Technical Specialist - Thermal System Innovation

Job Description

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

Technical Specialist - Thermal System Innovation

The Thermal System Innovation Technical Specialist is recognized as a subject matter expert in thermal system innovation, strategy development, and future roadmap creation. This role is responsible for defining, maturing, and driving the thermal innovation roadmap across key cross-functional partners including Design Studio, Software and Services, Research and Development, advanced engineering, and other strategic groups. In this role, you will identify where General Motors should lead, translate emerging opportunities into actionable plans, and help ensure thermal innovation is connected to practical product and technology execution.

The ideal candidate brings strong technical depth in automotive thermal systems along with a demonstrated ability to work across organizations to shape direction, influence priorities, and create momentum. This person must be highly motivated, forward-looking, and energized by building what is next. They must be comfortable operating in ambiguity, connecting customer needs and competitive insights to engineering opportunities, and helping teams move from concept to useful strategy, tools, and implementation paths.

This role requires close collaboration with groups that are critical to future thermal leadership, including Design Studio, Software and Services, Research and Development, systems teams, and other partners influencing vehicle concepts, customer experience, and digital capability. A key part of the role is identifying where artificial intelligence and related digital methods can improve engineering productivity, concept development, analysis workflows, benchmarking, and decision quality, then partnering with others to develop and apply those tools effectively.

The Technical Specialist must use a high degree of independent judgment, technical leadership, creativity, and initiative. This person should be equally comfortable shaping long-range strategy, facilitating cross-functional technical discussions, supporting advanced concepts, and influencing decisions without direct authority. The candidate must hold self and others accountable for measurable, high-quality, timely, and cost-effective results without compromising integrity, safety, or quality. Strong communication skills and the ability to present technical strategies and recommendations clearly to leadership and cross-functional teams are essential.

What You’ll Do

Technical

• Serve as the technical owner and subject matter expert for thermal innovation roadmap development across future vehicle architectures, customer-facing thermal features, and enabling engineering capabilities.
• Develop and drive the thermal innovation roadmap in alignment with subsystem needs, vehicle strategies, customer experience priorities, and long-range technology direction.
• Build strong working relationships with Design Studio, Software and Services, Research and Development, advanced engineering teams, systems teams, and other critical partners to ensure thermal opportunities are identified early and translated into actionable development paths.
• Lead innovation projects that support the thermal roadmap, including future concepts, new methods, and cross-functional technical workstreams needed to strengthen GM leadership in thermal systems.
• Identify where artificial intelligence, automation, and digital workflows can create meaningful value in thermal engineering, then partner with technical experts, analysts, software teams, and tool developers to define, develop, and apply those capabilities more effectively.
• Translate future customer needs, competitive trends, technical gaps, and emerging technologies into prioritized thermal strategies, technology themes, and implementation plans.
• Lead and support benchmarking of competitive thermal systems, integration strategies, customer-facing features, and innovation approaches to identify opportunities for GM to differentiate.
• Support and/or lead cross-functional teams as necessary to ensure innovation concepts are coordinated with vehicle integration, software strategy, system requirements, and execution realities.
• Provide technical direction for trade studies, virtual analysis, concept evaluation, and other structured assessments to support data-driven decisions.
• Drive development of innovation themes from early concept through strategic recommendation, including technical framing, success criteria, risks, dependencies, timing, and implementation paths.
• Help define and mature tools, methods, workflows, and documentation needed to support thermal roadmap execution and improve team effectiveness.
• Develop clear technical narratives, roadmaps, presentations, and review materials for engineering and leadership forums.

Leadership and Communication

• Influence across organizations to align teams around common thermal innovation priorities and long-range strategic direction.
• Lead through influence, often directing technical work across teams without direct authority.
• Build credibility with both technical and non-technical stakeholders by translating complex thermal topics into clear opportunities, tradeoffs, risks, and actions.
• Bring together groups with different objectives and perspectives to form shared roadmaps and practical next steps.
• Encourage bold thinking, healthy technical debate, and a strong external focus on where GM must lead versus follow.
• Promote a culture of innovation, urgency, ownership, and accountability while maintaining strong collaboration across partner teams.
• Communicate clearly and effectively in leadership reviews, technical forums, cross-functional discussions, and strategic planning sessions.
• Help create momentum around new thermal capabilities, digital tools, and future-focused development approaches.

Your Skills & Abilities (Required Qualifications)

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Thermal/Fluids Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related technical field
• Minimum of 10+ years of experience in automotive thermal systems engineering, advanced engineering, systems strategy, innovation planning, or related technical roles
• Demonstrated experience working across multiple functions to build alignment on technical direction, roadmap priorities, innovation themes, or strategy rollout
• Strong technical foundation in automotive thermal systems, with knowledge in several of the following areas:
  • HVAC and cabin comfort
  • Coolant and refrigerant loops
  • Propulsion thermal management
  • Energy management
  • Thermal controls and software-enabled thermal features
  • Vehicle-level thermal integration
  • System requirements decomposition and tradeoff analysis
• Proven ability to identify emerging opportunities and translate them into actionable technical strategies, roadmaps, and development paths
• Experience leading or influencing cross-functional technical work without direct authority
• Strong analytical ability and engineering judgment to evaluate new concepts, resolve complex technical issues, and navigate competing priorities
• Strong communication and influencing skills, including the ability to engage Design Studio, software teams, research teams, engineering teams, and leadership
• High level of interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively across indirect teams and diverse organizations
• Demonstrated innovation, ownership, accountability, and urgency in driving outcomes
• Demonstrated use of artificial intelligence or related digital tools to improve productivity, engineering analysis, benchmarking, workflow efficiency, or decision quality
• Strong motivation to help position General Motors as the industry leader in thermal systems

What Will Give You a Competitive Edge (Preferred Qualifications)

• Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Thermal Sciences, or related field
• Experience in advanced vehicle development, concept development, innovation planning, or long-range technology roadmap creation
• Working knowledge of GM engineering processes, development milestones, technical review systems, and documentation expectations
• Experience collaborating with Design Studio, Software and Services, Research and Development, or strategy groups on future product concepts or enabling technology direction
• Experience developing or deploying engineering tools, models, methods, or workflows that improved team capability or decision quality
• Familiarity with AI-enabled engineering tools, data analytics workflows, automation, and digital product development methods
• Strong competitor benchmarking experience, including identifying technical differentiators and translating findings into roadmap actions
• Knowledge of 1D thermodynamic analysis, CFD, virtual development tools, system simulation methods, or other advanced analytical tools
• Understanding of DFSS methodologies; Black Belt or Red X knowledge preferred
• Experience supporting advanced technology initiatives, special projects, or early concept maturation activities

Why This Role Matters

This role is critical to ensuring General Motors is not only executing today’s thermal requirements, but also shaping what industry-leading thermal capability must look like in the future. The right candidate will help connect innovation to execution, strengthen collaboration with key strategic groups, and build the roadmap, tools, and momentum needed for GM to lead in the thermal space.

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.

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