Director of Digital Ecosystem and Simulation

Job Description

 Director of Digital Ecosystem and Simulation 

The Autonomous Robotics Center (ARC) is General Motors’ enterprise hub for designing, building, and deploying advanced autonomous robotic solutions that transform how vehicles and parts move through manufacturing and warehousing. ARC combines hardware, software, AI, and systems integration to deliver safe, reliable, and scalable automation that improves safety, quality, and overall productivity aligned with its North Star:  zero commissioning, zero programming, zero incidents. 

As Director of Digital Ecosystem and Simulation, you will own the strategy, architecture, and end-to-end delivery of ARC’s digital tooling portfolio, including the software platform that powers our automation stack and the simulation and digital twin environments that validate it. This is a hands on leadership role: you will build and lead a high performing engineering team while remaining close enough to the technology to make sound architectural and design decisions. 

What You Will Execute and Deliver 

·        Platform tooling across the Automation OS stack, including hardware abstraction layer (HAL) interfaces, fleet orchestration services, CI/CD pipelines for automation cells, and a robust developer experience for internal and external consumers. 

·        Simulation and digital twin infrastructure, including headless virtual controllers, I/O abstraction layers, environment modeling, and integration with physics and 3D engines. 

·        Toolchain strategy that enables virtual commissioning at the cell level – with containerizable, testable automation logic that goes beyond 3D visualization. 

·        Team building and technical leadership for a growing engineering organization spanning software, simulation, and systems integration. 

·        Stakeholder alignment and communication across ARC leadership, GM manufacturing engineering, and external technology partners to ensure cohesive roadmaps and successful deployments. 

Required Qualifications 

·        10+ years of experience in software engineering, industrial automation, or robotics, including at least 3 years leading engineering teams. 

·        Deep, handson experience in at least two of the following areas: 

o   Industrial control systems (e.g., PLC, PROFINET, EtherNet/IP) 

o   Simulation frameworks 

o   Robotics middleware (e.g., ROS/ROS2) 

o   Cloudnative platform development 

·        Demonstrated understanding of digital twin and simulation architectures, including the critical role of I/O abstraction in achieving reliable, scalable virtual commissioning. 

·        Proven experience building developer facing platforms or internal tool chains, not solely end user applications. 

·        Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in ambiguity, defining and driving a roadmap in a rapidly evolving environment within a large, matrixed organization. 

·        Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate between shopfloor realities and software/architecture decisions for diverse stakeholder groups. 

Preferred Qualifications (Competitive Edge) 

·        Experience with containerized simulation environments, headless controllers, or virtual commissioning pipelines in production settings. 

·        Familiarity with AMR fleet management, multiagent orchestration, or manufacturing digital twin platforms. 

·        Background working in brownfield manufacturing environments, with a clear understanding of how to introduce new architectures that must coexist with 30-year legacy control systems and infrastructure. 

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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Non-Discrimination and Equal Employment Opportunities (U.S.)

General Motors is committed to being a workplace that is not only free of unlawful discrimination, but one that genuinely fosters inclusion and belonging. We strongly believe that providing an inclusive workplace creates an environment in which our employees can thrive and develop better products for our customers.

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