(Creative / Senior / Lead) CMF Designer

Job Description

Work Arrangement

This role is categorized as on-site. Successful candidates are expected to work full time from the GM China Advanced Technical Center in Shanghai, China.

About GM China Design Studio

GM China Design Studio is both a production design studio and an advanced design studio. We shape meaningful vehicle experiences for GM brands serving customers in China and global markets, connecting near-term production programs with forward-looking exploration.

We are committed to creating an exceptional design environment where creativity, beauty, craftsmanship, and storytelling can thrive. Our designers work across disciplines and cultures to translate customer understanding, brand identity, emerging technologies, and new forms of mobility into compelling color, material, finish, and sensory experiences.

About This Evergreen Requisition

This evergreen requisition is established for talent pipelining purposes. GM China Design Studio is building a long-term pipeline of exceptional CMF Designers in support of current and anticipated business needs.

We welcome applications from outstanding designers around the world who are interested in contributing to exciting production programs and advanced design work in our China studio. Depending on business needs and the candidate’s experience, future opportunities may involve different levels of project ownership, creative responsibility, technical depth, and collaboration with global teams.

When submitting your application, please include:

• An updated resume or CV.

• An updated portfolio that clearly demonstrates your CMF design thinking, research, concept development, visual communication, material exploration, and relevant design work.

• Please ensure that your portfolio does not contain undisclosed, confidential, proprietary, or otherwise sensitive information, projects, or materials belonging to current or previous employers or clients.

After your application is submitted, our recruiting and design teams will review your materials. If there is alignment with a current or future opportunity, a recruiter will contact you to discuss potential next steps. Because this is an evergreen requisition, the timing of contact may vary according to business needs and the fit between your experience and upcoming opportunities.

If you do not meet every element listed below but are interested in exploring an opportunity with GM China Design Studio, we still encourage you to apply. We value distinctive creative perspectives, strong design potential, and the ability to contribute to a collaborative studio environment.

The Role -

CMF Designers in GM China Design Studio help shape the emotional, visual, and tactile experience of GM vehicles and advanced products for China and global markets. You may contribute across color, material, finish, graphics, trim, components, products, and other experiential or environmental design applications.

The role may span the complete CMF design process, from cultural and trend research, material innovation, and concept story creation through design development, supplier collaboration, color and material validation, production implementation, and final execution. You will work closely with interior, exterior, advanced design, UX/HMI, engineering, manufacturing, marketing, purchasing, suppliers, and global design studios to ensure that CMF solutions are distinctive, feasible, high quality, and aligned with design intent, cost, and timing.

Some opportunities may also involve customer-facing customization or dealership support, where you would help understand customer requirements and translate them into thoughtful and personalized CMF recommendations.

What You May Do

Your responsibilities may include the following, depending on your experience, assigned program, and business needs:

• Participate in CMF design for current and future GM vehicles, advanced products, mobility concepts, and related experiences across interiors, exteriors, and other design applications.

• Research global and regional cultural influences, consumer behavior, lifestyle developments, automotive trends, fashion, architecture, technology, art, materials, and manufacturing innovation.

• Analyze current design and material trends, anticipate emerging directions, and translate insights into relevant CMF strategies for future product development.

• Develop CMF concept stories, color and material directions, finish proposals, trim strategies, graphic applications, and cohesive design narratives that express brand identity and create emotional customer experiences.

• Explore innovative materials, finishes, processes, and technologies, balancing creativity, sustainability, sensory quality, durability, manufacturability, and program requirements.

• Communicate CMF ideas through physical samples, material boards, color chips, sketches, digital 2D and 3D visualization, animation, renderings, VR, presentations, and other appropriate design media.

• Use industry-standard or comparable tools to visualize and communicate concepts, which may include VRED, Blender, Photoshop, Illustrator, KeyShot, Unreal Engine, Premiere, After Effects, AI-enabled design tools, or other evolving technologies.

• Collaborate with interior, exterior, advanced design, UX/HMI, engineering, manufacturing, marketing, purchasing, and other cross-functional partners to integrate CMF solutions into complete vehicle and product experiences.

• Manage or support the CMF development process from early concept and material research through color and material development, supplier engagement, validation, production implementation, and final execution.

• Work with suppliers and vendors to identify new resources, develop materials and finishes, resolve technical or quality issues, and ensure that design intent is maintained through implementation.

• Build, organize, and maintain a comprehensive internal library of innovative materials, finishes, colors, samples, references, and supplier resources.

• Balance design ambition with cost, timing, quality, durability, manufacturing, sustainability, regulatory, and other program considerations.

• Present CMF concepts, trend research, material proposals, and project recommendations to design leadership, management, cross-functional teams, and other stakeholders.

• Maintain clear communication across global teams, regions, time zones, suppliers, and partners, building strong and productive working relationships.

• Support multiple projects and manage personal workflows effectively in a fast-paced and deadline-driven environment.

• Depending on the assignment, support customer-facing customization work at dealerships or other locations by understanding customer requirements and providing informed recommendations on color, material, finish, trim, and related design choices.

• Contribute to a collaborative studio culture by sharing knowledge, supporting other designers, and, for more experienced designers, mentoring or guiding colleagues when appropriate.

• Travel domestically or internationally when needed for design reviews, supplier development, material research, customer engagement, production support, or collaboration with global design teams.

What You May Bring

We welcome CMF designers with different career paths, backgrounds, and levels of experience. The following qualifications are intended to describe capabilities that may be relevant to these opportunities rather than serve as a checklist that every applicant must fully satisfy.

• A degree in Color and Materials Design, CMF Design, Textile Design, Fashion Design, Industrial Design, Transportation Design, Automotive Design, Product Design, Fine Arts, or a related discipline; equivalent professional experience and a compelling portfolio may also be considered.

• Experience in automotive CMF, transportation, mobility, industrial design, product design, materials, fashion, textiles, architecture, interiors, graphics, experiential design, or another closely related field.

• The ability to develop thoughtful and distinctive CMF concepts, strategies, stories, color palettes, material directions, finish proposals, and design recommendations.

• A strong sense of color, material, texture, finish, pattern, proportion, detail, craftsmanship, and overall aesthetics.

• The ability to connect CMF decisions with brand identity, customer needs, cultural context, user experience, technology, and the broader design vision.

• Experience with material research, trend analysis, concept storytelling, sample development, supplier collaboration, color and material validation, or production implementation. The depth of experience expected will vary according to the opportunity.

• Familiarity with automotive or product development and manufacturing processes is valuable, while experience from adjacent design fields is also welcome.

• The ability to communicate design intent through physical samples, material boards, sketches, 2D and 3D visualization, digital rendering, presentations, or other effective visual and tactile methods.

• Proficiency in relevant design and visualization software is welcome. Tools may include VRED, Blender, Photoshop, Illustrator, KeyShot, Unreal Engine, Premiere, After Effects, AI-enabled design tools, or comparable software. The specific toolset is less important than the quality of the design thinking and the ability to learn and adapt.

• An understanding of material performance, manufacturing constraints, supplier capabilities, durability, quality, sustainability, cost, timing, and the relationship between creative intent and production execution.

• Strong communication, interpersonal, and relationship-building skills, including the ability to clearly articulate a design vision and collaborate across functions, regions, cultures, and time zones.

• The ability to manage multiple priorities and workflows independently, while also contributing effectively within a team.

• A curious, proactive, and adaptable approach to new materials, technologies, cultural influences, customer expectations, and emerging design opportunities.

• Good English communication skills are beneficial for collaboration with global design studios and cross-functional partners. Additional language skills may be advantageous for some opportunities.

• For more experienced opportunities: the ability to independently drive CMF development, establish design direction, manage complex stakeholder and supplier relationships, influence cross-functional decisions, support production implementation, and mentor other designers.

• For emerging opportunities: demonstrated design potential, curiosity, willingness to learn, and the ability to develop thoughtful CMF concepts through a strong research, material, and visual communication process.

• Experience supporting customer-facing customization, dealership engagement, or high-end client needs may be beneficial for some opportunities, but it is not required for every position in this talent pipeline.

Why Join GM China Design Studio

You will have the opportunity to work in a studio that connects advanced design exploration with real production impact. You will collaborate with colleagues across China and the global GM Design network, explore the future of materials and sensory experience, contribute to vehicles and advanced products for diverse customers, and help shape the next generation of automotive design through color, material, finish, creativity, beauty, technology, and storytelling.

We are interested in meeting exceptional CMF designers at different stages of their careers and from a range of related design disciplines. Your portfolio, perspective, and potential may align with an opportunity even if your experience does not map perfectly to every item in this description.

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.

Non-Discrimination and Equal Employment Opportunities

General Motors is committed to being a workplace that is not only free of unlawful discrimination, but one that genuinely fosters inclusion and belonging. We strongly believe that providing an inclusive workplace creates an environment in which our employees can thrive and develop better products for our customers.

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.

Accommodations

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