Principal Systems Engineer, Infotainment ECU

Cariad, Inc.•Mountain View, CA

8d•$194,670 - $282,735

About The Position

We are CARIAD, an automotive software development team with the Volkswagen Group. Our mission is to make the automotive experience safer, more sustainable, more comfortable, more digital, and more fun. To achieve that we are building the leading tech stack for the automotive industry and creating a unified software platform for over 10 million new vehicles per year. We’re looking for talented, digital minds like you to help us create code that moves the world. Together with you, we’ll build outstanding digital experiences and products for all Volkswagen Group brands that will transform mobility. Join us as we shape the future of the car and everyone around it. Role Summary: The Principal Systems Engineer, Infotainment ECU leads system-level execution, integration, and validation of infotainment ECUs across hardware, SoC, board, software, and vehicle networks. This role drives system requirements, performance modeling, integration planning, supplier coordination, and validation activities to ensure robust ECU delivery within vehicle programs. The Principal Systems Engineer provides technical leadership to cross-functional teams and suppliers within the infotainment ECU scope.

Requirements

Experience in developing strategies for automotive safety
Strong ARM SoC, DDR/flash, PMIC, PCIe/USB, audio/video/display understanding.
Proficient in BSP/bootloader/kernel fundamentals and embedded Linux/RTOS.
Skilled in schematic/layout review, bringup, validation, and triage across domains.
Strong knowledge of vehicle networks (CAN/CAN FD, LIN, Automotive Ethernet).
Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities; clear communicator with cross-functional teams and suppliers.
Ability to lead ambiguous hardware/software/system investigations and drive to closure.
Self-driven, organized, and comfortable coordinating multi-partner deliverables.
12+ years of Systems Engineering experience with an emphasis in embedded/infotainment ECU development across SoC, board, and system integration.
Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in Electrical/Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Mechatronics or related technical field

Nice To Haves

Experience with automotive safety (ISO 26262) and cybersecurity (ISO/SAE 21434).
Background with Android Automotive, QNX, or embedded Linux infotainment stacks.
Exposure to audio tuning, display/graphics optimization, and validation
Familiarity with OTA campaign orchestration and security hardening.

Responsibilities

Lead system requirements gathering and traceability for infotainment ECU features, diagnostics, and compliance. Contribute to architecture trade-off analysis, performance and power estimations, and capacity planning; validate against user experience and vehicle constraints.
Assist with build and maintain performance models to guide design choices; drive cross-functional reviews and support domain signoffs with domain owner
Partner with hardware leads to define and refine system-level hardware requirements and constraints for the infotainment ECU (power, high-speed interfaces, memory, connectivity, audio/display) and ensure they flow to silicon and PCB vendors.
Review schematic/PCB progress, DFM/DFT readiness, and EVT/DVT/PVT builds; surface and track thermal, EMC/EMI, and reliability risks with the hardware team.
Coordinate lab bring-up activities and issue tracking with responsible domain teams, ensuring hardware owners stay in the loop and own fixes.
Lead ECU integration into vehicle networks (CAN/CAN FD, LIN, Ethernet as applicable) in partnership with network owners.
Define and execute system integration tests across bench, HIL, and in-vehicle with cross-domain peers; triage issues across hardware, firmware, and applications with clear ownership and hand-offs.
Coordinate supplier deliverables (SoC vendors, ODMs, contract manufacturers) with clear requirements, acceptance criteria, and documentation; escalate risks early with supplier leads.
Partner with SoC, BSP, and middleware leads on SoC selection, boot chain (UEFI/U-Boot, secure boot), BSP, middleware, and driver integration; co-evaluate performance/power targets and trade-offs.
Support roadmap alignment with HMI, connectivity, and cloud teams; jointly validate audio, video, display, and storage pipelines through system-level test plans.
Ensure diagnostics, logging, security features, and OTA readiness at ECU level with contributors from each discipline, keeping ownership with respective domain leads.

Benefits

CARIAD, Inc. provides performance based merits and annual bonus along with a competitive benefits package.
Benefits include medical, dental, vision, 401k with employer match and defined contribution plan, short and long term disability, basic life and AD&D insurance, employee assistance program, tuition reimbursement and student loan repayment plans, maternity and non-primary caregiver leave, adoption assistance, employee referral program and vacation and paid holidays.
We also offer a unique vehicle lease program that covers registration and insurance fees.

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