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Car Tuning Jobs in Austin, TX (NOW HIRING)

Car Tuning information

See Austin, TX salary details

$9

$18

$47

How much do car tuning jobs pay per hour?

As of Aug 27, 2026, the average hourly pay for car tuning in Austin, TX is $18.43, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $11.92 and $17.40 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is car tuning?

Car tuning is the process of modifying a vehicle to improve its performance, appearance, or handling. This can include adjustments to the engine, suspension, exhaust system, or computer software to boost power, increase fuel efficiency, or create a customized driving experience. Car enthusiasts often tune their vehicles for better speed, acceleration, or unique styling. Tuning can range from simple upgrades like replacing air filters to complex modifications like engine remapping.

What are car tuning jobs?

Car tuning jobs involve modifying the engine or body of a car to prepare it for a race or exhibition. An auto technician, or performance technician, alters the car’s engine or software to increase the car's speed, handling, or other measurable performance. Auto body specialists make cosmetic additions or changes to the body of the vehicle, such as body kits, spoilers, and side skirts. They may also add visuals using vinyl wraps, paint, or stencils. Car tuners often choose to specialize; they may focus on engine or body modifications, or they may specialize further and only modify certain manufacturers or types of cars.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a car tuning specialist, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Car Tuning Specialist, you need in-depth automotive knowledge, mechanical aptitude, and experience with engine management systems, often supported by relevant technical training or automotive certifications. Familiarity with diagnostic tools, ECU tuning software, and performance measurement systems is essential for effective modifications. Attention to detail, problem-solving abilities, and strong customer communication skills help ensure client satisfaction and high-quality results. These skills and qualities are crucial for optimizing vehicle performance safely and meeting customer expectations in a specialized automotive field.

What are some common challenges car tuners face when working on modern vehicles?

Car tuners often face challenges when working on modern vehicles due to the complexity of electronic control units (ECUs) and integrated software systems. Many newer cars require specialized tools and up-to-date knowledge of proprietary software to safely modify performance settings without causing drivability issues or voiding warranties. Additionally, tuners must stay informed about evolving emission standards and legal regulations, which can vary by region and impact the types of modifications allowed. Working collaboratively with other automotive professionals, such as mechanics and diagnostic technicians, is often necessary to ensure optimal results and compliance.

What is the difference between Car Tuning vs Car Mechanics?

AspectCar TuningCar Mechanics
CredentialsOften no formal certification, but specialized tuning coursesCertified automotive technician or mechanic license
Work EnvironmentPerformance shops, custom garages, racing teamsAuto repair shops, service centers, dealerships
Industry UsageEnhancing vehicle performance and aestheticsMaintaining and repairing vehicles
Common Search IntentPerformance upgrades, ECU tuning, custom modificationsDiagnostics, repairs, routine maintenance

Car tuning focuses on modifying vehicles to improve performance, aesthetics, and customization, often involving ECU remapping and parts upgrades. Car mechanics perform general repairs, diagnostics, and maintenance to ensure vehicle safety and functionality. While both roles work within the automotive industry, tuning emphasizes performance enhancement, whereas mechanics focus on repair and upkeep.

How much do car tuners get paid?

Car tuners typically earn between $30,000 and $60,000 annually, depending on experience, location, and skill level. Skilled tuners with certifications and specialized tools can earn higher wages, especially in high-demand markets or custom tuning shops.

Is there a career in car tuning?

A career in car tuning involves modifying and optimizing vehicles for performance, appearance, or efficiency. Professionals often work as customizers, mechanics, or in automotive shops, requiring skills in engine tuning, electronics, and sometimes certifications like ASE. The field offers opportunities in automotive customization, racing teams, and specialty shops.

What are popular job titles related to Car Tuning jobs in Austin, TX?

For Car Tuning jobs in Austin, TX, the most frequently searched job titles are:

What job categories do people searching Car Tuning jobs in Austin, TX look for?

The top searched job categories for Car Tuning jobs in Austin, TX are:

What cities near Austin, TX are hiring for Car Tuning jobs?

Cities near Austin, TX with the most Car Tuning job openings:

Infographic showing various Car Tuning job openings in Austin, TX as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 43% Full Time, 52% Part Time, and 5% Contract. Highlights an 99% Physical, and 1% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $38,340 per year, or $18.4 per hour.

Senior ML Accelerator Engineer - GPU

Austin, TX


General Motors
Transportation Equipment Manufacturing • 10K+ employees

8.2

Company rating: 8.2 out of 10

Based on 307 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

3rd of 45 rated automakers

People enjoy working here

Good employer

Paid breaks


$170K - $258K/yr

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Retirement, PTO

Re-posted 23 days ago


Job description

Job Description

About the Mission
GM's vision of Zero Crashes, Zero Emissions, and Zero Congestion guides everything we do in autonomous and assisted driving. The AV organization is building advanced automated driving technologies, including Level 4-capable fully self-driving systems, to move us toward safer, more sustainable, and more accessible mobility. For the AI Kernels & Compilers team, that mission shows up in the details: turning cuttingedge perception, prediction, and planning research into productiongrade software that can run efficiently and reliably on real vehicles at scale. We pioneer new approaches to model export, kernel development, and performance engineering so that every cycle on our accelerators translates into better situational awareness, faster reaction times, and more robust behavior on the road. If you want your compiler and kernels work to directly influence how automated vehicles understand and react to the world - while operating at the safety, reliability and scale of a company like GM - this is where that impact becomes real.
About the Team
The AI Kernels team builds highperformance GPU kernels and custom libraries that sit at the heart of our onvehicle ML inference for ADAS and autonomous driving. We own making core AI workloads faster, more reliable, and easier to maintain and deploy on real cars, under realworld constraints.
That means:

  • Designing and implementing custom operators when vendor libraries hit their limits
  • Integrating those kernels deep into our ML runtime stack
  • Debugging and tuning GPU performance across the AV software stack, often on hardwareintheloop
  • We partner closely with AI Solutions, AI Compilers, AI Architecture, and AI Tooling to ensure models deploy efficiently to the car while consistently meeting strict latency, throughput, and reliability targets. If you enjoy pushing GPUs to their limits and seeing your work directly impact how autonomous vehicles perceive and act in the world, this is the team for you.


What you'll be doing (Responsibilities)

  • Design, implement, benchmark, and iterate on CUDA-based kernels and custom operators to squeeze every last drop of performance out of on-vehicle inference workloads.
  • Build and improve tooling and infrastructure that make it easier to profile, debug, and validate CUDA kernels and accelerator-backend code across the AV stack.
  • Partner with AI Solutions, Compilers, and Architecture to translate model and system requirements into concrete kernel roadmaps, priorities, and project plans.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams (compiler, performance tooling, runtime, deployment solutions) to deliver reusable, reliable, high-performance libraries into production.
  • Maintain high technology standards, methodologies, processes, and guidelines for GPU kernel development and performance engineering through code review.
  • Manage relationships with internal customers to ensure our kernels and libraries meet real-world needs

Your Skills & Abilities (Required Qualifications)

  • Minimum 2+ years of relevant industry experience or equivalent experience
  • BS, MS or PhD in CS, or related technical field
  • Excellent GPU programming skills in CUDA, with a thorough understanding of parallel programming patterns and GPU architecture.
  • Hands-on experience benchmarking, profiling, debugging and optimizing accelerator libraries and kernels to extract optimal performance using the NSight suite of tools or similar.
  • Strong background in software architecture, library design, and design patterns.
  • Strong C++ programming skills with the ability to feel comfortable in large codebases.
  • Solid background in system performance, high performance computing and/or architecture-aware optimizations.
  • Strong communication skills and the ability to work collaboratively within a team
  • Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills


What Will Give You A Competitive Edge (Preferred Qualifications)

  • 2+ years of relevant industry experience or equivalent experience
  • Experience with tensor core programming, CUTLASS and/or CuTe
  • Experience with ML model architectures, in particular transformer-based
  • Experience with low latency or real time systems
  • Experience with lower levels of an accelerator software stack (i.e. drivers, runtimes, and compilers)

Compensation: The compensation information is a good faith estimate only. It is based on what a successful applicant might be paid in accordance with applicable state laws. The compensation may not be representative for positions located outside of New York, Colorado, California, or Washington.

  • The salary range for this role: is$170,100 to $258,300. The actual base salary a successful candidate will be offered within this range will vary based on factors relevant to the position.
  • Bonus Potential: An incentive pay program offers payouts based on company performance, job level, and individual performance.
  • Benefits: GM offers a variety of health and wellbeing benefit programs. Benefit options include medical, dental, vision, Health Savings Account, Flexible Spending Accounts, retirement savings plan, sickness and accident benefits, life insurance, paid vacation & holidays, tuition assistance programs, employee assistance program, GM vehicle discounts and more.
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 may be eligible for relocation benefits.

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.

Benefits Overview

From day one, we're looking out for your well-being-at work and at home-so you can focus on realizing your ambitions. Learn how GM supports a rewarding career that rewards you personally by visiting Total Rewards resources.

Non-Discrimination and Equal Employment Opportunities (U.S.)

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.

All employment decisions are made on a non-discriminatory basis without regard to sex, race, color, national origin, citizenship status, religion, age, disability, pregnancy or maternity status, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran or protected veteran, or any other similarly protected status in accordance with federal, state and local laws.

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

General Motors offers opportunities to all job seekers including individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation to assist with your job search or application for employment, email us or call us at 1-800-865-7580. In your email, please include a description of the specific accommodation you are requesting as well as the job title and requisition number of the position for which you are applying.


General Motors logo

About General Motors

Sourced by ZipRecruiter

General Motors is a company with global scale and capabilities, headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, with employees around the world. The company employs over 165,000 people, serves six continents, operates across 22 time zones, and has a diverse workforce speaking 75 languages1. GM’s vision is to drive the world forward by pioneering innovations that move and connect people to what matters. The company is working towards an all-electric future with its new Ultium Platform and is pushing transportation options beyond our wildest imaginations with autonomous vehicles. GM is also committed to becoming the most inclusive company in the world.

Industry

Transportation equipment manufacturing

Company size

10,000+ Employees

Headquarters location

Detroit, MI, US

Year founded

1908


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