Staff Systems Architect

GILLIG•Pleasanton, CA

9h•$145,000 - $200,000•Onsite

About The Position

We are looking for a Staff Systems Architect who will be a thought leader in the development, integration, and industrialization of major new content for GILLIG’s continuously evolving product line. The Staff Systems Architect will have direct influence over vehicle, system, software, and controls architecture decisions by leading technical trade-offs in the areas where GILLIG has the greatest need and risk, and which are expected to remain critical into the future. These areas include software architecture, controls development, software creation and management processes, cyber security, functional safety, and software tools and toolchains. This role provides stronger technical leadership for product-facing initiatives such as stability teams and diagnostics development, and requires a leader with deep subject matter expertise who combines hands-on technical depth with process and organizational acumen. The role also requires strong practical mechanical aptitude to connect system decisions to real vehicle integration, serviceability, manufacturability, and field performance. This is a direct, full-time position with GILLIG. This is a hands-on, on-site role at our Pleasanton satellite office and reports to the Head of The Zero Emission Product Platform.

Requirements

Bachelor or advanced degree in Systems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, or related field
Minimum 8 years of experience within the Engineering industry
Experience in automotive, commercial vehicle, and/or heavy-duty vehicle product development required
Fluent with requirements management, documentation control, configuration management, and revision/version management. Experience with a configure-to-order product and modular architecture management a plus.
Experience making technical trade-offs in high-risk, high-value domains such as software architecture, controls development, software processes, cyber security, functional safety, software tools/toolchains, diagnostics, and related vehicle integration topics
Experience leading large, collocated engineering teams across multiple disciplines and aligning stakeholders around architecture, execution, stability, and diagnostics decisions
Experience working with major component suppliers, engineering service suppliers, testing suppliers, software partners, and product validation engineers
Strong understanding of systems engineering methods including requirements decomposition, interface management, risk management, verification planning, issue resolution, and the ability to translate technical direction into effective team processes and organizational execution
Experience with hands-on troubleshooting, product assembly, prototyping, testing, and validation activities (on site and at remote locations), including strong practical mechanical skills
Enhanced product-facing technical skills combined with strong process and organizational acumen, with demonstrated ability to guide initiatives that improve product stability, diagnostics capability, and cross-functional execution
Working knowledge of vehicle mechanical systems and the ability to connect software and controls decisions to packaging, integration, serviceability, and field performance

Nice To Haves

Experience with a configure-to-order product and modular architecture management a plus.

Responsibilities

Lead technical evaluation and trade-off studies across software architecture, controls development, software processes, cyber security, functional safety, toolchains, diagnostics, and vehicle integration to drive robust product decisions
Play a lead role in interpreting customer, regulatory, internal, and supplier requirements, deploying actionable system requirements, and resolving incompatibilities across hardware and software domains
Define and maintain system, subsystem, and interface architectures, including allocation of requirements to hardware, software, and controls functions
Establish and improve software creation and management processes, development workflows, and engineering operating cadence to increase product quality, traceability, execution speed, and organizational effectiveness
Assess designs, plans, and implementation strategies of self and others using structured systems thinking, risk analysis, verification planning, and sound engineering judgment
Guide cyber security, functional safety, and verification strategies by identifying risks early, defining mitigations, and ensuring requirements can be validated through test and analysis
Provide significant support toward engineering programs by shaping technical scope, integration plans, verification strategy, schedules, and cross-functional deliveries, with particular leadership on product-facing initiatives such as stability teams and diagnostics development
Lead and influence large, collocated cross-functional teams working in-person across engineering disciplines to solve complex vehicle and product challenges, while raising technical rigor, decision quality, and team capability
Collaborate and iterate with mechanical, electrical, controls, manufacturing, validation, quality, supplier, and service teams to ensure architectures and solutions are practical, manufacturable, and supportable in the field