ride comfort. In this role, you will provide cross-functional technical leadership for vehicle dynamics, estimation and controls systems used in GMs Super Cruise system.

What you'll be doing:

• Shape the technical vision by owning multi-quarter roadmap designs for vehicle dynamics and controls software.
• Architect and implement system designs and interface contracts with perception, prediction and planning systems, ensuring deliverables meet performance targets and safety constraints.
• Lead technical reviews and drive software engineering best practices across the team and the larger organization.
• Contribute to Active Safety, Driver Assistance, and Super Cruise development.
• Guide other developers through system design and implementation focusing on safety, comfort, and compute efficiency.
• Establish verification and validation strategies for the vehicle dynamics and controls software, including simulation and on-road testing validation gates.
• Partner with Safety, Systems Engineering, and Product to generate requirements for onboard systems.
• Lead root-cause investigations for complex integration issues, using data-driven techniques and principled experimentation, proactively creating test plans for new features and defining useful metrics for analyzing performance.
• Mentor engineers across teams, raising the bar on technical judgment, design quality, and execution discipline without direct people management responsibilities.
• Improve and deliver reliable software through continuous integration, automated testing, and code reviews.
• Develop and oversee top-tier software engineers within a dynamic, fast-paced, and inclusive setting.
• Help define, build, and embody GM engineering culture and principles.

Qualifications:

• Ph.D., M.S. in controls, optimization, path planning, or related. B.S. with strong work experience in the field may be considered
• 5+ years of experience in motion planning or related field
• Deep understanding of optimal control s and trajectory optimization algorithms
• Good grasp of classical and modern feedback control theory and techniques
• Solid understanding of vehicle dynamics
• A demonstrated track record of building high quality autonomous software systems
• Deep e xpertise in Planning and Controls system design
• Experience with C++/Python in a large, distributed development environment
• Strong organizational and communication skills
• Passion for self-driving technology and its potential impact on the world

Bonus points!

• A background in robotics, ROS, or the AV/ADAS industry
• Experience in numerical optimization algorithms
• Experience designing software applications for safety critical systems