Senior Perception Engineer

Description
At General Motors, our product teams are redefining mobility. Through a human-centered design process, we create vehicles and experiences that are designed not just to be seen, but to be felt. We're turning today's impossible into tomorrow's standard -from breakthrough hardware and battery systems to intuitive design, intelligent software, and next-generation safety and entertainment features.
Every day, our products move millions of people as we aim to make driving safer, smarter, and more connected, shaping the future of transportation on a global scale.
Senior Software Engineer - Environmental Perception
Robotics Technology Development
Work Arrangement
Onsite - This position requires the employee to be onsite full-time. The primary work location will be at the General Motors Global Technical Center in Warren, MI.
The Role
We are seeking a visionary Senior Software Engineer to lead the development of environmental perception models -large-scale, multi-modal AI systems that enable generalizable perception, planning, and manipulation capabilities across diverse robotic platforms. This role is central to our mission at GM's manufacturing technology development team together with teams at Autonomous Robotics Center to revolutionize manufacturing automation through cutting-edge AI and robotics.
You will spearhead research into scalable, adaptable models that unify vision, language, and action, enabling robots to understand and interact with complex environments using open-vocabulary reasoning, spatial awareness, and whole-body control. Your work will directly influence the next generation of intelligent robotic systems deployed across GM's global operations.
What You'll Do

• Environmental Perception models that integrate perception pipelines, reinforcement learning, and sim2real adaptation.
• Design robust training pipelines with high-quality, traceable data for large-scale model development
• Validate models in simulation and real-world embodiments , iterating on performance across diverse tasks and environments
• Collaborate across disciplines , integrating your models with hardware teams and contributing to ARC's technical strategy
• Publish and patent breakthrough research in robotics and AI

Your Skills & Abilities (Required Skills)

• BS degree in Computer Science, Robotics, or related field
• 3+ years of experience in machine learning for perception and autonomy
• Deep understanding of perception models, LLMs, ViTs, and multi-modal architectures
• Proficiency in Python/C++ and ML frameworks like PyTorch, TensorFlow
• Familiarity with 3D vision, graphics pipelines, and robotic data modalities

What Will Give You a Competitive Edge (Preferred Qualifications)

• Hands-on experience with robotic systems and frameworks (ROS/ROS2, MoveIt, Nav2)
• Experience in industrial automation, autonomous vehicles, or ADAS
• Knowledge of CI/CD and modern software development practices
• PhD with publications in top-tier venues (e.g., NeurIPS, CVPR, ICRA)

This role is categorized as onsite. This means the selected candidate is expected to report to a specific location on a full-time basis.
The selected candidate will be required to travel <25% for this role.
This job may be eligible for relocation benefits.
About GM
Our vision is a world with Zero Crashes, Zero Emissions and Zero Congestion and we embrace the responsibility to lead the change that will make our world better, safer and more equitable for all.
Why Join Us
We believe we all must make a choice every day - individually and collectively - to drive meaningful change through our words, our deeds and our culture. Every day, we want every employee to feel they belong to one General Motors team.
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Non-Discrimination and Equal Employment Opportunities (U.S.)
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We encourage interested candidates to review the key responsibilities and qualifications for each role and apply for any positions that match their skills and capabilities. Applicants in the recruitment process may be required, where applicable, to successfully complete a role-related assessment(s) and/or a pre-employment screening prior to beginning employment. To learn more, visit How we Hire.
Accommodations
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