Autonomous Vehicle Regulatory Program Manager (GPSSC)

General Motors•Sunnyvale, CA

20d•$160,200 - $290,700•Hybrid

About The Position

The Safety Assurance for Effective Autonomous Driving Software (SAFE-ADS) department, within GM's Global Product Safety, System, and Certification (GPSSC) organization, is seeking an Autonomous Vehicle Regulatory Program Manager. This role is central to establishing a comprehensive safety case for automated driving systems (ADS) and advancing GM's vision of zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion. The manager will lead cross-functional regulatory compliance and engagement programs, focusing on regulatory strategy, requirement management, agency engagement support, reporting coordination, milestone planning, risk management, and cross-functional execution. The successful candidate will collaborate with Safety, Engineering, Legal, Government Affairs, Operations, and Product teams to translate regulatory requirements into actionable plans, track progress, and ensure GM is prepared for submissions, inquiries, audits, and evolving external expectations. This position requires strong program management skills to bring structure to complex work, manage dependencies and risks, and foster clarity across diverse teams.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Public Policy, Regulatory Affairs, Computer Science, Robotics, Systems Engineering, Safety, or a related field.
7+ years of relevant experience in program management, regulatory compliance, safety, systems engineering, autonomous vehicles, ADAS, or other complex safety-critical technical environments.
Demonstrated experience leading complex, cross-functional programs with multiple stakeholders, dependencies, and enterprise-level visibility.
Strong program management skills, including planning, scheduling, dependency management, risk management, governance, and executive status communication.
Experience translating ambiguous requirements into structured execution plans and driving teams toward clear milestones and deliverables.
Strong understanding of regulatory compliance principles in the autonomous vehicle space and the ability to work effectively across technical, legal, and policy-oriented stakeholders.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to tailor messaging for executive, regulatory, and technical audiences.
Ability to thrive in ambiguity, build consensus across functions, and bring structure to fast-moving, evolving programs.
Passion for autonomous vehicle technology and safe deployment of advanced driving capabilities.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree in Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Science, Robotics, Safety Management, Regulatory Policy, Public Policy, or a related field.
Prior experience in an autonomous vehicle or advanced mobility regulatory, certification, or safety assurance role.
Advanced understanding of AI/ML safety validation techniques, probabilistic or evidence-based safety arguments, and how emerging technologies shape regulatory expectations.
Familiarity with Goal Structuring Notation (GSN) or similar structured argumentation frameworks.
Experience with requirements management, traceability, and evidence management practices in safety-critical development lifecycles.
Experience working in fast-paced, high-growth engineering organizations with frequent software releases and evolving system scope.
Experience engaging with external assessors, regulators, standards bodies, or industry consortia.
Familiarity with autonomous vehicle regulations and compliance requirements spanning permitting, testing, reporting, operator readiness, operational controls, and launch-related obligations.

Responsibilities

Define and drive the execution model for AV regulatory compliance programs across GPSSC, Legal, Government Affairs, Engineering, Operations, and other key stakeholders.
Build and maintain integrated program plans, milestones, timelines, and dependency tracking for regulatory workstreams supporting AV development, testing, launch readiness, and post-launch obligations.
Coordinate the identification, documentation, interpretation, and operationalization of regulatory requirements across federal, state, and local jurisdictions relevant to autonomous vehicle development and deployment.
Partner with cross-functional teams to translate regulatory requirements into engineering, operational, validation, reporting, and process workplans, and track execution to completion.
Support regulatory submissions, recurring reports, audits, assessments, and formal inquiries by coordinating inputs, timelines, reviews, approvals, and issue resolution across stakeholders.
Coordinate responses to regulator questions, data requests, incident-related inquiries, and investigations in partnership with Safety, Engineering, Operations, Legal, and Government Affairs teams.
Establish and run clear program governance, including status reviews, risk management, action tracking, decision logs, and escalation pathways for regulatory initiatives.
Proactively identify schedule, scope, compliance, and cross-functional dependency risks; develop mitigation plans; and escalate issues when appropriate.
Drive continuous improvement in regulatory planning, execution, tools, processes, and cross-team collaboration to improve efficiency, readiness, and transparency.
Partner with technical leaders and subject matter experts to ensure regulatory strategies and deliverables are grounded in sound technical understanding and defensible safety practices.
Establish and own regulatory related safety case claims, sufficiency criteria and recommended evidence.
Support the broader AV safety case and safety assurance workstreams by helping align regulatory expectations, milestones, and externally facing materials with internal safety strategy and execution.
Help improve traceability between regulatory requirements, program deliverables, evidence, and status so leadership can make timely, well-informed decisions.