General Motors

Staff Software Engineer - Build System Modernization

General Motors • $171K — $288K *
Manufacturing & Automotive
11 - 15 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in software engineering or equivalent experience
  • 12+ years of experience in software development
  • Deep understanding of software architecture for real-time systems
  • Experience shipping high-quality, safety-critical products
  • Strong expertise in building and maintaining production software systems with proficiency in Python and at least one additional language
  • Experience with large-scale migration from Make or shell-based build orchestration to Bazel
  • Knowledge of AI-assisted developer productivity and evaluation of AI-enabled engineering workflows.

Responsibilities

  • Lead the modernization of the software build and test systems for software-defined vehicles
  • Drive hands-on efforts to solve complex problems and mentor engineering teams
  • Transition legacy workflows to Bazel for greater scalability and developer efficiency
  • Assess current toolchain and workflow processes to create a phased migration strategy to Bazel
  • Design and implement reusable rules and standards for Bazel migrations
  • Integrate Bazel into existing CI/CD and testing workflows for improved reliability
  • Measure success through improved build efficacy, developer feedback, and productivity metrics.

Benefits

  • Variety of health and wellbeing benefit programs including medical, dental, and vision plans
  • Health Savings Account and Flexible Spending Accounts options
  • Retirement savings plan with company contributions
  • Paid vacation and holidays
  • Tuition assistance programs for continued education
  • Employee assistance program for personal support
  • GM vehicle discounts and participation in company vehicle evaluation program.
Full Job Description
Job Description

The role:
General Motors is seeking a software engineering leader to modernize and scale the build systems that support software-defined vehicles. This role will help lead the transition from a legacy Make-based system to Bazel, Google's open-source build tool, improving speed, reliability, and robustness across the engineering organization.The successful candidate will drive this capability at scale, influence technical direction across teams, and help establish lofty platform capability goals.

What You'll Do:
  • Lead software engineering productivity and effectiveness by identifying opportunities, shaping strategies, improving processes, guiding change, and connecting initiatives to deliver greater value through innovation, learning, and simplification.
  • Lead high-impact efforts hands-on, solve complex and unusual problems, and communicate effectively as a coach and mentor while balancing technical command with empathy.
  • Modernize a large embedded-software build and test system by transitioning legacy Make- or shell-based workflows to Bazel and establishing scalable, reproducible, secure, and developer-friendly infrastructure across repositories, toolchains, CI/CD, testing, and release processes.
  • Assess current build, test, dependency, toolchain, and hardware workflows to define a phased Bazel migration strategy and rollout model.
  • Design and implement reusable Bazel rules, macros, toolchains, platforms, configuration patterns, and repository standards, while migrating embedded applications, libraries, generated code, firmware, cross-compilation flows, and platform variants with validated build parity and reproducibility.
  • Integrate Bazel with enterprise CI/CD, testing, release, artifact, deployment, observability, security, and infrastructure workflows, and optimize the platform through caching, parallelism, reliability practices, documentation, training, legacy Make retirement, and continuous improvement.
  • Measure success through target repositories migrated with validated build and test parity; faster clean and incremental builds, CI queues, and developer feedback; increased reproducibility, approved hermetic-toolchain adoption, cache effectiveness, and CI capacity; and lower build, pipeline, and flaky-test rates.
  • Improve diagnosis and recovery time while ensuring complete artifact provenance, test evidence, and security-policy compliance for releases, strong developer adoption, reduced support burden, and measurable productivity improvement.
  • Hold a bachelor's degree in software engineering or have equivalent experience, along with 15 years of software development experience.
  • Bring a deep understanding of real-time software architecture and experience shipping high-quality, safety-critical products in automotive, embedded, safety-related, calibration, or systems-engineering environments.
  • Demonstrate exceptional problem-solving and analytical abilities, keen attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple projects and priorities in fast-paced, action-oriented decision-making environments.
  • Bring strong expertise building and maintaining production software systems, proficiency in Python and at least one additional engineering-tooling language, and experience with AI-assisted developer productivity, coding agents, code intelligence, knowledge retrieval, or workflow orchestration.
  • Evaluate AI-enabled engineering workflows using measurable quality, adoption, and productivity outcomes.


Your Skills & Abilities (Required Qualifications):
  • Bachelor's degree in software engineering or or equivalent experience
  • 12+ years of experience in software development
  • Deep understanding of software architecture for real time systems
  • Experience shipping high-quality safety critical products
  • Exceptional problem-solving and analytical abilities, with a keen attention to detail
  • Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects and priorities in a fast-paced environment.
  • Demonstrated ability to work in an action-oriented decision-making environment
  • Strong expertise building and maintaining production software systems, with proficiency in Python and at least one additional language used in engineering tooling environments
  • Automotive, embedded, safety-related, calibration, or systems-engineering environments.
  • Large-scale migration from Make or shell-based build orchestration to Bazel.
  • AI-assisted developer productivity, coding agents, code intelligence, knowledge retrieval, or workflow orchestration.
  • Evaluation of AI-enabled engineering workflows using measurable quality, adoption, and productivity outcomes.


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.

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 actual base salary a successful candidate will be offered within this range will vary based on factors relevant to the position, as well as geography of the selected candidate.

The Salary Range

The range for this role is 171,150 and 288,500. 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.

About General Motors

General Motors Company engages in the manufacture and sale of cars and trucks in the United States, China, Brazil, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Italy. It offers sedans, crossovers, sport utility vehicles, pick-up trucks, coupes, sports/convertibles and hybrid vehicles, hatchbacks/wagons, and vans, as well as mini cars in India. The company also provides parts and accessories, such as iPod and MP3 compatibility, mobility accessories, performance parts, AC parts and services, and merchandise. In addition, it offers vehicle safety, security, and information services. The company provides used vehicles. It offers its products through dealers and distributors. General Motors Company was formerly known as NGMCO, Inc. and changed its name to General Motors Company in July 2009. The company was incorporated in 2009 and is based in Detroit, Michigan. It operates manufacturing facilities in India, the United States, and Canada. General Motors Company operates as a subsidiary of the United States Department of The Treasury. General Motors led global vehicle sales for 77 consecutive years from 1931 through 2007, longer than any other automaker, and is currently among the world's largest automakers by vehicle unit sales. General Motors acts in most countries outside the USA via wholly-owned subsidiaries but operates in China through 10 joint ventures. GM's OnStar subsidiary provides vehicle safety, security, and information services. In 2009, General Motors shed several brands, closing Saturn, Pontiac, and Hummer, and emerged from a government-backed Chapter 11 reorganization. In 2010, GM made an initial public offering IPOs to date and returned to profitability later that year.

General Motors Careers

Join the dynamic team at General Motors, a global leader in automotive innovation and technology. At General Motors, we offer unparalleled job opportunities that propel your career forward while contributing to a legacy of engineering excellence.

Work You’ll Do

Embark on a career with General Motors to drive the future of mobility. Our team is dedicated to redefining the automotive landscape through innovation and leadership in electric vehicles and sustainable solutions. By joining us, you will be part of a culture that values diversity, teamwork, and continuous professional growth.

Transform Your Career

General Motors is not just a company; it's a community where you can grow your skills alongside the best in the industry. Our leadership is committed to providing every employee—from interns to senior professionals—with opportunities for career advancement, leadership development, and diversity training.

Innovate and Lead

At General Motors, innovation is at the core of everything we do. From research and development to manufacturing, our teams work collaboratively to lead the industry with cutting-edge technologies and sustainable practices. We encourage our employees to think big and push the boundaries of what’s possible.

Join Our Global Team

As part of our global workforce, you will collaborate with talented individuals who are passionate about shaping the future of transportation. General Motors offers a variety of career paths in engineering, design, IT, marketing, and more. With over 155,000 employees worldwide, our network provides expansive opportunities for networking and professional development.

Internship Programs and Employment Benefits

Start your career journey with a General Motors internship, where you can apply your academic knowledge to real-world projects. Our internships provide a robust foundation in the automotive industry, with mentorship from experienced leaders. Full-time employees enjoy a wealth of benefits, including comprehensive health care, retirement plans, and performance bonuses, ensuring that your hard work is rewarded.

Explore Job Opportunities

Whether you’re a seasoned professional or a recent graduate, General Motors offers positions that leverage your unique skills. Our hiring process is designed to identify and nurture talent, focusing on aligning your capabilities with the right opportunities for growth within the company.

Stay Connected

Join Our Team Search open positions that match your skills and interests. At General Motors, we look for innovative, driven, and solution-oriented team players. Explore the possibilities that await you in a career at General Motors.

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Learn more about General Motors
Size
157,000 employees
Market Cap
$46.9 billion
Industry
Net Income
$6.4 billion
Founded
1908
5 Year Trend
-3.2%
Revenue
$122.4 billion
NASDAQ

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