Senior Mechanical Hardware Engineer – ECU Connectors & Interfaces
General Motors · Sunnyvale, California, United States of America ·
- Seniority
- Senior
- Category
- Hardware
- Experience
- 10+ years
Job Description
The Role
At General Motors, we are reinventing the vehicle through electrification, centralized computing, and software-defined technologies. The Central Compute Hardware Mechanical team develops the mechanical foundation for advanced ECU platforms, leading enclosure design, thermal management, and EMI mitigation to deliver reliable, scalable hardware solutions for future vehicle architectures.
We are seeking a Senior Mechanical Hardware Engineer to lead the design, development, and integration of ECU connector and header solutions supporting power distribution, high-speed data, communications, RF, and I/O interfaces. Leveraging ECU architecture as a foundation, this role focuses on technical ownership of connector systems, driving the development of terminals, bus bars, sealing solutions, material selections, and connector-to-housing integration strategies.
The ideal candidate will provide end-to-end mechanical leadership for connector hardware, ensuring robust electrical performance, environmental protection, manufacturability, and production readiness. This engineer will collaborate closely with electrical and systems engineers, PCB designers, packaging teams, manufacturing organizations, and suppliers to deliver reliable, high-quality ECU connector solutions that meet vehicle-level performance, durability, and assembly requirements.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead mechanical development of ECU headers and connector interfaces for power, high-speed signals, communication signals, RF signals, and I/O, ensuring compatibility with vehicle packaging, electrical architecture, environmental conditions, and ECU enclosure constraints.
- Own mechanical design of connector-related content from concept through production release, including connector housings, integrated or discrete headers, terminal retention features, bus bar interfaces, seals, gaskets, and attachment features to the ECU housing.
- Define and develop connector terminal architectures and bus bar solutions with focus on current-carrying capability, retention robustness, manufacturability, assembly robustness, and integration to PCB and housing systems.
- Select and specify materials for connector terminals, conductive elements, insulators, sealing components, and housing interfaces based on mechanical performance, temperature exposure, corrosion risk, environmental sealing needs, and manufacturing process compatibility.
- Develop sealing strategies for connector-to-housing interfaces, including water management, compression control, stack-up definition, and design features required to achieve robust environmental performance in automotive use cases.
- Create and maintain high-quality 3D CAD models and 2D drawings in NX for connector, header, seal, and interface components, with CAD and Teamcenter used as enabling tools to support sound technical design decisions.
- Apply GD&T, tolerance stack analysis, and critical-to-function callouts to connector and header designs to ensure repeatable fit, terminal position accuracy, sealing performance, and manufacturability.
- Coordinate closely with electrical engineers and PCB designers on connector pinout constraints, PCB attachment strategy, soldering or alternate mounting concepts, grounding paths, shielding interfaces, and packaging of high-speed and power connections into complete electromechanical systems.
- Support mechanical aspects of EMI-aware connector and enclosure integration, including interface geometry, grounding features, shielding continuity, and packaging provisions that enable robust system-level EMI performance.
- Develop and execute design verification plans for connector and header systems, including proof-of-concept testing, fit and retention checks, sealing evaluations, prototype builds, and test result-driven design updates.
- Work with analysis teams and technical specialists to prepare inputs for structural, vibration, and thermal evaluations where connector and interface performance is affected by loading, environment, or enclosure interaction.
- Lead DFM/DFx reviews with suppliers and manufacturing teams to refine connector, terminal, bus bar, and sealing designs for cost, quality, assembly robustness, and production feasibility.
- Own Teamcenter content for assigned designs, including BOM structure, revisions, change management, and release documentation, while keeping technical ownership centered on connector system performance and design maturity.
- Communicate design progress, risks, and tradeoffs in reviews with cross-functional stakeholders, vehicle packaging teams, and suppliers, and drive closure of issues to program timing.
Required Qualifications
- BS in Mechanical Engineering or related discipline.
- 6-10+ years of mechanical design experience in complex electromechanical assemblies, automotive electronics, ECU hardware, connectors, headers, or closely related systems, with strong experience owning designs from concept through release.
- Demonstrated experience with headers and connectors design, including development of interfaces for power, high-speed signals, communication signals, RF signals, and I/O.
- Hands-on experience with connector terminal design, bus bar design, integration to PCB and mechanical housing, and development of sealing solutions for connector-to-enclosure interfaces.
- Strong working knowledge of materials and manufacturing considerations relevant to connector systems, including conductive and insulating components, molded parts, terminals, and seals.
- Proficiency in Siemens NX and Teamcenter sufficient to create robust parametric models, drawings, product structures, BOMs, and released design data for connector and interface hardware.
- Strong competency in GD&T, tolerance analysis, and mechanical fundamentals, including solid mechanics, materials, and basic heat transfer.
- Experience collaborating with electrical engineers, PCB designers, suppliers, and manufacturing teams to deliver integrated electromechanical solutions.
- Strong communication, collaboration, and execution skills, with ability to manage multiple tasks in parallel and deliver to program timing.
Preferred Qualifications
- Prior experience with automotive connector systems qualified to USCAR or similar automotive standards.
- Experience designing molded or integrated headers/connectors for plastic housings, or discrete header solutions for metal ECU housings.
- Experience with ECU, computer, or power electronics packaging, including connector interfaces, PCBA mounting, and enclosure integration.
- Familiarity with EMI/shielding, grounding interfaces, sealing and water management, and thermal design concepts relevant to connector and enclosure development.
- Experience preparing for or reviewing structural, vibration, and thermal analysis results.
- Familiarity with DFMEA, PFMEA, structured problem solving, and automotive release and change-control processes.
- Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field.
What Success Looks Like
- Connector and header designs meet program timing and integrate cleanly into ECU housings with robust fit, manufacturability, and serviceability.
- Terminal, bus bar, and sealing designs are technically sound, producible, and aligned with environmental and packaging requirements.
- CAD and Teamcenter deliverables are complete and high quality, but they serve the broader goal of strong connector system engineering rather than being the primary scope of the role.
- Cross-functional teams view this engineer as the mechanical owner for connector interface development on next-generation ECU hardware.
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 for this role is ($125,200 to $192,700). 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:
• 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.
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GM does not provide immigration-related sponsorship for this role. Do not apply for this role if you will need GM immigration sponsorship now or in the future. This includes direct company sponsorship, entry of GM as the immigration employer of record on a government form, and any work authorization requiring a written submission or other immigration support from the company (e.g., H1-B, OPT, STEM OPT, CPT, TN, J-1, etc).

This role is categorized as hybrid. This means the selected candidate is expected to report to a specific location at least 3 times a week {or other frequency dictated by their manager}.

The selected candidate will be required to travel <25% for this role.

This job is not eligible for relocation benefits. Any relocation costs would be the responsibility of the selected candidate.

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