Staff Software Engineer, Mapping

Job Description

About Us

We’re on a mission to build the world’s most advanced self-driving vehicles to safely connect people to the places, things, and experiences they care about. At GM's Autonomous Vehicle (AV) organization, we’re combining cutting-edge research, robust engineering, and large-scale systems to make this future a reality. Our team is developing national-scale, next-generation mapping systems from the ground up—combining robust backend infrastructure with intuitive, performant user interfaces.

The Role

We are looking for a Staff Software Engineer with deep expertise in distributed backend systems to join our Mapping Engineering team. You’ll serve as a technical leader responsible for designing and building the scalable systems that power ingestion, storage, access, and delivery of autonomous vehicle maps. You’ll partner closely with EMs, Staff/Principal ICs, and cross-functional teams to define the architecture and deliver next gen mapping capabilities that scale to national deployments. This is a hands-on leadership role requiring strong systems thinking, architecture design, and the ability to guide and mentor engineers across teams. You’ll operate autonomously, lead cross-functional technical initiatives, and ensure the health, scalability, and performance of our critical mapping pipelines and services.

What You’ll Do (Responsibilities)

• Architect and implement scalable, reliable, distributed backend systems to support national-scale mapping.

• Design and evolve data pipelines and microservices for map ingestion, transformation, storage, and release.

• Own end-to-end delivery of high-impact projects, including defining milestones, aligning stakeholders, and mentoring ICs across functions.

• Collaborate cross-functionally with Localization, Perception, Simulation, and Offboard teams to define data contracts and ensure system interoperability.

• Drive technical excellence by conducting system-level design reviews, mentoring engineers, and setting the standard for code quality, testing, and documentation.

• Diagnose and resolve large-scale system issues across services, data pipelines, and production environments.

• Serve as the Subject Matter Expert (SME) in distributed system design, performance optimization, and backend architecture within Mapping and potentially across GM AV.

• Help shape technical roadmaps and hiring plans for growing distributed systems expertise across the org.

Minimum Qualifications (Must-Have)

• 5+ years of experience designing, implementing, and operating scalable distributed systems in production.

• Strong proficiency in Python (optional C++, TypeScript), and system-level programming fundamentals.

• Deep understanding of databases, caching, data modeling, and service-oriented architecture (SOA).

• Proven experience building and deploying distributed systems on major cloud platforms such as Google Cloud, AWS, or Azure.

• Experience with data orchestration pipelines and ETL mechanisms (eg. airflow)

• BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related technical field, or equivalent industry experience.

• Demonstrated success in leading cross-functional technical initiatives, influencing architectural decisions across teams, and mentoring senior engineers.

Preferred Qualifications (Nice-to-Have)

• Experience with mapping, geospatial data, or robotics systems (e.g., Localization, Perception).

• Familiarity with autonomous vehicle software stack, including the map-data lifecycle and software safety standards.

• Experience in CI/CD pipeline design, large-scale deployment strategies, or cloud-native architecture.

• Proficiency with Linux systems, container orchestration (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes), and distributed logging/metrics systems.

• Knowledge of machine learning data pipelines or HD map labeling infrastructure.

Remote or Hybrid: This role is categorized as remote or hybrid. This means the successful candidate, if within 50 mile radius of GM