Hybrid
Warren, Michigan, United States of America
Full time
JR-202622251
Job Description
This role is categorized as hybrid. The selected candidate will be expected to work on-site at the Warren Tech Center at least three days per week, or as otherwise determined by the hiring leader.
- This role is not eligible for relocation assistance.
At General Motors, our product teams are redefining mobility. Through a human-centered design process, we create vehicles and experiences that are designed not just to be seen, but to be felt. We’re turning today’s impossible into tomorrow’s standard - from breakthrough hardware and battery systems to intuitive design, intelligent software, and next-generation safety and entertainment features.
Every day, our products move millions of people as we aim to make driving safer, smarter, and more connected, shaping the future of transportation on a global scale..
Role Overview
The Seat Complete Engineering Group Manager (EGM) is the technical and people leader responsible for the successful development, integration, and delivery of complete seat systems across assigned vehicle programs. This role leads GMNA seat DREs and seat integration engineers while partnering closely with Seat leadership, program teams, vehicle architecture, interior, safety integration, design studio, manufacturing, purchasing, global development teams, and suppliers. The EGM is accountable for delivering best-in-class seat solutions that balance customer expectations, vehicle integration, technical performance, quality, timing, cost, and business objectives. Success requires deep expertise in automotive seating and seat complete integration, sound independent judgment, timely decision-making, and the ability to act autonomously while maintaining alignment with department strategy and vehicle program priorities. This role requires a hands-on technical leader who can identify and resolve complex issues, establish a clear path forward, and build trust and confidence across teams and the supply base without unnecessary escalation or lost time.
Key Responsibilities
Technical Leadership and Seat Complete Integration
- Lead the technical development and integration of complete seat systems from concept through launch for assigned vehicle programs.
- Own seat complete technical execution, ensuring that seat structures, mechanisms, components, subsystems, trim, restraint interfaces, electrical content, occupant interfaces, and vehicle integration requirements are understood, compatible, and delivered as an integrated system.
- Apply expert knowledge of automotive seating, seat structures, seat mechanisms, component and subsystem development, seat complete integration, packaging, and vehicle interior integration to guide engineering decisions.
- Establish and maintain technical direction for the seat system, including requirements, interfaces, design intent, validation strategy, issue resolution, and launch readiness.
- Ensure seat solutions meet or balance vehicle technical specifications, seat system technical specifications, customer expectations, quality targets, cost objectives, mass targets, timing, manufacturability, serviceability, and other program imperatives.
- Lead technical reviews, peer reviews, DFMEA activities, DFSS application, design assessments, and cross-functional issue-resolution forums to drive robust engineering decisions and global read-across.
- Partner with suppliers to develop, mature, validate, and launch seat systems and technologies that meet GM requirements and program objectives.
- Identify technical risks early, assess tradeoffs, and drive mitigation plans to closure with clear owners, timing, and decision criteria.
Program Execution and Decision-Making
- Lead GMNA Seat DREs and seat integration engineers in delivering vehicle program milestones, GVDP deliverables, and launch commitments on time and with excellence.
- Make timely, well-informed decisions within the scope of the role, balancing department strategy with the needs of the vehicle and the expected impact on customers and business metrics.
- Act autonomously to resolve ambiguity, remove roadblocks, and establish a path forward without waiting for unnecessary intervention.
- Ensure technical decisions are clearly documented, communicated, and understood by impacted stakeholders across Seats, the program team, purchasing, manufacturing, and suppliers.
- Manage competing priorities and a multitude of assignments with composure, organization, and disciplined execution.
- Lead balancing of portfolio imperatives, including HVI, and ensure VTS, SSTS, CTS, and other vehicle and seat requirements are achievable, compatible, and aligned.
- Ensure adequate engineering resources are identified and deployed to support program execution and frontloading initiatives, including strategic sourcing, design detail reviews, and other early development activities.
- Support execution and launch phases through appropriate travel and direct engagement with program, plant, and supplier teams as required.
Cross-Functional Alignment and Relationships
- Build strong, trust-based relationships across Seat engineering, Seat leadership, Interior SMT, safety integration, purchasing, vehicle architecture, design studio, manufacturing, program teams, global development teams, and suppliers.
- Communicate complex technical issues and recommendations clearly to technical and non-technical audiences, enabling fast alignment and effective decisions.
- Create alignment on requirements, ownership, timing, risks, and next steps across teams and organizations.
- Represent Seat Complete Engineering in cross-functional forums and ensure Seat priorities, constraints, and technical needs are understood and incorporated into vehicle decisions.
- Partner with strategic suppliers to establish productive working relationships, drive accountability, and enable timely issue resolution and successful launches.
- Promote consistent global and regional collaboration and leverage lessons learned and best practices across programs.
People Leadership and Team Capability
- Lead, coach, and develop a team of GMNA Seat DREs and seat integration engineers.
- Establish clear individual and team priorities, assign and stabilize workloads, and ensure resources are aligned to program and functional needs.
- Conduct regular team meetings and communicate GM policies, procedures, safety messages, functional strategy, and organizational priorities.
- Provide candid, constructive, and timely feedback; evaluate performance and behaviors; recognize contributions; and address performance concerns when necessary.
- Support employee career development plans, identify capability gaps, and execute training and development initiatives that increase team capability and capacity.
- Ensure employees complete mandatory GM training and role-specific technical or functional training.
- Participate in staffing initiatives, workforce planning, compensation planning, and compensation administration as required.
- Remove roadblocks and resolve employee concerns, complaints, and work-related issues in a timely and fair manner.
- Foster a workplace of choice grounded in accountability, inclusion, collaboration, technical excellence, and continuous improvement.
Required Skills and Experience
- Bachelor of Science degree in engineering or a related technical field.
- Demonstrated experience leading complete seat engineering, seat system integration, or a closely related automotive seating function.
- Deep technical knowledge of automotive seating, including seat structures, mechanisms, components, subsystems, integration, packaging, and vehicle interior interfaces.
- Demonstrated ability to lead technical development from early concept and frontloading through validation, launch, and production issue resolution.
- Proven ability to make autonomous, timely decisions in ambiguous and high-pressure situations while balancing customer needs, technical requirements, business metrics, and department strategy.
- Strong understanding of engineering development processes, requirements management, design reviews, DFMEA, peer reviews, DFSS, validation, and issue-resolution disciplines.
- Demonstrated ability to lead DREs and integration engineers through complex program deliverables with accountability for timing, quality, technical performance, and launch readiness.
- Exceptional communication skills, including the ability to explain complex technical issues, tradeoffs, risks, and recommendations clearly across engineering, program, purchasing, manufacturing, and supplier organizations.
- Proven ability to create cross-functional alignment and establish a clear path forward without unnecessary escalation or delay.
- Strong relationship-building skills with the ability to gain trust and confidence from team members, peers, senior leaders, program teams, purchasing, and suppliers.
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities, resolve conflict, remove roadblocks, and maintain composure while delivering results.
- Proven people-leadership skills, including coaching, feedback, talent development, recognition, performance management, and workload prioritization.
- Willingness to travel as required during development, execution, and launch phases.
Preferred Skills and Experience
- Master of Science degree in engineering or a related technical field.
- Master of Business Administration.
- DFSS Black Belt certification.
- Experience with manufacturing automation and/or product design for automation.
- Experience with innovation and technical advancement within automotive seating or interiors.
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. THIS INCLUDES DIRECT COMPANY SPONSORSHIP, ENTRY OF GM AS THE IMMIGRATION EMPLOYER OF RECORD ON A GOVERNMENT FORM, AND ANY WORK AUTHORIZATION REQUIRING A WRITTEN SUBMISSION OR OTHER IMMIGRATION SUPPORT FROM THE COMPANY (e.g., H-1B, OPT, STEM OPT, CPT, TN, J-1, etc.)
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. This includes direct company sponsorship, entry of GM as the immigration employer of record on a government form, and any work authorization requiring a written submission or other immigration support from the company (e.g., H1-B, OPT, STEM OPT, CPT, TN, J-1, etc).
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}.
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
From day one, we're looking out for your well-being–at work and at home–so you can focus on realizing your ambitions. Learn how GM supports a rewarding career that rewards you personally by visiting Total Rewards resources (https://search-careers.gm.com/en/working-at-gm/total-rewards) .
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.
All employment decisions are made on a non-discriminatory basis without regard to sex, race, color, national origin, citizenship status, religion, age, disability, pregnancy or maternity status, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran or protected veteran, or any other similarly protected status in accordance with federal, state and local laws.
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 (https://search-careers.gm.com/en/how-we-hire) .
Accommodations
General Motors offers opportunities to all job seekers including individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation to assist with your job search or application for employment, email (Careers.Accommodations@GM.com) us or call us at 1-800-865-7580. In your email, please include a description of the specific accommodation you are requesting as well as the job title and requisition number of the position for which you are applying.
We are leading the change to make our world better, safer and more equitable for all through our actions and how we behave. Learn more about:
Our Company (https://search-careers.gm.com/en/working-at-gm/)
Our Culture
How we hire (https://search-careers.gm.com/en/how-we-hire/)
Our diverse team of employees bring their collective passion for engineering, technology and design to deliver on our vision of a world with Zero Crashes, Zero Emissions and Zero Congestion. We are looking for adventure-seekers and imaginative thought leaders to help us transform mobility.
Explore our global locations (https://search-careers.gm.com/en/locations/)
We are determined to lead change for the world through technology, ingenuity and harnessing the creativity of our diverse team. Join us to help lead the change that will make our world better, safer and more equitable for all by becoming a member of GM’s Talent Community (avature.net) (http://talent.gm.com/) . As a part of our Talent Community, you will receive updates about GM, open roles, career insights and more.
Please note that filling out the form below will not add you to our Talent Community automatically; you will need to use the link above. If you are seeking to apply to a specific role, we encourage you to click “Apply Now” on the job posting of interest.
The policy of General Motors is to extend opportunities to qualified applicants and employees on an equal basis regardless of an individual's age, race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression or veteran status. Additionally, General Motors is committed to being an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and offers opportunities to all job seekers including individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation to assist with your job search or application for employment, email us at Careers.Accommodations@GM.com .In your email, please include a description of the specific accommodation you are requesting as well as the job title and requisition number of the position for which you are applying.
