Researcher / Senior Researcher - Autonomous Vehicle Research

Description

Job Summary
Join General Motors' cutting-edge R&D team as a Researcher or Senior Researcher in Autonomous Vehicle Research. You will be instrumental in developing and evaluating innovative solutions for the next generation of autonomous driving systems, contributing to the future of transportation.

Who You Are:

As a member of the Connected Experience and Agentic Systems Research Lab, you will work in an Autonomous Vehicle Research group focused on off-road autonomy. You bring deep expertise in autonomous vehicles, robotics, and artificial intelligence to invent, develop, and validate next‑generation off‑road autonomy solutions. You are a hands‑on researcher who creates novel algorithms and software, implements them on real‑world test vehicles, and rigorously evaluates performance through simulation and experimentation. You are motivated to publish your work through peer‑reviewed venues and internal technical reports, contributing to GM’s research leadership. You thrive in a collaborative research ecosystem, actively engaging with teams across the GM enterprise, universities, research institutes, and advanced technology laboratories to build partnerships that amplify research impact and accelerate innovation.

What You Do:

Serve as an independent yet collaborative member of a research team advancing cutting‑edge off‑road autonomy solutions

Identify key research gaps and design autonomous vehicle algorithms and software to enhance GM’s off‑road autonomy capabilities; effectively communicate and demonstrate results to leadership and stakeholders

Architect, develop, and validate custom autonomous vehicle software frameworks to support autonomy algorithms in complex and challenging operating environments

Develop high‑quality C/C++ and/or Python code to prototype proof‑of‑concept systems, following agile/scrum methodologies and CI/CD best practices

Evaluate and benchmark autonomy systems and services through large‑scale simulation and on‑vehicle experimental testing

Contribute to collaborative research programs with universities and research organizations as needed

Generate intellectual property, document and disseminate research through GM internal technical reports and peer‑reviewed publications

Enable technology transition by actively engaging with GM cross‑functional engineering and product teams

Collaborate effectively with global, cross‑functional teams, demonstrating strong interpersonal and technical communication skills

What You Need:

U.S. citizenship or permanent residency

Master’s degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or a closely related discipline

Research expertise in one or more of the following areas: autonomous vehicle planning, computer vision and perception, core autonomous systems software, intelligent transportation systems, or related fields

Strong theoretical, experimental, and software development skills

Experience defining requirements, conducting performance evaluations, and performing system benchmarking

Hands‑on experience prototyping algorithms and implementing and testing them on vehicles and simulation platforms

Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across teams

What Would Even Be Better:

PhD in a relevant field such as vehicle motion planning, reinforcement learning, end‑to‑end model architectures, probabilistic inference, learning systems, or other artificial intelligence disciplines

Hands‑on experience with algorithm prototyping, simulation, system integration, and testing, including familiarity with open‑source tools and platforms (e.g., CARLA, Docker, Git)

Experience applying data analysis and AI/ML techniques to autonomous vehicle or robotics system

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 categorized as hybrid. This means the selected candidate is expected to report to a specific location at least 3 times a week {or other frequency dictated by their manager}.

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

We believe we all must make a choice every day – individually and collectively – to drive meaningful change through our words, our deeds and our culture. Every day, we want every employee to feel they belong to one General Motors team.

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

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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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