Staff Engineer, AV Safety Risk Management & Assurance

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.

The Role

The Safety Assurance for Effective Autonomous Driving Software (SAFE-ADS) department is part of GM's Global Product Safety, Systems, and Certification (GPSSC) organization. Our mission is to help GM deliver trusted automated-driving products. As the central authority for automated driving system (ADS) safety, SAFE-ADS brings together experts from across the company to develop and maintain a comprehensive safety case including safety performance indicators for GM's automated-driving technologies.

GM's vision is zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion-and autonomous vehicle safety is essential to achieving that vision.

The Staff Engineer, AV Safety Risk Management & Assurance supports the development, execution, and continual improvement of the Safety Management System (SMS) Safety Risk Management (SRM) framework within a safety-critical environment. This role drives structured hazard identification, analysis, risk evaluation, decision-making, and risk communication practices across the organization. They ensure consistency, quality, and rigor in AV safety risk assessments, maintain the AV hazard risk register, and interface SRM processes with partner functions to advance safe system performance.

What You'll Do

Strategy and Execution

• Evolve the AV Safety Risk Management (SRM) framework and documentation to reflect modern, scalable, and technology-driven safety practices.
• Define and enhance structured approaches for AV hazard identification, taxonomy management, and SRM decision-making grounded in consistency and organizational alignment.
• Introduce and champion the use of emerging analytical models, data-driven insights, and modern toolsets to deepen understanding of the AV risk profile.
• Strengthen alignment of SRM activities with cross-functional partners (e.g., Software Validation, Functional Safety, Operational Safety) to drive integrated safety decisions.
• Establish governance and strategic direction for how hazard analyses and safety risk assessments are applied across AV programs.
• Develop strategies for AV hazard risk register visibility and reporting to leadership, enabling proactive risk posture management.
• Shape training and communication strategies that elevate organizational maturity in SRM concepts, tools, and decision-making.
• Guide the long-term roadmap for SRM tools and digital capabilities, emphasizing efficiency, traceability, and advanced modeling.

• Lead execution of structured hazard identification activities and apply SRM methods (SRAs, ERCs) using modern analytical approaches.
• Maintain, monitor, and report on the hazard risk register, ensuring accuracy, traceability, and meaningful decision-support outputs.
• Build, refine, and support SRM tools that integrate data, enable automation, and improve the fidelity of safety insights.
• Apply and scale the hazard taxonomy across systems, tools, and analyses to support consistent organizational use.
• Perform high-quality SRM analyses and ensure the technical accuracy of all products generated through SRM processes.
• Use advanced modeling techniques and the latest data technologies to detect patterns, quantify risk exposure, and support safety decision-making for AV products.
• Collaborate with technical partners to embed SRM elements into upstream and downstream development workflows (e.g., validation, effectiveness, operations).
• Develop SRM guidance materials, training modules, examples, and technical communication artifacts to support adoption and capability growth.

• Proven experience of 10+ years in risk management, actuarial services, quantitative analyses and/or similar in a safety critical industry: Autonomy, Automotive, Nuclear, Aviation or similar
• Proven experience of 3+ years implementing SMS and/or programs which support SMS within a software development and operational organization
• Experience providing independent assessment of quantitative tools and metrics for hazard triaging, risk assessment, validation, and continual monitoring operational performance
• Experience leading sophisticated, fast-paced programs with broad scope and enterprise level visibility spanning multiple teams and organizations, often with conflicting priorities and schedules
• Thrive in ambiguity, crafting simplicity and order
• Effective at building consensus across different functions
• Self-motivation and enthusiasm to lead complex programs, develop teams, promote collaboration, encourage standard methodologies, and constantly improve

• Knowledge of autonomous vehicle safety systems and compliance requirements for autonomous vehicle design, safety, permitting, testing, training, operations, and reporting under various regulatory regimes.
• Experience with autonomous vehicles or other sophisticated, high quality products from design through launch and scale.
• Experience with Safety Case development in robotics, aerospace, transportation or similar with familiarity balancing trades between depth and breadth of implementation.