Staff Systems Engineer – Sensor Systems Engineering & Architecture

generalmotors; Sunnyvale (CA); Hybrid; USD 135,000 - 215,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health and wellbeing benefits

Retirement savings plan

Paid vacation and holidays

Tuition assistance

GM vehicle discounts

Job summary

General Motors seeks an experienced Systems Engineer to advance hands‑off autonomous sensing in diverse weather. You will lead architecture, requirements, and cross‑domain integration for radar, camera, and lidar sensing with cleaning mechanisms, partnering with software, hardware, and validation teams.

You will shape system strategy, assess sensor performance under challenging conditions, and drive robustness and safety across vehicle programs. This role is hybrid in Sunnyvale, CA.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a related technical field.
• 10+ years in systems engineering or hardware‑intensive product development.
• Experience with sensing systems and weather/contamination effects on performance.
• Leadership of cross‑domain technical initiatives for sensor evaluation.
• Proficiency in requirements decomposition and development.
• Ability to operate in ambiguous spaces and align teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead system trades and integration requirements for autonomous sensor systems.
• Benchmark sensor systems across radar, camera, lidar and cleaning mechanisms.
• Translate autonomy intent into system architectures and requirements.
• Collaborate with software, hardware, perception, and validation teams.
• Ensure designs meet safety, regulatory, quality, and performance needs in diverse conditions.
• Drive continuous improvement in sensing system robustness.
• Document decisions, trade‑offs, and deliverables.

Skills

Experience in systems engineering

Sensing systems knowledge

Cross-domain leadership

Requirements decomposition

Ambiguity management

Matlab / Python data analysis

Education

Bachelor's degree in Systems, Electrical, Software, Mechanical Engineering

Master’s degree or PhD (preferred)

Tools

MATLAB

Python

Job description

General Motors is developing hands-off and eyes-off autonomous driving systems intended for broad deployment across consumer vehicles. A foundational requirement for safe, scalable autonomy is that sensing systems perform reliably across the full range of real‑world weather conditions.

What You’ll Do

You will get the opportunity to contribute to one or more of the following.

• Lead system-level trades, requirements decomposition, and integration requirements for autonomous sensor systems across radar, cameras, and lidar with associated cleaning systems
• Lead the technical assessment, characterization, and performance benchmarking of sensor systems — including active and passive cleaning mechanisms — across vehicle programs
• Translate autonomy and product performance intent into system architectures, functional decompositions, and requirements
• Work closely with software platform teams, vehicle integration, hardware teams, perception, and validation teams to manage complex interdependencies and drive forward progress
• Ensure system designs meet safety, regulatory, quality, and performance requirements relevant to autonomous vehicle operation in diverse environmental conditions
• Drive continuous improvement in sensing system robustness
• Clearly document technical decisions, trade‑offs, and deliverables.

Your Skills & Abilities (Required Qualifications)

• Bachelor's degree in Systems, Electrical, Software, Mechanical Engineering, or a related technical field
• 10+ years of experience in systems engineering, system integration, or hardware‑intensive product development
• Experience working with sensing systems (camera, radar, lidar, or similar) and a technical understanding of the effects of weather and contamination on performance
• Experience leading cross‑domain technical initiatives for the evaluation and validation of sensor performance
• Expertise in requirements decomposition and development
• Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in ambiguous problem spaces and drive technical alignment across teams
• Experience with Matlab, Python, or other tools to support data analysis and analysis tooling development

What Will Give You a Competitive Edge (Preferred Qualifications)

• Master’s degree or PhD in Engineering or a related technical discipline
• Direct experience characterizing or modeling sensor performance degradation in adverse weather conditions (rain, snow, fog, aerosol, or equivalent) for high‑fidelity sensors
• Familiarity with weather simulation methodologies, physics‑based sensor modeling, or environmental test chamber evaluation
• Experience with sensor cleaning systems, including nozzle, air, wiper, or other advanced methods
• Experience working on L4 (or equivalent) autonomous vehicle programs or advanced remote sensing platforms
• Experience with requirements management tools such as JAMA or DNG
• Knowledge of safety‑critical system development or functional safety concepts
• Experience with system/component validation including vehicle testing, HIL/SIL, simulation, and large‑scale data analysis

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 $135,420 to $215,000. 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: 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.

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.

Relocation

This job may be eligible for relocation benefits.

Remote/Hybrid: This role is basedhybrid from Sunnyvale,CA. You are expected to report to that location three times a week, at minimum.

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

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Benefits Overview

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Non-Discrimination and Equal Employment Opportunities (U.S.)

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Accommodations

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