The Role
This position is a key technical people-leader role within the Global Systems Engineering, Safety, and Validation (GSESV) organization, accountable for leading the newly formed Occupant Safety & Security Systems Validation team and ensuring team deliverables meet customer expectations for safety, regulatory compliance, and quality.
The successful candidate will bring strong communication skills, strategic thinking, relationship-building capability, and a results-focused mindset to guide work across complex validation activities and cross-functional teams. They will demonstrate urgency, comfort with ambiguity, and the ability to exercise independent judgment. This role requires solid systems engineering and validation knowledge in Seat, Seat Belt, and Driver Airbag Restraints, and has recently expanded to include security features and systems validation. The role will be responsible for developing, operationalizing, and implementing the team’s approach to execute this new area, including Teen Driver, Valet Mode, and Theft Deterrence.
This position also requires hands-on strength in physical and virtual evaluation procedure execution, type approval process knowledge, regulatory and safety requirement understanding, Analysis Development and Validation (ADV) plan generation and change management, reliability and confidence application, and thoughtful issue identification through peer review and critical thinking. The successful candidate will be comfortable working with tools such as TcVis, e-Merge, JIRA, JIRA PRTS, VCAM, DFMEA and GDocs approval workflows, while contributing to milestone delivery, compliance documentation, evaluation reports, judgment letters, and technical mentorship to ensure high-quality execution.
What You’ll Do (Responsibilities)
- Lead occupant safety and security validation activities across multiple vehicle programs and architectures.
- Provide technical direction, people leadership, and project oversight for execution, resourcing, risk management, and team performance.
- Drive robust systems engineering practices, including requirements, DFMEAs, safety artifacts, validation plans, and technical reviews.
- Partner cross-functionally with program, design, software, manufacturing, quality, and supplier teams to resolve issues and deliver safe, compliant systems.
- Build a high-performing organization through coaching, accountability, continuous improvement, and clear operating metrics.
- Ability to travel 5-10% of the time.
Your Skills & Abilities (Required Qualifications)
- Bachelor’s degree in engineering with 8+ years of relevant experience in automotive systems engineering and system safety, including validation, across multiple vehicle programs or architectures.
- Proven people leadership and the ability to lead cross-functional engineering teams, develop talent, manage performance, and build inclusive, high-performing organizations.
- Solid systems engineering and validation knowledge in Seat, Seat Belt, and Driver Airbag Restraint systems, including vehicle integration and development, and associated validation methods, tools, and issue-management practices.
- Demonstrated ability to successfully deploy and execute expanded team responsibilities to support the implementation of security features and systems validation requirements.
- Proven ability to deliver technical content for program milestones, including safety and regulatory deliverables, while managing trade-offs across timing, content, and resources.
- Working knowledge of the following regulations MVSS 203, 209, 207, 210, 202a, and 225; along with the associated type approval / export regulations.
- Strong communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to drive accountability and influence across program, design, software, manufacturing, quality, and supplier teams.
- DFSS Black Belt Certification.
What Can Give You a Competitive Edge (Preferred Qualifications)
- Master’s degree in engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related technical discipline; advanced study in Business is also valued.
- Deep experience in Systems Engineering, System Safety, Functional Safety, Validation Methods, and/or Quality or Regulatory disciplines within the defined areas.
- Strong knowledge of GM systems engineering practices, including requirements flow down, DFMEAs, system safety artifacts, validation plans, and technical reviews.
- Direct leadership experience over multi-disciplinary teams delivering Systems Engineering and System Safety content across multiple vehicle programs, architectures, or chassis-related domains.
- Demonstrated success leading major Systems Engineering and System Safety trade-offs, governing standard work and validation artifacts, and supporting launch and regulatory milestones.
- Familiarity with KPI dashboards, continuous improvement methods, and lessons-learned processes that strengthen Systems Engineering, System Safety, and validation execution.
- DFSS Master Black Belt Certification, Red X, or OpEx.
Company vehicle: Upon successful completion of a motor vehicle report review, you will be eligible to participate in a company vehicle evaluation program, though 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.
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