A Software QA Engineer or Tester designs and runs in-depth diagnostic tests to evaluate software and check for problems before new products are marketed. Pilots software and applies tests to check for errors and glitches.
Approximately 10% as needed for training, team alignment, vehicle support, or other GM testing activities Career track: Individual contributor General Motors is developing advanced driving-assistance and autonomous-vehicle capabilities that require safe, repeatable, and scalable validation. The Autonomous Vehicle Test Engineer will plan, execute, and report autonomous-vehicle testing at GM's Milford Proving Ground in partnership with AV Test Engineering, Vehicle Integration, software and systems engineering, AV Operations, Fleet Reliability Engineering, and other cross-functional teams. This role will translate engineering objectives and approved test requests into clear, executable test plans and procedures. The engineer will conduct closed-course regression, feature, behavior, calibration, system-validation, and structured data-collection testing; evaluate vehicle and autonomy-system behavior; troubleshoot software and hardware issues; and deliver complete, actionable evidence to engineering customers. The role combines test planning, hands-on vehicle and test execution, technical triage, data analysis, and process improvement. The successful candidate will be comfortable working in a fast-changing environment, taking ownership of ambiguous problems, collaborating across software and hardware domains, and maintaining a high bar for safety, test quality, and technical rigor. What you'll do Plan and execute autonomous-vehicle testing Translate product, software, systems, and program objectives into practical test plans, test cases, procedures, schedules, and resource requirements. Plan and execute repeatable software regression, feature and behavior validation, structured scenario, calibration-support, fault-response, and targeted data-collection tests. Conduct closed-course vehicle testing at Milford Proving Ground, including vehicle preparation, test setup, scenario execution, observation, intervention or takeover when required, and post-run closeout. Coordinate test requests, priorities, vehicle assignments, track reservations, operating windows, personnel, equipment, and readiness reviews with AV Test Engineering and cross-functional stakeholders. Follow approved test procedures and acceptance criteria while using sound engineering judgment when test conditions, vehicle state, system behavior, or data quality differs from expectations. Make timely recommendations to proceed, modify, repeat, block, or stop testing based on safety, vehicle condition, system behavior, track conditions, weather, data quality, or test intent. Support test execution across development and release milestones, including build checkout, regression campaigns, feature validation, system integration, and structured validation activities. Support approved vehicle testing on public roads or other test environments when required by the program, applicable procedures, and GM driver-training and safety requirements. Perform vehicle and system technical triage Monitor vehicle and autonomy-system health before, during, and after testing, identifying conditions that could affect safety, data quality, or test availability. Triage issues involving the AV software stack, vehicle compute, sensors, localization, calibration, connectivity, data recording, host-vehicle systems, vehicle networks, power, and test infrastructure. Use system status, logs, drive data, diagnostic tools, measurements, operator observations, and repeatable experiments to isolate likely causes and determine the appropriate next action. Reproduce issues when safe and practical, capture accurate timelines and evidence, and create actionable issue reports for software, systems, Vehicle Integration, Fleet Reliability Engineering, Troubleforce, Service Operations, or other support teams. Distinguish between issues that can be safely contained or corrected during test execution and issues requiring vehicle removal from service, engineering review, formal change control, or additional safety assessment. Partner with developers and systems engineers to clarify expected behavior, reproduce failures, evaluate fixes, and verify corrective actions through targeted retesting. Support controlled fault-injection and non-nominal testing when requested, ensuring that test intent, expected system response, safety controls, and data-labeling requirements are understood before execution. Deliver high-quality test results and data Execute test procedures consistently and capture complete run information, including vehicle, software, calibration, map, track, scenario, operator, weather, and timing details. Evaluate AV behavior and system response against defined test objectives and acceptance criteria, distinguishing objective evidence from anecdotal observations. Report pass, fail, blocked, incomplete, and inconclusive outcomes with enough context for engineering teams to act without repeating avoidable setup work. Ensure drive links, logs, data media, notes, screenshots, issue references, and other required evidence are transferred or uploaded through approved workflows. Review test data for completeness, corruption, missing signals, unexpected configuration changes, or other conditions that could limit its usefulness. Publish concise test summaries, technical findings, and status updates to the appropriate engineering and operations forums. Maintain traceability for test requests, procedures, results, issues, and retests in tools such as Jira, Confluence, Xray, Slack, and approved data or fleet-management systems. Provide timely feedback to remote software, systems, simulation, safety, and program teams so that test results support release decisions, feature refinement, and issue prioritization. Support vehicle readiness and test execution infrastructure Prepare assigned test vehicles and equipment for daily execution, including configuration checks, software and calibration state, physical condition, instrumentation, data-recording readiness, and required test assets. Perform or coordinate pre-drive readiness checks, post-drive inspections, sensor and camera cleanliness checks, data-media handling, charging or fueling coordination, and other activities required to maintain test availability. Support approved software or branch deployments, calibration updates, route or map selection, logging configuration, test tools, and other test-preparation activities. Maintain accurate records of vehicle status, mileage or test hours, configuration, test history, open issues, and return-to-service decisions. Identify vehicle downtime risks early and coordinate containment, recovery, maintenance, parts, facility resources, and technical assistance with the appropriate partner teams. Help maintain reliable test infrastructure, track resources, measurement equipment, data workflows, and other assets needed for repeatable execution. Contribute to readiness reviews and daily operating rhythms that align vehicle and facility availability with testing demand. Collaborate across the AV development lifecycle Work closely with AV Test Engineering leads, Vehicle Integration, software engineering, systems engineering, AV Operations, Fleet Reliability Engineering, Service Operations, Safety, Mapping, Simulation, and program teams. Clarify test objectives, assumptions, expected system behavior, inputs, outputs, dependencies, and acceptance criteria before execution. Coordinate with operations personnel and technicians to ensure vehicles, track activities, equipment, and supporting tasks are prepared and executed safely. Provide clear technica
