Software Compliance Engineer (Contractor)

Job description

Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America, Inc. (MBRDNA) is seeking a Software Compliance Engineer (contract) to serve as a key technical advisor on the legal team to ensure that product and engineering development, systems, and processes are compliant with applicable regulatory and industry standards for a global automotive company. This role is ideal for an engineer with a desire to collaborate with legal and engineering teams to identify and prevent compliance risks, to monitor changes in standards and applicable regulations, and to drive continuous improvement to maintain conformity and reduce risk. Furthermore, this role is ideal for an engineer with a desire to focus on the emerging regulatory landscape for automotive technologies. The successful candidate is a business-savvy advisor who translates complex regulatory requirements into practical, actionable guidance for legal, engineering, and executive stakeholders. This is a contractor position with an expected duration of six (6) months, with the possibility of extension. Hybrid (2-3 days in office) if candidate is located within commuting distance of our offices in Ann Arbor, MI; Atlanta, GA; or San Jose, CA. Otherwise, U.S. remote. Relocation assistance is not available. This role may require occasional travel for team meetings and business needs. ### Job Responsibilities: - Serve as the key technical liaison between the legal team and engineering organizations to ensure alignment with U.S. and global regulations across trade (e.g., export compliance) and new/emerging technologies (e.g., AI, ADS/ADAS, data). - Identify and resolve compliance topics in product and engineering design. - Research and identify applicable regulatory and industry compliance regulations and standards. - Develop MBRDNA’s compliance processes by translating compliance requirements into scalable, automated, and engineer-friendly solutions. - Prepare commodity classifications by collaborating with software development and engineering teams to understand functionality for accurate classification. - Support organizational trainings on relevant regulations. - Identify, analyze, and prioritize compliance-based risks, communicating potential impacts to company leadership. - Perform technical analyses to support regulatory submissions. - Act as a bridge between Legal, Engineering, Procurement, HR, IT, and other stakeholders to identify and mitigate compliance-based risks. ### Minimum Qualifications: - Minimum 7 years of experience working in the tech industry, with the majority of experience in managing technical compliance topics, with emphasis on software compliance topics. - Undergraduate Degree in Computer Science or Software Engineering, with a Master’s Degree in Computer Science or Software Engineering strongly preferred. - Ability to manage various projects including coordination between Legal, Engineering, Procurement, HR, IT, and other stakeholders. - Ability to communicate technical concepts clearly to attorneys and explain regulatory requirements to other software developers. - Strong analytical, research, and communication skills, with high attention to detail and the ability to work collaboratively with legal, engineering, and business teams. - Exceptional ability to distill complex concepts into clear and concise business-friendly advice, including practical, actionable recommendations. - Proven ability to manage high-volume workflows and competing priorities in a fast-paced environment. - Capacity to work independently, as well as part of a team in different time zones - Proficiency in Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Teams, Excel, PowerPoint), Jira, and similar tools. - Ability to quickly adapt to specialized systems. ### Preferred Qualifications: - Experience advising on compliance tool development for a large enterprise; experience with AI as an additional plus. - Experience working in global tech and/or automotive companies. - Willingness to travel occasionally within the U.S. for in-person collaboration.