Lead Systems Engineer - GM Defense

General Motors • Milford, MI

3d • Hybrid

About The Position

GM Defense delivers integrated vehicles, power and propulsion, and autonomy and connectivity solutions for global defense, security, and government customers, adapting proven GM commercial vehicle technologies into military-grade, mission-ready solutions. Systems Engineering integrates the complex, interconnected modern vehicle across engineering disciplines to support customer-focused execution of vehicle-level features.

The Lead Systems Engineer is a people leader and technical expert who leads Systems Engineers in defining and cascading system requirements, aligning subsystem interfaces, and planning verification so the complete product meets mission and program objectives. The role provides system-level technical leadership, integrating engineering inputs into a requirements-driven solution while supporting safety, performance, timing, cost, and manufacturability targets. Inputs may come directly from customers or through GM Defense business development. The role also applies AI-enabled tools to develop, refine, and manage requirements, and builds team capability through AI training and effective adoption practices.

This position is hybrid, requiring work at a designated location at least three times per week or at a frequency directed by the manager. Travel is less than 25%. Relocation benefits are available to candidates who qualify under company policy. The role is subject to export-control restrictions and requires the successful candidate to be a U.S. Person (U.S. citizen, permanent resident, asylee, or refugee). GM does not provide immigration-related sponsorship for this role. Eligible employees may participate in a company vehicle evaluation program after a motor vehicle report review; participants are generally required to purchase or lease a qualifying GM vehicle every four years, subject to limited exceptions.

Requirements

• Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or equivalent experience.
• At least 10 years of professional experience in systems engineering, requirements development, product integration, or equivalent technical roles.
• At least 5 years of systems engineering experience in the defense industry supporting development, integration, and verification of complex defense systems.
• Effective interpersonal and communication skills to work with cross-functional teams, customers, and business development partners.
• Strong understanding of engineering theory and operating principles for mechanical, electrical, controls, and integrated vehicle systems.
• Demonstrated ability to lead multidisciplinary teams in requirements development, interface alignment, integration, and technical issue resolution.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and execute System DFMEA, participate in Fault Tree Analysis, and collaborate on verification and validation planning.
• Strong analytical ability to translate customer and product objectives into executable system requirements, availability targets, and mitigation plans.
• Demonstrated technical and professional systems engineering skills, including requirements management, traceability, risk identification, and cross-functional decision-making.
• Ability to use AI-enabled tools and methods to improve requirements quality, speed, consistency, and traceability, and to build team capability through effective adoption practices.
• Must be a U.S. Person: U.S. citizen, U.S. permanent resident, asylee, or refugee.
• Must be able to meet the role's export-control restrictions.
• Must not require GM immigration sponsorship now or in the future.

Responsibilities

• Lead Systems Engineers in developing, decomposing, and cascading system requirements across the product.
• Align subsystem requirements, interfaces, and verification plans with mission and program objectives.
• Drive system-level integration across engineering disciplines to create a cohesive, executable product definition.
• Lead cross-functional collaboration to ensure requirements support safety, performance, cost, timing, manufacturability, and validation objectives.
• Oversee interface definition, requirements traceability, and verification planning across systems and subsystems.
• Create the System DFMEA and ensure system failure modes are understood, documented, and addressed through design.
• Participate in Fault Tree Analysis and develop the technical understanding needed to identify risk drivers and mitigation paths.
• Collaborate on verification and validation planning across mechanical, electrical, and controls domains.
• Lead system integration and issue resolution throughout the development cycle.
• Work with subsystem and component teams to optimize system design and total system performance.
• Set availability targets, allocate them to subsystems and components, assess feature sensitivity to variation and failure modes, and define mitigation plans to improve performance to target.
• Stay current with technologies, processes, and methods used to predict and improve availability.
• Apply AI-enabled tools to improve requirements development quality, speed, consistency, and traceability.
• Ensure the team receives required AI training and effectively adopts AI tools and methods in systems engineering.
• Identify technical and integration risks early and lead resolution of cross-system issues that could affect program execution.
• Support development of a scalable system architecture and requirements framework for development and launch.

Benefits

• Relocation benefits are available for candidates who qualify under company policy.
• Eligible employees may participate in the company vehicle evaluation program, subject to motor vehicle report review and program requirements.
• GM provides employee well-being and rewards resources through its Total Rewards program.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior