Staff Systems Engineer– Automotive Network Communications

Job Description

The Role:

We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Staff Systems Engineer-Automotive Network Communications to lead the definition, assessment, and continuous improvement of in‑vehicle network performance across multiple vehicle product spaces. This role is critical in establishing and managing the Network Performance Budget, Forecast, and Load Assessment for GM’s electrical architecture, ensuring that current and future feature content can be delivered reliably and at scale across Ethernet, CAN, LIN, UART, and other in‑vehicle networks.

The ideal candidate will bring deep expertise in automotive network architectures and performance analysis, strong systems thinking, and a collaborative mindset to drive data‑driven decisions and architectural trade‑offs. This role partners closely with Electrical Architecture PSEs, ECU software and hardware teams, and product/program leadership to ensure that network capacity and performance are designed, measured, and governed as a first‑class architectural concern.

What You'll Do (Responsibilities):

Network Performance Budget & Forecast

• Define and maintain the Network Performance Budget by product area (e.g., propulsion, body, chassis, ADAS, infotainment) across vehicle programs and architectures.
• Forecast future network loading and bandwidth needs based on product roadmaps, feature growth, and architectural strategy (SDV2 & beyond).

Network Load Assessment & Analysis

• Drive end‑to‑end network load assessment activities including message catalog reviews, traffic modeling, and simulation/measurement of bus utilization, latency, and jitter for Ethernet, CAN, LIN, and other vehicle networks.
• Establish clear criteria and thresholds for acceptable network loading and performance and communicate these to product teams.

Network Performance Dashboarding

• Create and manage a Network Performance Dashboard that provides visibility to leadership and product teams on current and projected network performance health.

Design Reviews & Governance

• Support Electrical Architecture Reviews (EAR) and other forums to evaluate the network implications of new features, ECUs, and topology changes, providing clear recommendations and risk assessments.
• Partner with EA PSEs to ensure adherence to Electrical Architecture Core Principles, including performance, reliability, and scalability, and provide data‑driven input to NAR/SAR and other change control processes.

Collaboration with Software, Hardware, and Microcontroller Stakeholders

• Act as a key interface between network performance analysis, ECU software teams, hardware design teams, and microcontroller strategy teams to align on bandwidth needs, timing budgets, and implementation constraints.
• Provide a “voice of the customer” perspective for SW and microcontroller teams regarding network‑related performance and resource constraints.

Tools, Methods, and Continuous Improvement

• Develop, standardize, and continuously improve methods and tools for network performance modeling, simulation, test, and reporting (e.g., message databases, simulation environments, data pipelines for log analysis).
• Document and share best practices, reference architectures, and lessons learned to improve consistency and scalability of network performance assessment across product areas.

Your Skills & Abilities (Required Qualifications):

• Bachelor’s degree (or higher) in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Minimum of 7 years of engineering/technical experience, including substantial experience with in‑vehicle networks and/or automotive electrical systems.
• Proven experience performing network performance analysis (e.g., utilization, latency, jitter, margin) in complex embedded or automotive systems.

Technical Expertise

• Strong understanding of automotive network and electrical architectures, including CAN, LIN, and Ethernet‑based communication systems (e.g., 100BASE‑T1, 1000BASE‑T1, TSN concepts).
• Hands‑on experience with network modeling, simulation, and measurement tools (for example: CANoe, Vector tools, Wireshark, proprietary OEM tools) for load and latency assessment.
• Demonstrated ability to translate feature roadmaps and electrical architecture proposals into concrete network capacity and performance requirements.

Tools & Methodologies

• Experience building or using dashboards and data pipelines to aggregate and visualize performance metrics for large, distributed engineering teams.
• Familiarity with systems engineering frameworks and safety/quality standards (e.g., ASPICE, ISO 26262, MBSE) and how they relate to network performance and reliability.
• Proficiency with requirements engineering and change control processes, including the ability to define and validate non‑functional requirements (performance, reliability, scalability) at the system and network level.

People Skills:

• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills with a systems‑level mindset; able to balance local optimization with enterprise‑wide architectural goals.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, capable of engaging with technical experts, architects, program leadership, and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to lead design and review discussions, drive consensus, and influence without direct authority in a fast‑paced, dynamic environment.

What Will Give You A Competitive Edge (Preferred Qualifications):

• Experience defining and managing Network Performance Budgets, Load Assessments, and Forecasts for multi‑domain automotive architectures.
• Background in cross‑product or platform‑level architecture development, particularly in contexts with high feature growth and multiple vehicle lines.
• Familiarity with architecture performance dashboards or similar enterprise reporting tools used to monitor reliability, scalability, and performance metrics at scale.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor and coach other engineers in network performance concepts, tools, and best practices.

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 expected base compensation for this role is: $160,200 - $290,700. Actual base compensation within the identified 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.

Company Vehicle: Upon successful completion of a motor vehicle report review, you will be eligible to participate in a company vehicle evaluation program, through which you will be assigned a General Motors vehicle to drive and evaluate.

Note: program participants are required to purchase/lease a qualifying GM vehicle every four years unless one of a limited number of exceptions applies.

#LI-DH2

GM does not provide immigration-related sponsorship for this role. Do not apply for this role if you will need GM immigration sponsorship now or in the future. This includes direct company sponsorship, entry of GM as the immigration employer of record on a government form, and any work authorization requiring a written submission or other immigration support from the company (e.g., H1-B, OPT, STEM OPT, CPT, TN, J-1, etc). This role is based remotely, but if the selected candidate lives within a specific mile radius of a GM hub, they will be expected to report to the location three times a week {or other frequency dictated by your manager}. This job is not eligible for relocation benefits. Any relocation costs would be the responsibility of the selected candidate.

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We encourage interested candidates to review the key responsibilities and qualifications for each role and apply for any positions that match their skills and capabilities. Applicants in the recruitment process may be required, where applicable, to successfully complete a role-related assessment(s) and/or a pre-employment screening prior to beginning employment. To learn more, visit How we Hire.

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