Hardware Engineer- NFC Digital Key Hardware

Staff Hardware Engineer- NFC Digital Key Hardware

Digital Key enables customers to use their phones and other devices to securely access and start their vehicles. These experiences rely on advanced Near-Field Communication (NFC), Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Ultra‑Wideband (UWB), technologies that must perform reliably in challenging automotive environments alongside Bluetooth, Wi‑Fi, cellular, and GNSS systems.

As a Staff Hardware Engineer‑NFC Digital Key Hardware, you will help architect, design, and validate the wireless hardware that makes secure, precise Digital Key experiences possible for millions of vehicles and customers worldwide. You will work at the intersection of hardware, RF systems, security, and vehicle access, collaborating with teams across GM and leading silicon and module vendors.

• Act as a hardware and wireless subject‑matter expert for NFC within GM’s Digital Key and short‑range access systems.
• Define hardware and requirements for NFC readers that support passive entry, passive start, trunk access, and NFC card and phone access.
• Lead the concept and requirements for vehicle Digital Key system development.
• Translate vehicle‑level use cases and customer scenarios into clear link budgets and performance targets for NFC, including accuracy, precision, latency, robustness, and reader field strength and alignment in automotive packaging.
• Provide NFC input into short‑range wireless and antenna roadmaps that can scale across nameplates and regions.
• Lead schematic and PCB layout reviews for NFC and Secure Element subsystems on Digital Key controllers and readers, focusing on coil geometry, tuning networks, and interaction with nearby metals.
• Bring up and debug Digital Key hardware in the lab, optimizing performance for real vehicle environments.
• Develop and execute NFC‑focused test plans covering realistic positions, orientations, doors or zones, and packaging conditions that reflect real customer access paths.
• Lead coexistence analysis and test content for Digital Key NFC readers in the presence of other technologies, coordinating with UWB, BLE, Wi‑Fi, Bluetooth, cellular, and GNSS teams.
• Ensure NFC hardware implementations support current and emerging CCC Digital Key expectations for secure ranging and multi‑device operation.
• Build reusable reference test setups for NFC performance across labs and programs.
• Produce clear, structured documentation of requirements, architecture decisions, test strategies, coverage studies, and coexistence analysis.
• Mentor junior wireless, RF, and hardware engineers and lab staff.

• Hands‑on experience with CCC Digital Key specifications and broader industry trends in digital vehicle access, secure ranging, and standards such as IEEE 802.15.4z, draft 802.15.4ab, ISO/IEC 14443, ISO/IEC 15693, and ISO/IEC 18092.
• Strong understanding of electromagnetic fundamentals and the ability to reason about interference and coupling paths in dense automotive designs.
• Experience with NFC reader antenna and coil design in vehicle contexts, optimizing pad geometry, reader orientation, and metal keep‑outs.
• Demonstrated experience with short‑range coexistence involving NFC, Qi, UWB, BLE, Wi‑Fi, Bluetooth, cellular, and GNSS, including test definition, analysis, and mitigation strategies.

• Hands‑on experience with UWB and BLE transceivers and systems, including ranging, link budgets, and RF front‑end design.
• Experience with RF and hardware design reviews, bring‑up, and debug on complex, multi‑radio boards that integrate NFC, Qi, UWB, BLE, Bluetooth, Wi‑Fi, cellular, and GNSS.
• Awareness of cybersecurity and privacy considerations for UWB, BLE, and NFC systems used for secure vehicle access.
• Proficiency with RF test equipment and at least one scripting language such as Python for test automation and data analysis.
• Contributions to patents, standards, or technical publications in UWB, NFC, or short‑range wireless hardware design.

The expected base compensation for this role is $160,000–$250,000, varying by factors relevant to the position.

Bonus Potential:
An incentive pay program offers payouts based on company…