Staff Design Release Engineer, Compute

Motional’s Pittsburgh office is located in the new Hazelwood Green development, a culmination of the city’s goal of restoring an economic driver to the neighborhood in a thoughtful, inclusive, and sustainable way. With views along the Monongahela river, the Pittsburgh office is in the heart of this new state of the art development.

Mission Summary:

Our newly formed Design Release Engineering team, within the Vehicle Platform Engineering group, is seeking a highly motivated Staff Engineer to own the design release and integration of our autonomous vehicle’s compute and connectivity subsystem. This role serves as the primary technical authority for the end-to-end design, release, validation, and production readiness of our high-performance compute hardware and associated controllers. You will ensure robust technical execution, manage supplier and cross-functional alignment, and drive hardware delivery that meets all performance, cost, and timing objectives.

 

What You’ll Be Doing:

• Own the complete design release of the high-performance compute and connectivity hardware, including the mechanical mounting, alignment, thermal management, electrical interface, and vehicle network integration.
• Drive technical execution for the full product lifecycle, from concept and architecture definition to sustaining engineering and continuous improvement.
• Oversee the generation and release of all engineering documentation, including models and drawings, Bills of Material (BOM), specifications, and test reports, ensuring alignment with vehicle-level design.
• Define and maintain the Design Verification Plan & Report (DVP&R), ensuring successful validation against system performance targets.
• Lead the Engineering Change (ECN) process for compute and connectivity hardware, ensuring traceability, cost impact analysis, version control, and full cross-functional buy-in.
• Act as the primary technical and program interface to suppliers (Tier 1 and Tier 2), tracking part maturity through DV, PV, and PPAP phases to ensure tooling and delivery readiness.
• Build strong partnerships across the Systems Engineering, Autonomy, Software Infrastructure, Quality, and Vehicle Integration teams to ensure seamless hardware integration and manufacturability (DFM/DFA).
• Lead technical program reviews and design readiness assessments, proactively developing risk mitigation plans to ensure compute hardware maturity aligns with program milestones and build events.
• Provide regular, concise updates to technical leadership on design maturity, validation progress, open issues, and timely closure metrics.
  
  

What We’re Looking For:

• 8+ years of experience in automotive hardware design and release engineering, with direct ownership of Domain Controllers, HPCs, or Telematics units.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Computer, or Systems Engineering (or a related field).
• Deep technical understanding of compute architectures, high-speed data buses, and wireless connectivity standards.
• Fundamental knowledge of validation documentation and processes, including DVP&R, DFMEA, and PFMEA.
• Expert-level experience with the manufacturing BOM and ECN processes, and a proven ability to manage technical discussions with external suppliers.
• Familiarity with CAD systems (e.g., NX, CATIA), Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems (including requirement management tools such as Polarion), and engineering release workflows.
• Strong understanding of vehicle integration, packaging, and functional safety standards (ISO 26262).
• Proven ability to lead complex initiatives, manage cross-functional teams, and execute to aggressive program timelines with minimal oversight.
  
  

Bonus Points:

• Experience with advanced in-vehicle prototypes and benchtop systems.
• Proven track record of driving goal-level impact across multiple teams or subsystems.
• Prior experience in a fast-growing autonomous vehicle or robotics company.

 

This role is based in our Pittsburgh office and requires in-office days each week.