Staff Hardware Engineer: Connectivity Modules

General Motors•Sunnyvale, CA

6d•$145,000 - $222,200•Hybrid

About The Position

Connectivity plays a pivotal role in using and advancing technology to offer unparalleled customer experience and develop revenue-generating streams, while acting as a cornerstone to offer safety-critical, hands-free driving solutions in line with General Motors’ strong safety culture. We are seeking an experienced Staff Hardware Engineer to own and drive validation and test strategy for best-in-class automotive connectivity systems. The ideal candidate has deep, hands-on experience developing and executing component- and system-level test plans for systems involving high-performance computing and wireless interfaces, plus a proven track record of leading and mentoring engineers, and influencing cross-functional direction. The Staff Hardware Engineer will serve as the technical leader for validation and test of connectivity hardware, responsible for defining and implementing detailed validation strategies and plans to verify schematic design, PCB layout, performance, functional and electrical validation of all interfaces. This role ensures robust issue detection, triage, and resolution for hardware components and systems that support Connectivity technologies across all GM vehicles and architectures. The role provides technical leadership and day-to-day guidance to other hardware validation engineers, establishing best practices and driving continuous improvement in methods, coverage, and metrics. This role is tightly coupled to cross-functional teams, including mechanical designers, PCB layout, product managers, RF/Wireless and systems engineers, suppliers, and software/firmware teams, to create secure and reliable Connectivity solutions, assist in defining future technology roadmaps, ensure timely resolution of issues that arise throughout development and production, and represent hardware validation status, risk, and trade-offs to program leadership.

Requirements

Minimum of a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
8+ years of hands-on validation experience with focus on embedded and connectivity systems, preferably in automotive or high-volume consumer electronics.
Demonstrated experience leading validation activities or teams (formal or informal), including planning, prioritization, and reporting of validation status and risks.
Experience validating high-performance computer systems and high-speed digital interfaces (e.g., PCIe, USB, Ethernet, LPDDR).
Familiarity with power management ICs, voltage regulators, low-power design principles, and deep sleep/wake-up flows.
Strong skills in data analysis and debug, including the ability to isolate and root-cause complex HW and system issues across silicon, board, and system levels.
Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to clearly present technical status, risks, and recommendations to cross-functional teams and leadership.
Ability to work independently in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment, while providing structure and leadership to validation efforts.
Expert use of lab instruments: Oscilloscopes, VNAs, Spectrum Analyzers, Logic Analyzers, Power Analyzers.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in a related engineering field.
Knowledge and experience in wireless interfaces and technologies (e.g., cellular, Wi‑Fi, GNSS, UWB, Bluetooth).
Experience in automotive electronics development, launch, and production support.
Experience with design-for-test, HW/SW co-validation, and validation automation frameworks.
Experience mentoring engineers, leading cross-functional debug efforts, and influencing architecture and design decisions based on validation learnings.

Responsibilities

Serve as validation and test lead for Connectivity modules, ensuring alignment of test strategy with program requirements and milestones.
Lead validation of signal and power integrity for LPDDR5, PCIe, USB3.x/2.0, SPI, I2C, CAN and LIN buses.
Develop, execute, and maintain comprehensive validation plans for Connectivity modules to verify component- and system-level functionality, including regression and corner-case coverage.
Collaborate with design and production teams to understand and test against product requirements; challenge requirements and test coverage where necessary to ensure robustness.
Analyze and interpret data from validation tests, offering clear insights, risk assessments, and recommendations to stakeholders.
Validate power delivery, power sequencing, and power rail stability under various operating modes and environmental conditions.
Collaborate with silicon vendors (e.g., NXP, TI, Qualcomm) to align on SoC bring-up, interface characteristics, and debug of complex issues.
Collaborate with software/firmware, systems, and design teams to support hardware validation, root-cause analysis, and functional bring-up.
Collaborate with wireless/RF systems and design teams to support hardware validation, root-cause analysis, and functional bring-up for cellular, Wi‑Fi, GNSS, UWB, and other wireless technologies.
Create clear test reports, validation metrics, and dashboards; recommend corrective actions or design improvements based on test results and trends.
Mentor and coach junior engineers and peers in test methodology, lab practices, and data analysis.
Drive process and methodology improvements in validation, including automation, coverage tracking, and design-for-test feedback to design teams.