Software Engineer, AV Frameworks – Early Career
General Motors · Sunnyvale, California, United States of America ·
- Seniority
- Intern
- Employment
- Internship
- Category
- Software engineering
General Motors · Sunnyvale, California, United States of America ·
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Job Description
We’re AV Frameworks within AV Platform Core at General Motors. We build the foundational frameworks that power robotics and autonomous capabilities across distributed compute — with a focus on inter-process communication (IPC), middleware, and developer experience that make complex systems reliable, observable, and fast.
As a early career Software Engineer on the AV Frameworks, you will design and deliver the core communication and runtime building blocks used by AV/Robotics applications on vehicles, on benches, and in simulation. You’ll work across C++ systems, Linux, and networking/IPC to achieve low-latency messaging, deterministic scheduling, and production-grade reliability at scale.
This role is designed for a recent graduate or engineer early in their career who wants to build depth in embedded systems, distributed software, vehicle platforms, and autonomous driving technology. You will learn from experienced engineers while contributing meaningful code to systems that must be dependable, observable, and maintainable.
You will develop a systems-level understanding as you learn how individual applications, compute elements, and data flows interact. Over time, you will turn that understanding into clear abstractions and design guidance that inform how other developers build vehicle software.
Build and debug high-performance IPC and middleware primitives (publish/subscribe, shared memory, serialization, discovery, QoS).
Drive latency, throughput, and determinism improvements through profiling, tracing, benchmarking, and targeted optimizations.
Build developer-facing APIs, tooling, and documentation that improve ergonomics, correctness, and velocity for internal customers.
Deliver platform-ready components with observability (metrics, logs, traces), robust fault handling, and reproducible performance characteristics.
Work alongside experienced engineers platform OS, drivers, safety, controls, perception, and tooling teams to ramp up on AV software.
Apply production rigor: code reviews, testing strategies (unit, integration, soak), performance and regression gates, and rollout/rollback discipline.
Grow through progressively more complex assignments spanning design, implementation, integration, and testing.
Recently completed a BS/MS/PhD in Computer Science, Electrical/Computer Engineering, Robotics, or a degree in a related field.
Strong background in modern C++ (20/23) and Python development, demonstrated through coursework, internships, research, or substantial projects.
Strong grasp of software fundamentals including concurrency, memory management, lock-free or low-contention patterns, and performance profiling.
Hands-on experience with IPC/messaging systems and distributed systems fundamentals (serialization, backpressure, flow control, QoS).
Knowledge of linux-based networking (sockets, TCP/UDP, multicast, NICs, buffers, MTU, packetization).
Ability to debug complex software problems, reason about system behavior, and communicate clearly in a collaborative team environment.
Interest in autonomous vehicles, robotics, embedded systems, or high-performance software.
Robotics/AV middleware: ROS 2, DDS, gRPC.
Serialization and data: Protobuf, FlatBuffers, Cap’n Proto, zero-copy techniques.
Real-time Linux and systems constraints (scheduling, CPU isolation, priority inversion mitigation, bounded latency).
Prior internship, research, or project experience in autonomous driving, robotics, embedded systems, AI/ML infrastructure, or platform software.
Degree completed between December 2025 and August 2026, with availability to begin employment in 2026.
Hybrid: This role is categorized as hybrid. This means the successful candidate is expected to report to our Suynnvale, CA office three times per week, at minimum.
This job may be eligible for relocation benefits
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 New York, Colorado, California, or Washington.
The salary range for this role is $125,000 to $150,000. 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.
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
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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.
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