Triage / Root Cause & Development Engineer - Automotive Infotainment & Connectivity

Project overview

Role: Triage / Root Cause & Development Engineer Automotive Infotainment & Connectivity

Position Count: 1

Project details

6 months

Position Summary

The Triage / Root Cause & Development Engineer is responsible for end-to-end investigation, reproduction, root-cause identification, and software-level resolution of complex automotive infotainment and connectivity issues reported from customer vehicles, warranty claims, validation fleets, and production programs.

This role combines system-level triage, embedded software debugging, log analysis, source-code analysis, and hands-on development capability. The engineer is expected to drive an issue from customer symptom through technical root cause, corrective action, and validation.

The role requires strong cross-domain knowledge across Android Automotive / Android infotainment, embedded software, vehicle networks, connectivity, audio, projection, USB, power management, OTA/FOTA, and vehicle interfaces.

Core Responsibilities

Analyze customer complaints, warranty claims, and field incidents.

Translate customer symptoms into reproducible technical failure scenarios.

Build chronological event timelines using logs from multiple system domains.

Identify the first point of deviation from expected system behavior.

Determine whether the issue originates from:

o Application / HMI

o Android Framework / Services

o Middleware / HAL

o Linux / Kernel

o MCU / Vehicle interface

o Network / external ECU

Develop hypothesis-driven investigation plans and validate root cause with evidence.

Distinguish primary root cause from secondary symptoms or recovery behavior.

Perform read-across analysis across software versions, vehicle variants, and programs.

Support critical warranty, customer escalation, and warroom activities.

Typical issues may include(but not limited to):

o HU restart, freeze, ANR, crash, or black screen

o Delayed startup / display activation

o Audio loss, volume, routing, or source-switching issues

o CarPlay / Android Auto failures

o Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular, Ethernet, or USB issues

o VHAL / CAN signal processing failures

o Power-state / suspend-resume problems

o OTA / FOTA update failures

o Navigation, cluster, or HMI synchronization issues

Review C, C++, Java, Android, Linux, or QNX source code associated with the failure.

Trace execution from application through framework, middleware, HAL, kernel, and vehicle interfaces.

Correlate runtime logs with source-code execution paths.

Identify defects such as:

o Race conditions

o Incorrect state handling

o Timeout / retry failures

o IPC / Binder failures

o Synchronization issues

o Memory/resource problems

Develop corrective software patches or prototype fixes where applicable.

Add diagnostic logging or instrumentation to isolate intermittent failures.

Support code review, regression assessment, and fix validation.

The engineer is expected to provide code-level corrective recommendations, not only identify the suspected component.

Reproduce issues using:

o Production/development vehicles

o Infotainment benches

o HIL/VHIL systems

o Component-level test setups

Validate software level, vehicle configuration, coding, and calibration.

Simulate ignition, sleep/wake, suspend/resume, remote start, and other vehicle states.

Reproduce intermittent and timing-sensitive conditions through controlled testing.

Compare failed behavior with known-good systems.

Validate corrective fixes under original failure conditions.

Capture and analyze data including:

Android logcat / bugreport / dumpsys

ANR traces / tombstones / native crashes

dmesg / kernel logs / pstore / ramoops

CAN / CAN-FD / LIN traces

Automotive Ethernet

MCU and vehicle logs

Wi-Fi / Bluetooth / cellular traces

USB enumeration and power-control logs

TCP/IP and packet captures

Typical tools include:

ADB, Linux shell, tcpdump, Wireshark, CANoe/CANalyzer, GDB, Git/Gerrit, Jira, Jenkins, Android Studio, ip, netstat/ss, and diagnostic utilities.

The engineer must be able to correlate events across multiple ECUs and logging sources into a single end-to-end failure sequence.

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor s or Master s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Embedded Systems, or a related technical discipline.

5+ years of hands-on experience in embedded software development, automotive infotainment, system integration, debugging, or technical root-cause analysis.

Strong programming and debugging skills in C/C++ and/or Java, with the ability to review existing code, trace execution paths, and develop or recommend corrective software changes.

Hands-on experience debugging Android, Embedded Linux, and/or QNX-based systems.

Strong understanding of embedded system fundamentals, including process/thread behavior, IPC, synchronization, state machines, watchdogs, crash handling, and system startup/shutdown.

Working knowledge of automotive communication and diagnostics, including CAN/CAN-FD, UDS, Automotive Ethernet, ECU communication, and vehicle integration.

Understanding of vehicle power-state management, including ignition, startup/shutdown, sleep/wake, suspend/resume, and related ECU interactions.

Proven ability to analyze and correlate complex system logs, traces, crash data, and software execution sequences across multiple components.

Strong troubleshooting skills with the ability to distinguish software, hardware, configuration, integration, and timing-related failures.

Ability to develop hypotheses, identify required diagnostic evidence, reproduce issues, and independently drive complex technical problems from initial triage through validated root cause and closure.

Strong technical communication and documentation skills, with the ability to clearly present failure sequence, supporting evidence, root cause, corrective action, and validation results.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with Android Automotive / Android infotainment platform development or debugging, including Android Framework and native components.

Hands-on experience with one or more Android platform areas such as CarService, VHAL, Binder IPC, HIDL/AIDL, Audio Framework/HAL, SystemServer, or native services.

Experience with automotive SoC/platform environments such as Qualcomm, Intel, NXP, Renesas, or similar embedded platforms.

Experience integrating or debugging Apple CarPlay and/or Android Auto, including wired and wireless projection.

Strong knowledge of one or more connectivity domains, including Bluetooth/BLE, Wi-Fi, USB, TCP/IP networking, Automotive Ethernet, cellular, or telematics.

Experience troubleshooting automotive audio, multimedia, display/HMI, navigation, or power-management systems.

Experience with OTA/FOTA software update architecture, update engines, flashing, recovery, and failure analysis.

Exposure to AUTOSAR, MCU software, vehicle abstraction layers, or low-level ECU interfaces.

Experience with debugging tools such as ADB, Wireshark/tcpdump, CANoe/CANalyzer, Android bugreport/dumpsys, kernel logs, tombstones, and ANR traces.

Experience supporting warranty, field-quality, production, or customer escalation investigations.

Experience working cross-functionally with OEMs, Tier-1/Tier-2 suppliers, platform vendors, development teams, validation teams, and vehicle integration teams.

Demonstrated experience applying structured problem-solving methods such as 8D, 5-Why, Fault Tree Analysis, or hypothesis-driven debugging.

The role requires an engineer who can bridge development, integration, validation, field quality, and warranty engineering and independently drive high-impact issues to technical closure.

Regards

Seema Kousar

Job Facts: Contract Independent | Contract Corp To Corp | Contract W2 | 6 Months | Travel Required | Able to Sponsor | On-site | $40 - $45/hr

Skills: AUTOSAR, Bluetooth, Code Review, Android, Embedded Systems, Failure Analysis, Ethernet, Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Embedded Linux, Embedded Software, Intellectual Property, C++, CANalyzer, CANoe, Debugging, Documentation, IPC, Instrumentation, IP, Interfaces, Issue Tracking, JIRA, MCU, TCP/IP, System On A Chip, Technical Communication, Telematics, Testing, Recovery, Multimedia, Network, Power Management, OTA, Root Cause Analysis, Signal Processing, Problem Solving, QNX, Regression Analysis, System Integration, ROOT, Routing, GDB, HAL, Middleware, SAP FI, USB, Wireless Communication, Tier 2, Tier 1, Thread, Tcpdump, Jenkins, Gerrit, Git, HMI, Hardware Installation, Java, Linux, Log Analysis, Switches

Reference: Dice Id: RTX1cd042 | Position Id: 9131306

• Customer Issue Triage & Root Cause Analysis
• Source Code Analysis & Development
• Vehicle & Bench Reproduction
• Log, Trace & Diagnostic Analysis
• Start: flexible
• Duration: 6 Months
• Remote: onsite
• Location: Auburn Hills, MI, US, US