GPSSC Driver Performance Project Engineer – Virtual Controls

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.

The Role

General Motors is dedicated to enhancing product safetythroughdriver performance safety researchrelativetoadvanced crash avoidance technologies andcrash protectionstrategies. The Global Product Safety, Systems, and Certification organization is looking for aproactive"Driver PerformanceProject Engineer" to lead safety strategy studies and develop requirements forvirtual controls,requiring a high degree of creativity, initiative,collaboration,and independent judgment.

As GM accelerates the move to virtualize more physical controls intoscreen-basedHuman–Machine Interfaces (HMI), this role:

• Isaccountablefor thesafetyperformance, risk assessment, andvalidation of virtual controls(for regulationcompliance).

• Is responsible forthe safety and regulatory evaluation of virtual controlexecutions.

• Interfaces with multiple internalandexternal entities (Safety, OnStar, Marketing, Planning, Alliance, Government, Universities,User Experience, Driver WorkloadLabetc.).

• Establishesthevision and roadmapof driver performancespecifications for virtual controls.

• Harmonize virtual button strategy withdriver distraction subject matter expert(Vehicle Performance Owner:Driver Distraction)

• Provides a clear Safety perspectiveto inform which controls can safely be virtualized, under what conditions, and with what safeguards. 

• Ensures that decisions about virtualizing controls do not introduce unintended safety, driver workload, or regulatory risk.

• Design andrequest safety studiesto evaluate virtual button placement

• Consistent contact with User Experience and Studio to ensure that the virtual buttonexecution issafety strategy

• Presenting updates to Safety leadershipand driver distraction forums

• AssistVPO:Driver Distractionwith emerging features that may need inputfrom a driver distraction standpoint

The core scopeof this roleis the safety and regulatory robustness of virtualized controls, informed by strong understanding of driver interaction, workload, and in vehicleuser experience, and embedded early in vehicle development so that safety and regulatory constraints drive architecture, not late fixes.

What You'll Do

Regulatory, Certification, Industry Alignment

• Lead regulatory and compliance alignment for virtual controls across regions, working with Safety and Regulatory Engineering to interpret expectations from:

• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and other regulators.

• European New Car Assessment Program (Euro NCAP) and other NCAPs.

• Type approval agencies and other certification bodies.  

• Translate these expectations into clear safety requirements and constraints for virtualized implementations of traditional physical controls (e.g., lighting, defrost/defog, climate, keydrivingand visibility functions). 

• Focus on avoiding known industry failure modes where critical functions moved to screens have led to recalls, investigations, or rating downgrades (e.g., display failures affecting defrost/defog, rear camera, turn signal chimes; loss of physical turn signal or wiper controls). 

• Participate in industry and standards forums shaping future expectations for virtual controls, including: 

• Industry normsestablishedby Alliance for Automotive Innovation

• International Organization for Standardization workgroups on controls / HMI. 

• Consumer Reports and similar independent safety/consumer bodies. 

• Other standards or pre-regulatory working groups related to virtual controls and distraction.

Safety Requirements, Risk Evaluation & Framework for Virtual Controls

• Define andmaintainsafety performance requirements for virtual controls, including: 

• Availability and accessibility while driving for safety relevant functions. 

• Maximum interaction depth (steps/taps) and eyes off road expectations for critical tasks. 

• Behavior in degraded / failed states (e.g., display failure, partial loss of UI, loss of connectivity). 

• Provide a formal Safetyperspectiveinto Controls Strategy Plan and related governance forums on: 

• Which controls can safely be fully virtualized, with what safeguards and preconditions. 

• Wheremaintaininga physical or hybrid control is recommended based on safety, distraction, or regulatory risk. 

• Maintain a concise, repeatable risk framework for virtual controls (e.g., low / medium / high), grounded in: 

• Driver workload and human factors considerations. 

• Failure modes and degraded states. 

• Regulatory and consumer rating exposure. 

• Use this framework to support fast, consistent decisions and clear trade off documentation for leadership. 

Program IntegrationandDocumentation

• Develop, formulate, conduct,test, and manage engineering projectsto ensure virtual control safety requirements are embedded and traceable within program deliverables, including: 

• Architecture / Requirements / Interface Documents orequivalent. 

• Product Requirements Documents (PRDs) for features using virtual controls. 

• Vehicle Technical Specifications (VTS) and system/feature level safety requirements. 

• HMI / controls design reviews and change control records. 

• Drive lean but complete documentationfrom external expectationstointernal criteria,torequirements, toevidence, so that virtual control decisions are audit ready for:

• Internal safety and program reviews. 

• Regulators andtypeapproval agencies. 

• NCAP and other rating body engagements. 

• Partner with Human FactorsandDriver Workloadteams to defineappropriate testcoverage for virtual controls, including:

• Simulator studiesand onroad evaluations. 

• Objective glance metrics and workload measures. 

• Evaluation of Over the Air (OTA) drivenuser interfacechanges and their safety impact. 

• Provide or support Safety concurrence / sign off that virtual control executions andOTA drivenuser interfacechanges meet agreed safety and regulatory requirements before release.

Cross Functional Leadership & Continuous Improvement

• Serve as the Global Safety lead for virtual controls, working closely with: 

• TheVehiclePerformance Owner:Driver Distraction.

• Human Factors on reach, visibility, workload, distraction, and driver interaction criteria. 

• User Experience Design on safe interaction patterns, layout, and placement of critical functions. 

• Controls Strategy and Product Management on which features are virtualized, under what conditions, and with what guardrails. 

• Vehicle OS, Systems Engineering, and program teams on implementation,trade offs, andvalidation within the vehicle development flow. 

• Embed the Safetyperspectiveon virtual controls early in vehicle and feature development, so that safety and regulatory constraints inform: 

• Architecture and design patterns. 

• Program content decisions. 

• Change management for UI/HMI updates. 

• Frame concise decision narratives when virtual control topics require leadership decisions, including: 

• Problem statement and context. 

• Safety, human factors, and regulatory risks. 

• Options andtradeoffs. 

• Recommended path and rationale. 

• Monitorand benchmarkcompetitor approaches, safety actions, rating body guidance, and field performance related to virtual and hybrid controls, and convert insights into updated: 

• Safety requirements and design constraints. 

• Checklists, scorecards, and playbooks used by Safety, HumanFactors, and Design. 

• Reusable safety patterns for virtual controls that can be applied across programs and regions. 

• Capture lessons learned from programs, issues, and field performance, and systematically fold them back into: 

• Virtual control performance requirements. 

• Design guidelines and best practice patterns. 

• Safety/HumanFactors/Design review criteria and scorecards.

General

• Stay abreast ofnew technologyand competitive products.

• Assist VPO Driver Distraction in emerging issues where needed

• Travelsas.

Your Skills & Abilities (Required Qualifications)

• Bachelor degree inHumanFactors/Experimental Psychology/Cognitive Science/Cognitive Psychology/Human-Computer Interaction.

• 4+years ofrelatedexperience.

• Thorough knowledge of:

• Human Factors approaches to conduct driver performance studies, procedures, and requirements development.

• In vehicle HMI / UX or Human Factors work tied to safety, distraction, or regulatory outcomes

• Global regulations and consumer metrics for controls, tell tales, distraction, and driverassistanceHMIs.

• Howvirtual and hybrid controls affect driver workload, usability, andsafety.

• Basic principles of driver workload, attention, and human error management as applied to in vehicle interfaces.

• Strong, highly developed oral and writtencommunicationsskills.

• Highlevelof interpersonal skills to work effectively withothers, andelicit work output.

• Highlevel of analytical problem-solving skills where problems are very unusual and extremely difficult.

What Will Give You A Competitive Edge (Preferred Qualifications)

• Mastersor Ph.D. inHuman Factors/Experimental Psychology/Cognitive Science/Cognitive Psychology.

• Two or more graduate level statistics courses.

• Exposure to type approval, NCAP (e.g., Euro NCAP), or regulatory engagement on HMI, control layout, or virtual controls. 

• Experience collaborating with UX strategy, design system, and information architecture teams, especially for in vehicle or other safety critical systems

• Programmingproficiencywith the ability to use AI-assisted tools to write and refine code. 

• DFSS Black Belt Certified.