Research Manager - Vehicle Software Products, Core & Occupant

Job Description

Hybrid. This role is categorized as hybrid. This means the successful candidate is expected to report to Warren, Michigan three times per week, at minimum or other frequency dictated by the business.

The Role

General Motors is seeking a Customer Research Manager to lead a team of researchers and/or analysts within Global Customer Research (GCR) Product Research. The team supports the Core Experience and Occupant Experience software product teams within Vehicle Product Management, bringing the voice of the customer to the decisions that shape key in-vehicle experiences.

The role partners closely with product teams and their cross-functional stakeholders from early requirements development through launch and in-market performance. The supported portfolio includes comfort controls, displays, infotainment, connectivity, entertainment, user-interface generations and releases, AI assistants, user profiles, and related digital vehicle experiences.

The successful candidate is a customer-centered people leader who combines strong research execution, strategic judgment, and consultative partnership. They will guide a portfolio of bespoke research, develop team capability, and translate complex customer learning into timely, clear product direction.

What You’ll Do

Partner with product teams and stakeholders

• Serve as a trusted, consultative research partner to Core Experience and Occupant Experience product teams and their key cross-functional stakeholders.
• Proactively learn stakeholders’ business priorities, product plans, decision timelines, and customer-learning needs.
• Translate business priorities into persuasive research plans and proposals that align to product-development milestones and the GCR research roadmap.
• Facilitate research framing that defines the business decision, target customer, learning objectives, scope, timing, resource needs, and intended use of findings.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to develop research stimuli that create a clear connection between product intent and customer feedback.
• Represent the customer perspective in cross-functional forums through clear, persuasive, evidence-based storytelling.

Lead customer research that informs product decisions

• Plan, design, and execute fit-for-purpose qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method research that provides timely, actionable insight for Core Experience and Occupant Experience product teams.
• Synthesize findings into concise, decision-ready deliverables that communicate customer needs, implications, opportunities, and recommended actions.
• Identify opportunities to connect learning across studies, customer themes, product areas, and technology domains, and ensure relevant read-across is communicated to stakeholders.

Lead people, projects, and resources

• Directly lead, coach, and develop researchers and/or analysts; set clear goals and expectations, provide timely feedback, and support professional growth.
• Build a high-performance, customer-centered culture characterized by intellectual curiosity, collaboration, accountability, constructive challenge, and continuous improvement.
• Manage an assigned portfolio, including priorities, work plans, milestones, budget, supplier support, and stakeholder expectations.
• Direct study materials, suppliers, logistics, fieldwork, analysis, reporting, and stakeholder follow-through to meet agreed scope, timing, quality, and budget expectations.
• Provide clear status communication to leadership and stakeholders; surface risks and negotiate scope, timing, and resource trade-offs early.
• Manage research suppliers, budgets, schedules, tools, and facilities in accordance with GM processes and policies.

Your Skills & Abilities (Required Qualifications)

• Bachelor’s degree.
• 7+ years of relevant experience.
• Working knowledge of vehicle or product-development processes and the role of customer research in product decision-making.
• Experience leading or using primary research to inform product decisions.
• Demonstrated people-leadership experience, including setting goals, coaching, performance management, and developing team members.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects, priorities, schedules, and stakeholders in a complex, changing environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to create clear, concise, and actionable research deliverables.
• Strong presentation, facilitation, negotiation, and persuasive storytelling skills; able to communicate effectively with technical, business, program, and leadership audiences.
• Proficiency using AI-enabled tools to improve the speed, quality, and effectiveness of research and day-to-day work.
• High degree of creativity, resourcefulness, and sound critical thinking, with strong problem-solving, organizational, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States.
• GM does not provide immigration-related sponsorship for this role.

What Will Give You a Competitive Edge (Preferred Qualifications)

• Experience in automotive, mobility, connected services, consumer technology, digital products, or other complex hardware-software ecosystems.
• Software product development experience.
• Post-graduate degree.
• Direct market research experience across qualitative, quantitative, formative, generative, and evaluative methodologies.

GM does not provide immigration-related sponsorship for this role. Do not apply for this role if you will need GM immigration sponsorship now or in the future. This includes direct company sponsorship, entry of GM as the immigration employer of record on a government form, and any work authorization requiring a written submission or other immigration support from the company (e.g., H1-B, OPT, STEM OPT, CPT, TN, J-1, etc). This role is categorized as hybrid. This means the selected candidate is expected to report to a specific location at least 3 times a week {or other frequency dictated by their manager}. The selected candidate will be required to travel <25% for this role. This job is not eligible for relocation benefits. Any relocation costs would be the responsibility of the selected candidate.

About GM

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Why Join Us 

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Benefits Overview

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We encourage interested candidates to review the key responsibilities and qualifications for each role and apply for any positions that match their skills and capabilities. Applicants in the recruitment process may be required, where applicable, to successfully complete a role-related assessment(s) and/or a pre-employment screening prior to beginning employment. To learn more, visit How we Hire.

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