Staff Component Systems Engineer, ECUs and Dataloggers

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 Vehicle Platform Components team is seeking a highly motivated Staff Engineer to assume ownership of the development and integration of the autonomous vehicle Electronic Controllers (ECUs) and Data Loggers. This position serves as the primary technical owner for the development, validation, and production readiness of our ECUs. The incumbent will ensure that components adhere to all functional requirements and quality standards, and will support component delivery to satisfy all performance, cost, and timing objectives.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and manage component-level technical requirements throughout the program development lifecycle.
• Lead technical collaboration with component suppliers, serving as the internal technical expert for the component.
• Ensure all components comply with specifications for performance KPIs, safety, and reliability.
• Guarantee that components adhere to relevant industry standards and regulatory requirements.
• Collaborate with Design Release Engineers to ensure components meet the overall product's program targets and goals.
• Collaborate with Systems Engineers to confirm that component requirements satisfy system needs and that selected components integrate seamlessly into the overall system architecture.
• Responsible for validating component functionality through hands-on testing conducted at both the bench and vehicle levels.
• Lead issue resolution with suppliers and internal cross-functional teams in a timely and effective manner.

What We're Looking For:

• 7+ years of experience in automotive component design, development and integration.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Technology or a related field.
• Demonstrated expertise in the design, development, and integration of complex Electronic Control Units (ECUs).
• Proven experience utilizing widely adopted Microcontrollers (MCUs) and Systems-on-Chips (SoCs) within automotive ECU applications.
• Experience with automotive communication protocols, including CAN, CAN-FD, and Automotive Ethernet (10GBASE-T1).
• Experience with high-bandwidth data acquisition systems, including proficiency in PCIe switching and direct storage technologies.
• Familiarity with NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Orin / Thor architecture and developer kits.
• Proficiency in Linux, including the ability to develop scripts (e.g., Python, C++, bash) for testing and validation, and layer 2 networking concepts.
• Experience with lab equipment, including power supplies, oscilloscopes, multimeters, and function generators.
• Proficiency in automotive diagnostic tools, including Vector tools (CANoe, CANape, vFlash) and DoCAN/DoIP.
• Experience with automotive environmental, EMI, and shock/vibration testing.
• Experience in root-cause analysis, with a focus on utilizing AV / ADAS vehicle logs to pinpoint scenarios that negatively affect autonomous system performance.
• Familiarity with automotive components validation documentation and procedures, such as DVP&R, DFMEA and PFMEA.
• Experience with requirement compliance, issue-tracking and task management software platforms such as JIRA, Polarion, Confluence, etc.
• Demonstrated experience collaborating with an automotive Tier-1 supplier on the technical development of electronic components.
• Understanding of vehicle integration, packaging, and functional safety standards (ISO 26262)

Bonus Points:

• Prior experience in an autonomous vehicle or robotics company.
• Prior experience of ECU design for autonomous vehicles.

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

The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors including but not limited to specific skills, experience and expertise, role location, certifications, licenses, and business needs. The estimated compensation range listed in this job posting reflects base salary only. This role may include additional forms of compensation such as a bonus or company equity. The recruiter assigned to this role can share more information about the specific compensation and benefit details associated with this role during the hiring process.


Candidates for certain positions are eligible to participate in Motional's benefits program. Motional's benefits include but are not limited to medical, dental, vision, 401k with a company match, health saving accounts, life insurance, pet insurance, and more.

Salary Range

$144,000-$191,250 USD

Motional is a driverless technology company making autonomous vehicles a safe, reliable, and accessible reality. We're driven by something more.

Our journey is always people first.

We aren't just developing driverless cars; we're creating safer roadways, more equitable transportation options, and making our communities better places to live, work, and connect. Our team is made up of engineers, researchers, innovators, dreamers and doers, who are creating a technology with the potential to transform the way we move.

Higher purpose, greater impact.

We're creating first-of-its-kind technology that will transform transportation. To do so successfully, we must design for everyone in our cities and on our roads. We believe in building a great place to work through a progressive, global culture that is diverse, inclusive, and ensures people feel valued at every level of the organization. Diversity helps us to see the world differently; it's not only good for our business, it's the right thing to do.


Scale up, not starting up.

Our team is behind some of the industry's largest leaps forward, including the first fully-autonomous cross-country drive in the U.S, the launch of the world's first robotaxi pilot, and operation of the world's longest-standing public robotaxi fleet. We're driven to scale; we're moving towards commercialization of our technology, and we need team members who are ready to embrace change and challenges.

Formed as a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv, Motional is fundamentally changing how people move through their lives. Headquartered in Boston, Motional has operations in the U.S and Asia. For more information, visit and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.

Motional AD Inc. is an EOE. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. To comply with Federal Law, we participate in E-Verify. All newly-hired employees are queried through this electronic system established by the DHS and the SSA to verify their identity and employment eligibility.