Principal Systems Engineer – AV Sensor Design
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Oct 20, 2026. First seen by Alion on Oct 15, 2026.
Job Description
General Motors is developing hands-off and eyes-off autonomous driving systems intended for broad deployment across consumer vehicles. As part of this effort, GM is investing in sensors and architectures that can be integrated, validated, and operated reliably at scale across diverse vehicle programs and operating environments.
We are seeking a principal systems engineer to join the AV Sensing Design team to lead the technical direction of lidar technology from system-level decisions as part of multi-modality sensing suites through to detailed evaluation of production paths.
As a recognized authority on lidar technology, you will leverage your deep technical expertise to drive the technology path on optical path, signal processing, calibration, failure modes and own the trajectory of how lidars integrate with our autonomy products to achieve performance and cost-effective programs. You will work directly with component, Perception, localization, simulation, and vehicle teams to see performance and efficacy be realized on consumer vehicles.
What You’ll Do
You will get the opportunity to be part of the following:
- Own the technical strategy for lidar development as a part of current and future autonomy program multi-modality sensing suites
- Work alongside technical experts in sensors and perception to define leading-edge autonomy products
- Lead trade studies taking into account performance, cost, and integration to influence the next-generation of lidar development
- Evaluate data products from prototype and production platforms to assess opportunity for improvement
- Work with production teams and vendors to see technology realized into production designs
- Define lidar performance requirements to achieve next-generation autonomy capabilities with robustness across broad ODDs
Your Skills & Abilities (Required Qualifications)
- Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Applied Physics or related field
- 13+ years of experience in a remote sensing, lidar development, photonic system development or related, with a majority of that experience concentrated in lidars
- Demonstrated role as a recognized lidar authority on a program or within an organization with decision making authority on technical direction of lidar technology development
- Direct experience developing lidar hardware and signal processing as well as calibration methodology and data consumption or analysis
- Experience with productionization challenges of lidar technology and the trade spaces therein
- Deep command of lidar fundamentals and their practical impacts to design across optical link budget analysis, target phenomenology, detector physics, noise, laser safety, optical path design, window optics, spectrum selection, and signal processing techniques.
- Experience developing robust solutions for weather and environmental effects
- Experience developing lidar for autonomy products
- Significant experience with SPAD lidars
- Hands-on proficiency with data analysis and ability to lead root cause analysis and analytic efforts
- Strong verbal and written communication skills with the ability effectively communicate technical strategy to a wide range of audiences of varying background
What Will Give You a Competitive Edge (Preferred Qualifications)
- PhD in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Applied Physics or related field
- Patents, publications, or recognized industry contributions in lidar or electro-optical sensing
- Experience working on L4 (or equivalent) autonomous vehicle programs with an understanding of autonomy behaviors
- Experience developing or supporting simulation models
- Knowledge of lidar perception models and sensor fusion consumption of lidar data, including how point cloud characteristics drive ML model performance
- Experience with extrinsic calibration techniques, localization, or other related topics
- Experience designing validation and test plans
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 238,700 to 365,700. 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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