Principal Software Engineer - Continuous Integration & Quality Gating

Job Description

Vacancy Status:

No: This posting is not for an existing vacancy within the organization and is open to new applications. (New Head Count)

AI Disclosure:

As part of the application process, Artificial Intelligence will be used in the hiring process for this role

Hybrid - This role is categorized as hybrid. This means the successful candidate is expected to report to Markham, ON three times per week, at minimum.

Specific job responsibilities include:

The architect will:

• Establish the end-to-end CI/CD reference architecture for Platform Software delivery across component, pillar, system-of-systems, and release-train flows.
• Define how independently delivered software components are built, versioned, validated, combined, promoted, and consumed by downstream teams and release processes.
• Create a coherent quality-gating strategy that protects the core mainline and prevents known-bad software, invalid configurations, incompatible artifacts, and insufficient test evidence from advancing.
• Connect developer workflows, GitHub Enterprise, cloud build infrastructure, artifact repositories, virtual and physical test environments, dashboards, and release systems into a traceable delivery path.
• Advise senior engineering and program leadership on release risk, pipeline health, quality signal confidence, architectural tradeoffs, and investment priorities.
• Lead cross-functional technical decisions when ownership spans multiple teams, organizations, suppliers, or software domains.

Key Deliverables

End-to-end delivery architecture

• Architect the target-state flow for all software and non-code inputs required to produce a VeSCoM release, including embedded binaries, containers, MCU and SoC images, calibration, configuration, network and interface artifacts, and test assets.
• Define clear entry and exit criteria for each stage of the delivery pipeline, from pull request and component build through integrated build, validation, release candidate, and VeSCoM publication.
• Establish the relationship between pillar-level CI/CD pipelines and the system- level integration pipeline, including dependency management, build composition, artifact promotion, and last-known-good baselines.
• Define build-once, promote-many practices using immutable, traceablevartifacts and reproducible configurations wherever practical.
• Design the pipeline to support multiple delivery cadences and release trains without allowing local team velocity to compromise system-level quality.
• Identify manual handoffs, duplicated builds, late integration points, ambiguous ownership, and other sources of delivery delay or quality escape; replace them with standardized, automated controls.

Quality gates and mainline protection

• Define a tiered quality-gating model that applies the right test depth and quality evidence at the right point in the software flow.
• Establish blocking gates for pull requests, component integration, cross- component compatibility, system integration, release-candidate readiness, and VeSCoM promotion.
• Ensure gates fail fast and provide actionable diagnostics, clear ownership, and a defined path to resolution or formally governed exception handling.
• Develop policies for rejecting failing changes, preventing direct or unsafe mainline integration, re-queuing changes against the latest integrated state, and preserving a known-good baseline.
• Define objective criteria for distinguishing product failures from infrastructure, environment, test-quality, and data-quality failures so that the pipeline does not produce misleading signals.
• Establish guardrails for flaky tests, quarantined tests, waived results, incomplete execution, invalid manifests, missing artifacts, and test environments that are not representative of the target vehicle system.
• Partner with BiQS, embedded software product teams, validation organizations, and the CI/CD platform team to translate quality principles into executable, measurable pipeline policy.

Embedded and vehicle-system integration

• Evaluate how software components interact across ECUs, MCUs, SoCs, containers, vehicle services, communication networks, diagnostics, calibration, and configuration management.
• Define integration checks for interface compatibility, version alignment, dependencies, resource budgets, boot and deployment behavior, communication health, and system configuration integrity.
• Ensure the pipeline validates the interactions that matter at vehicle level—not only whether individual components compile or pass isolated tests.
• Incorporate appropriate levels of unit, static, component, integration, simulation, CoSIM, SIL, HIL, bench, and system validation into the delivery strategy.
• Establish the conditions under which test results are considered valid, including the required software baseline, model or vECU version, test manifest, hardware configuration, and environment health.
• Drive earlier detection of cross-subsystem defects and compatibility issues before they reach late-stage vehicle integration or customer release activity.

GitHub Enterprise and cloud CI/CD

• Define and govern GitHub Enterprise workflow patterns, repository protections, pull-request checks, branch policies, reusable workflows, runners, permissions, and release controls.
• Architect scalable GitHub Actions workflows that support embedded build systems, large artifacts, multi-repository dependencies, self-hosted or VNET- integrated runners, and cloud-hosted build infrastructure.
• Establish standards for workflow-as-code, reusable actions, version pinning, secrets and identity management, build isolation, caching, concurrency, retries, cancellation, and auditability.
• Define an enterprise-ready migration and convergence strategy for legacy CI/CD implementations while preserving delivery continuity and improving reliability.
• Partner with cloud, platform, cybersecurity, developer experience, and artifact- management teams to ensure the pipeline is secure, resilient, observable, cost- aware, and supportable.
• Create technical standards that make the preferred path the easiest path for component teams and suppliers.

Measurement, observability, and continuous improvement

• Define the metrics needed to measure pipeline health, including build and test success, gate escape rate, false-failure rate, flakiness, feedback time, queue time, end-to-end delivery time, rework, change failure rate, and release readiness.
• Establish dashboards and data models that show the health of each gate, component, pipeline, environment, and release candidate.
• Use data to identify systemic failure patterns and prioritize the highest-value improvements in pipeline reliability, test effectiveness, developer experience, and release confidence.
• Set reliability expectations and service-level objectives for critical CI/CD and quality-gating capabilities.
• Lead root-cause analysis and corrective action for recurring pipeline and integration failures; ensure lessons learned become durable architecture, standards, or automation.
• Demonstrate measurable improvement in feedback speed, mainline stability, integration predictability, and the percentage of release content produced without manual patching.

Technical leadership and influence

• Serve as the recognized technical authority for software defined vehicle CI/CD and quality-gating architecture.
• Lead architecture reviews, design decisions, technical working sessions, and cross-functional alignment across engineering, quality, validation, DevOps, program management, and suppliers.
• Convert ambiguous program needs into clear architectural principles, roadmaps, standards, and executable priorities.
• Influence without relying on direct authority; establish accountability while maintaining productive relationships with component and platform teams.
• Coach senior engineers and technical leaders on pipeline architecture, built-in quality, test allocation, release evidence, and sustainable engineering practices.
• Communicate complex technical risks and tradeoffs clearly to both engineering audiences and executive leadership.

Qualifications/Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, electrical engineering, computer engineering, software engineering, systems engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience. Advanced degree preferred.
• 15 years of experience in software development & deployment
• Experience with MCU and SoC build systems, embedded Linux, AUTOSAR, Yocto, containers, cross-compilation, boot and flashing workflows, or vehicle deployment tooling.
• Experience with SIL, CoSIM, vECU, HIL, physical benches, or other virtual and hardware- based validation environments.
• Experience with GitHub Enterprise migration from Jenkins, Azure DevOps, Gerrit, Bitbucket, or similar legacy platforms.
• Experience with cloud platforms, infrastructure as code, Kubernetes or equivalent execution platforms, and large-scale self-hosted runners.
• Experience with artifact repositories such as JFrog Artifactory and with secure artifact promotion into downstream release systems.
• Experience implementing static analysis, coding standards, software composition analysis, security scanning, coverage policy, and compliance evidence in CI/CD.
• Knowledge of functional safety, ISO 26262, cybersecurity engineering, ASPICE, MISRA, AUTOSAR, or related automotive development practices.
• Experience defining developer-facing dashboards, pipeline health models, reliability objectives, or engineering productivity metrics.
• Experience creating reusable pipeline templates, platform products, developer self- service capabilities, or internal engineering standards.
• Master’s degree in computer science, electrical or computer engineering, software engineering, systems engineering, or a related field.

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.

Benefits Overview

The goal of the General Motors of Canada total rewards program is to support the health and well-being of you and your family. Our comprehensive compensation plan currently includes the following benefits, in addition to many others:

• Paid time off including vacation days, holidays, and supplemental benefits for pregnancy, parental and adoption leave;
• Healthcare, dental, and vision benefits;
• Life insurance plans to cover you and your family;
• Company and matching contributions to a Defined Contribution Pension plan to help you save for retirement;
• GM Vehicle Purchase Plan for you and your family







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