Staff Software Engineer (Simulation)

Location: Mountain View, California, United States of America

General Motors is reimagining automation at economy scale to make manufacturing more competitive in the USA.

You are a Staff Software Engineer who loves to drive physics-grade simulation. Modeling and validating manipulation, perception, SLAM, and navigation requires physics, sensor models, and dynamics that process simulators do not provide.

You will build the simulation infrastructure our robotics, physical AI, and test teams depend on, and own the roadmap toward virtual commissioning and digital twin capability. You have the taste to see important problems, the talent to build great solutions and the grit to get it done.

This role sits between core robotics development and the test organization and drives the validation that happens before hardware gets involved.

The Opportunity

• Build and own our simulation environment for manipulation, perception and navigation validation.
• Model robot platforms with physically accurate dynamics, kinematics, and actuation.
• Implement sensor models for RGB-D cameras, LiDAR and other supported sensors with realistic noise characteristics.
• Build scene and facility authoring tooling, including import paths from CAD and existing plant models.
• Integrate simulation into CI so scenario coverage runs on every release candidate.
• Support the AI team with simulation for data generation and policy evaluation.
• Drive the virtual commissioning and digital twin roadmap, including workcell import and collaborative authoring.
• Quantify and document where simulation diverges from hardware, so results are used with a known confidence.

The Job Requirements

Experience

• 6+ years of professional software engineering experience, with 4+ years building or operating robotics simulation.
• Experience validating real robot behavior against simulation and closing the gap.
• Experience supporting other teams as an infrastructure owner.

Education

• M.S. degree or higher in Robotics, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, or a closely related technical field.
• Equivalent industry experience with demonstrated simulation depth can be considered.
• Core technical background
• Hands-on experience with a commercial or opensource simulator, including Process Simulate, Isaac Sim or Gazebo or comparable.
• Strong understanding of rigid body dynamics, contact modeling, and numerical integration, including where solvers break down.
• Experience with sensor simulation and rendering, including LiDAR and depth camera models.
• Experience with GPU-accelerated or parallel simulation for large-scale data generation.
• Experience with robot description formats: URDF, SDF, USD, and their conversion pitfalls.
• Proficiency in C++ and Python.
• Systems mindset
• Ability to judge how much fidelity a given validation question requires.
• Willing to state when a simulation result should not be trusted.
• Comfortable trading simulation speed against accuracy.

Collaboration

Ability to work effectively with remote teams across multiple time zones.

Treats simulation as a product with internal users.

Nice to have

Experience with simulation to real transfer and domain randomization.

Experience with virtual commissioning or digital twin projects in manufacturing.

Familiarity with Visual Components, Process Simulate, or comparable process simulation tools.

Prior open-source contributions to Gazebo, Isaac Sim, or the ROS ecosystem.

Compensation: The compensation information is a good faith estimate only. It is based on what a successful applicant might be paid in accordance with applicable state laws. The compensation may not be representative for positions located outside of the California Bay Area.

The salary range for this role is $160,200 to $290,700. The actual base salary a successful candidate will be offered within this range will vary based on factors relevant to the position.

Bonus Potential: An incentive pay program offers payouts based on company performance, job level, and individual performance.

Benefits: GM offers a variety of health and wellbeing benefit programs. Benefit options include medical, dental, vision, Health Savings Account, Flexible Spending Accounts, retirement savings plan, sickness and accident benefits, life insurance, paid vacation & holidays, tuition assistance programs, employee assistance program, GM vehicle discounts and more.

Company Vehicle: Upon successful completion of a motor vehicle report review, you will be eligible to participate in a company vehicle evaluation program, through which you will be assigned a General Motors vehicle to drive and evaluate. Note: program participants are required to purchase/lease a qualifying GM vehicle every four years unless one of a limited number of exceptions applies.

This role is based remotely, but if the selected candidate lives within a specific mile radius of a GM hub, they will be expected to report to the location three times a week {or other frequency dictated by your manager}.

Relocation benefits are available for candidates who qualify under company policy.

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.

Benefits Overview

From day one, we're looking out for your well-being–at work and at home–so you can focus on realizing your ambitions. Learn how GM supports a rewarding career that rewards you personally by visiting Total Rewards resources.

Non-Discrimination and Equal Employment Opportunities (U.S.)

General Motors is committed to being a workplace that is not only free of unlawful discrimination, but one that genuinely fosters inclusion and belonging. We strongly believe that providing an inclusive workplace creates an environment in which our employees can thrive and develop better products for our customers.

All employment decisions are made on a non-discriminatory basis without regard to sex, race, color, national origin, citizenship status, religion, age, disability, pregnancy or maternity status, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran or protected veteran, or any other similarly protected status in accordance with federal, state and local laws.

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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Additional Locations: Remote - United States