Job Description

General Motors: Researcher / Senior Researcher - Autonomous Vehicle Research

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.

Benefits Overview

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

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All employment decisions are made on a non-discriminatory basis without regard to sex, race, color, national origin, citizenship status, religion, age, disability, pregnancy or maternity status, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran or protected veteran, or any other similarly protected status in accordance with federal, state and local laws. 

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.

Accommodations

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