(Modeler / Senior Modeler) Digital & Physical Modeling
General Motors · Shanghai
Job Description
Work Arrangement
These opportunities are 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 teams work across disciplines and cultures to translate creative ideas into expressive forms, refined surfaces, and tangible vehicle experiences through digital and physical craftsmanship.
About This Evergreen Requisition
This evergreen requisition is established for talent pipelining purposes. GM China Design Studio is building a long-term pipeline of talent in Digital Modeling and Surfacing, Clay Modeling and Sculpting, and CAM/CNC Clay Milling, primarily at Modeler and Senior Modeler levels, in support of current and anticipated business needs. Depending on the specialization, opportunities may also be titled Digital Sculptor, Digital Surface Modeler, Clay Sculptor, or Clay Modeler.
We welcome exceptional talent from around the world who are interested in contributing to production programs and advanced design exploration in our China studio. These are hands-on, individual-contributor opportunities; responsibilities and project ownership will reflect each candidate’s specialization and experience. People-management experience is not required.
This posting covers related specialisms rather than a single role requiring expertise in every discipline. We welcome digital modeling specialists, physical modeling specialists, and candidates whose experience connects digital surfacing, clay sculpting, and machining.
When submitting your application, please include:
- An updated resume or CV, indicating your primary specialization, relevant tools and processes, and project experience.
- An updated portfolio or relevant work samples demonstrating your understanding of form, surface quality, technical problem-solving, and personal contribution. These may include digital surface studies, physical model photographs, or examples of modeling and machining work you are authorized to share.
Please ensure your materials exclude undisclosed, confidential, proprietary, or otherwise sensitive information, projects, or materials belonging to employers or clients. Share only work you are authorized to disclose; academic, personal, or non-confidential examples may also demonstrate your capabilities.
Our recruiting and design teams will review your materials. If your profile aligns with a current or future opportunity, a recruiter will contact you to discuss next steps. This is an ongoing talent pipeline, rather than a commitment to an immediate vacancy; contact timing will depend on business needs and relevant opportunities.
If you do not meet every element below, we still encourage you to apply. We value artistic judgment, technical craft, strong specialist capabilities, and the potential to grow.
The Opportunity
Help transform vehicle design ideas into digital surfaces and physical models that teams can evaluate, refine, and develop toward production. Within our broader design delivery and studio operations environment, you will combine artistic sensitivity with technical precision to preserve design intent while addressing engineering criteria, build feasibility, quality, and timing.
Digital modeling opportunities focus on developing vehicle and component geometry, from early form exploration to refined surfaces and finished digital models. Physical modeling opportunities focus on building, sculpting, refining, and maintaining interior or exterior clay models. CAM/CNC-focused opportunities support the accurate and safe machining of those models.
You will collaborate with relevant partners across Interior and Exterior Design, digital and physical modeling, Studio Engineering, fabrication, and studio operations. Assignments may cover early theme development, design reviews, detailed refinement, and later-stage validation for advanced or production programs.
What You May Do
Responsibilities will be selected according to your specialization, experience, and assigned program. You are not expected to perform every activity listed below.
Digital Modeling & Surface Development
- Create, develop, and refine digital models of vehicle interiors, exteriors, or components using Autodesk Alias or comparable surface-modeling tools.
- Translate design sketches, reference data, and designer feedback into three-dimensional forms that capture the intended proportion, character, and surface expression.
- Develop curves and surfaces with attention to continuity, highlights, and overall quality, including Class-A-quality surfacing where required by the assignment.
- Incorporate engineering criteria and design specifications into digital models while working with partners to preserve the design theme and resolve conflicting requirements.
- Prepare and maintain accurate digital deliverables for reviews and downstream modeling or engineering activities, following agreed data-management and handoff practices.
- Evaluate and improve existing geometry, incorporating feedback and resolving surface-quality or technical issues throughout development.
Clay Modeling & Physical Sculpting
- Build, sculpt, refine, and maintain interior or exterior clay models in collaboration with designers and other modeling specialists.
- Translate design inputs and reference data into physical forms that express design character and meet agreed surface-quality and timing targets.
- Develop and assess line, proportion, form, and surface transitions using appropriate clay-modeling tools and processes.
- Refine machined surfaces and incorporate design changes, balancing aesthetic intent with machining and model-build feasibility.
- Prepare models for design reviews and evaluations, supporting ongoing surface refinement and daily model maintenance.
- Coordinate with digital modeling, engineering, and machining partners to maintain consistency between design data and physical models.
CAM Programming & CNC Clay Milling
- Develop roughing, semi-finishing, and finishing toolpaths using PowerMILL or equivalent CAM software for assigned clay-model machining work.
- Select appropriate tools, machining strategies, feeds, step-over, and related parameters to balance efficiency, accuracy, and surface quality.
- Set up and operate clay milling equipment within your training and authorization, including fixturing, tool setting, coordinate-system and zero verification, and test cuts.
- Monitor machining, identify issues such as chatter or potential collisions, and stop or escalate unsafe conditions in accordance with established procedures.
- Inspect machining results and collaborate with sculptors and digital modelers to address discrepancies and support subsequent refinement.
- Follow machine-operation and workshop safety requirements rigorously, maintaining a clean and orderly work area.
Contributions Shared Across Specialisms
- Plan and complete assigned work against agreed program milestones, communicating progress, dependencies, and quality or timing risks early.
- Apply creativity, accuracy, analytical judgment, and attention to detail when resolving modeling challenges with design and engineering partners.
- Follow established modeling processes, data-management practices, and workshop procedures; contribute ideas for improving quality and efficiency.
- Stay informed about relevant design trends, modeling technologies, production methods, materials, scanning, and inspection approaches.
- Share expertise and, where appropriate, provide peer guidance on modeling techniques without formal supervisory responsibility.
- Protect confidential design information and respect intellectual property throughout model development, data exchange, and presentation.
What You May Bring
We welcome different career paths and levels of experience. These capabilities describe potential areas of fit, not a cumulative checklist. Expertise in both digital and physical modeling is not required, and CAM/CNC proficiency applies specifically to machining-related assignments.
Foundations Across Specialisms
- Education, vocational training, or equivalent practical experience in industrial or transportation design, sculpture, ceramics, model making, digital surfacing, machining, or a related field.
- A portfolio or relevant work samples demonstrating creative proficiency, craftsmanship, accuracy, and an understanding of line, form, proportion, and surface development.
- Experience gained through professional practice, apprenticeships, internships, academic projects, or independent work, appropriate to the opportunity. Relevant experience beyond automotive OEMs is also welcome.
- The ability to interpret design intent, incorporate technical criteria, and collaborate constructively with creative and engineering partners.
- Clear oral and written communication, including the ability to communicate effectively in English for the collaboration needs of the position.
- An organized approach to deadlines, ownership of assigned work, and a commitment to safe working practices and continuous improvement.
- Familiarity with design-development milestones, digital data management, or modeling delivery processes is helpful. Prior knowledge of GM-specific systems, training programs, or terminology is not a prerequisite; willingness to learn applicable processes is important.
Relevant to Digital Modeling Opportunities
- Proficiency in Alias or comparable surface-modeling software appropriate to the assignment.
- Capabilities in curve creation, form development, surface refinement, and surface-quality assessment.
- The ability to integrate engineering requirements into design themes and digital surfaces without losing their intended character.
- Experience developing Class-A-quality surfaces or finished models to design and engineering specifications is valuable for relevant senior or production-focused opportunities, but not required across the entire pipeline.
Relevant to Clay Modeling Opportunities
- Hands-on clay-modeling skills, including use of sculpting tools, surface refinement, and physical model maintenance.
- Sensitivity to form and the ability to evaluate and refine interior or exterior surfaces in collaboration with designers.
- An understanding of physical model-build and machining constraints, appropriate to your experience.
- Experience across both interior and exterior programs, or from early themes through later validation, is advantageous for some assignments rather than a universal requirement.
Relevant to CAM/CNC Opportunities
- Practical experience in PowerMILL or comparable CAM software, including applicable three-axis or five-axis toolpath development.
- Understanding of roughing and finishing strategies, tool selection, feeds, step-over, and their effects on surface quality.
- Demonstrated competence in the setup and safe operation of relevant milling equipment, including fixturing, tool setting, coordinate verification, and test cuts.
- The judgment to recognize machining risks, follow safety procedures, and work within training and authorization. Independent machine operation requires demonstrated competence and applicable authorization.
Experience and Ownership
- For Modeler opportunities: relevant foundational craft, learning agility, and the ability to develop assigned work with appropriate guidance and feedback.
- For Senior Modeler opportunities: the ability to independently own complex work within your specialization, resolve aesthetic or technical challenges, coordinate with partners, and contribute expertise to shared practices.
We do not apply a single fixed years-of-experience threshold across this talent pipeline. The expected depth of capability and independence will depend on the position, including any role-specific technical and safety requirements.
Why Join GM China Design Studio
Connect advanced exploration with production impact in an internationally connected studio. Whether your strength is digital surfacing, hands-on clay sculpting, or precision machining, you can help turn creative ideas into models that make future vehicle design tangible.
We welcome exceptional specialists and multidisciplinary modelers at different stages of their careers. Your craftsmanship, perspective, and potential may align with an opportunity even if your experience does not map perfectly to every item in this description.




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