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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Principal Software Engineer - Core OS, Vehicle Compute - **Company:** General Motors - **Location:** Mountain View, CA, United States - **Salary:** $216,400.0 - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Android Software Development, Automation of Tests, Profiling, Computer Engineering, Continuous Integration, Linux, Programming Tools, Memory Management, Linux on Embedded Systems, Github, Hypervisor, Kernel-Based Virtual Machine, Linux Distribution, Open Source Technology, QNX (Software), Real-Time Operating Systems, Systems Architecture, System on a Chip, System Programming, Virtual Machines, Virtualization Technology, Xen Servers, Safety Critical Systems, Git, Yocto, Information Technology, U-Boot - **Published:** October 26, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.techcareers.com/job.asp?id=3467428987&tx=FR7774FFJ&pt=1&aff=0B19D771-A501-4A5E-8338-2A822B784D54&utm_source=Job%20Feed&utm_medium=textkernel&utm_campaign=DE&utm_term=0B19D771-A501-4A5E-8338-2A822B784D54 ## About the Role * Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field; or equivalent experience. * Fifteen or more years of experience in embedded, kernel-level, or systems software development, including production-grade systems. * Proven experience architecting operating-system or virtualization platforms for high-performance or safety-critical systems. * Deep expertise in at least two of the following areas: * Type 1 hypervisors and virtualization * Real-time operating systems * Embedded Linux internals * Secure boot and platform integrity * Strong knowledge of Arm system-on-chip (SoC) architecture, including memory management, interrupt and input/output virtualization, and hardware-enforced isolation mechanisms. * Experience leading multi-team or cross-functional technical programs from concept through production. * Proficiency with modern development tools and practices, including Git, GitHub, continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD), automated testing, and performance profiling. * Strong communication and influence skills across technical, cross-functional, and executive audiences. What Will Give You a Competitive Edge (Preferred Qualifications) * Master's degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field. * Hands-on architecture experience with hypervisor technologies such as Gunyah, QNX Hypervisor, Xen, or KVM/Arm, including virtio-based device virtualization. * Expertise in automotive functional safety, including Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) decomposition, safety-island architecture, freedom-from-interference arguments, and safety-framework integration. * Experience with container runtimes and workload orchestration in resource-constrained or embedded environments. * Familiarity with Yocto-based Linux distributions, Android Open Source Project (AOSP) or Android Automotive, and QNX Software Development Platform (SDP) as guest or host environments. * Familiarity with health monitoring, fail-operational and fail-safe mechanisms, and platform-resiliency design. * Experience with Adaptive Automotive Open System Architecture (AUTOSAR), Software Defined Vehicle Open Architecture for Embedded Edge (SOAFEE), or comparable automotive platform standards. * Experience with over-the-air (OTA) and continuous-update architectures. * Contributions to open-source virtualization or operating-system projects. * Proven ability to set technical vision, influence across organizations, and represent a company in cross-industry engagements. ## Description The Core OS group is a newly formed team building the operating-system foundation GM's next generation of vehicle software runs on: hypervisors and virtualization, safety partitioning and health management, container runtime and workload orchestration, and the boot and secure-boot chain that let Linux, Android, and QNX share a single high-compute platform safely and efficiently. As Principal Software Engineer, you are the senior technical authority and system architect for that layer - you'll determine which platform problems matter most, then define the architecture and drive the solutions that solve them, setting long-term direction for virtualization, partitioning, and platform services across GM's vehicle compute. Your influence extends well past your own code: establishing the technical interfaces to the silicon, guest OS, and functional-safety organizations, driving decisions with hypervisor and silicon partners, and guiding engineers across multiple teams toward a foundation that must hold up to production performance, reliability, and safety requirements in millions of vehicles. What You'll Do * Define and drive the architecture and long-term roadmap for GM's Core OS layer, including hypervisors, virtualization, virtual machine lifecycle, resource partitioning, inter-virtual-machine communication, and the boot and secure-boot chain. * Architect the multi-operating-system foundation that enables embedded Linux, including Yocto-based distributions, Android, and QNX to run on shared vehicle compute with consistent platform services and interfaces. * Establish the platform safety architecture, including freedom from interference between partitions, health monitoring, fault detection and recovery, in partnership with functional safety and cybersecurity organizations. * Define the container and workload-management architecture for on-vehicle execution, including isolation, lifecycle management, resource governance, and updateability. * Own the system-level performance strategy across compute efficiency, latency, boot time, memory footprint, and deterministic behavior, and lead optimization efforts across software and hardware boundaries. * Drive build-versus-buy and technology-selection decisions for hypervisor, real-time operating system, and runtime components, and lead technical relationships with the corresponding suppliers. * Provide technical mentorship and direction to Staff and Senior Software Engineers while establishing engineering standards and review practices for the new organization. * Lead complex investigations and root-cause analyses across virtualization, operating-system, and silicon boundaries. Represent Core OS in technical councils, architecture reviews, and cross-functional design forums, and define ownership boundaries with adjacent platform teams., 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}.