Staff Design Release Engineer, Vehicle Controls & Interfaces

Motional•Pittsburgh, PA

4h•Onsite

About The Position

Motional’s Pittsburgh office is located in the new Hazelwood Green development, a culmination of the city’s goal of restoring an economic driver to the neighborhood in a thoughtful, inclusive, and sustainable way. With views along the Monongahela river, the Pittsburgh office is in the heart of this new state of the art development. Mission Summary: Our newly formed Design Release Engineering team, within the Vehicle Platform Engineering group, is seeking a highly motivated Staff Engineer to own the design release and integration of vehicle control and interface subsystems. This role serves as the primary technical authority for the end-to-end design, release, validation, and production readiness of key vehicle modules, including core systems such as Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), Vehicle Interface Controllers (VIC), Cabin Monitoring Systems, and Human-Machine Interface (HMI) hardware. You will ensure robust technical execution, manage supplier and cross-functional alignment, and drive hardware delivery that meets all performance, cost, and timing objectives.

Requirements

8+ years of experience in automotive hardware design and release engineering, with direct ownership of ADAS/Active Safety hardware, low-level vehicle controllers, or interior electronic modules preferred.
Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Computer, or Systems Engineering (or a related field).
Deep technical understanding of core vehicle control architectures (e.g., AEB and VIC) and automotive network topologies (e.g., CAN-FD, automotive ethernet).
Technical knowledge of interior electronics and cockpit integration, including HMI ECUs/displays, cabin monitoring sensors, and their associated high-speed video/data protocols (e.g., GMSL, FPD-Link).
Fundamental knowledge of validation documentation and processes, including DVP&R, DFMEA, and PFMEA.
Expert-level experience with the manufacturing BOM and ECN processes, and a proven ability to manage technical discussions with external suppliers.
Familiarity with CAD systems (e.g., NX, CATIA), Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems (including requirement management tools such as Polarion), and engineering release workflows.
Strong understanding of vehicle integration, packaging, and functional safety standards (ISO 26262).
Proven ability to lead complex initiatives, manage cross-functional teams, and execute to aggressive program timelines with minimal oversight.

Nice To Haves

Experience with advanced in-vehicle prototypes and benchtop systems.
Proven track record of driving goal-level impact across multiple teams or subsystems.
Prior experience in a fast-growing autonomous vehicle or robotics company.

Responsibilities

Own the complete design release of critical vehicle system hardware, including the mechanical mounting, alignment, thermal management, electrical interface, and vehicle network integration.
Drive technical execution for the full product lifecycle, from concept and architecture definition to sustaining engineering and continuous improvement.
Oversee the generation and release of all engineering documentation, including models and drawings, Bills of Material (BOM), specifications, and test reports, ensuring alignment with vehicle-level design.
Collaborate closely with the base vehicle supplier (OEM partner) to ensure seamless mechanical, electrical, and network integration of the vehicle controllers and interface modules into the base vehicle architecture, managing shared Interface Control Documents (ICDs).
Define and maintain the Design Verification Plan & Report (DVP&R), ensuring successful validation against system performance targets.
Lead the Engineering Change (ECN) process for all assigned vehicle system modules, ensuring traceability, cost impact analysis, version control, and full cross-functional buy-in.
Act as the primary technical and program interface to suppliers (Tier 1 and Tier 2), tracking part maturity through DV, PV, and PPAP phases to ensure tooling and delivery readiness.
Build strong partnerships across the Systems Engineering, Autonomy, Software Infrastructure, Quality, and Vehicle Integration teams to ensure seamless hardware integration and manufacturability (DFM/DFA).
Lead technical program reviews and design readiness assessments, proactively developing risk mitigation plans to ensure compute hardware maturity aligns with program milestones and build events.
Provide regular, concise updates to technical leadership on design maturity, validation progress, open issues, and timely closure metrics.