Senior Staff / Principal Software Engineer - Freeway Autonomy
At a glance
Senior Engineering Leadership role at Zoox. Foster City · full-time · $340,000–$493,000 base.
techroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Set the technical direction and roadmap for freeway autonomy, then coordinate teams to move toward driverless operation
- Find the biggest technical risks blocking driver-out readiness and lead the work to address them
- Build freeway-driving algorithms through design, coding, integration, testing and validation
- Explain technical trade-offs, risks and readiness to engineers, executives and other stakeholders
- Coach engineers and strengthen how the program designs, tests and validates high-speed autonomy
What you bring
- At least ten years of professional software engineering experience
- You have led the removal of a human driver from an autonomous vehicle on freeways or highways
- Deep expertise in an autonomy area such as planning, perception, prediction or another listed domain
- A track record of leading large engineering efforts from unclear goals through delivery
- You can communicate complex technical choices clearly to varied audiences, including executives
Who this fits
This senior staff or principal-level role suits an autonomy engineer who has taken freeway driving from supervised to driverless operation and can lead across teams. You’ll also mentor engineers and influence technical direction across the autonomy organization. The role is based in Foster City and is hybrid.
From the employer
Zoox is on an ambitious journey to develop a full-stack autonomous robotaxi solution, and freeways are the next frontier. We are looking for a Senior Staff or Principal Software Engineer who has played a significant role in removing the driver from an autonomous vehicle operating on freeways, and who can help Zoox navigate that same journey. You will bring deep technical expertise in a relevant autonomy domain — the specific domain is flexible — along with the hard-won judgment that comes from having taken a freeway driving program from supervised operation to driverless. This is a highly visible role with broad influence across the Autonomy organization.
In this role, you will:
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Guide autonomy-wide initiatives toward driverless freeway operation, including setting the technical vision and strategy, building the roadmap, and driving cross-functional execution
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Identify the highest-risk gaps between our current freeway capabilities and driver-out readiness, and lead the engineering work to close them
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Develop algorithms that enable freeway driving capabilities, spanning architecture, design, implementation, integration, testing, and verification and validation
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Communicate technical trade-offs, risk assessments, and readiness recommendations to diverse stakeholders, including senior and executive leadership
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Mentor engineers across the freeway program and raise the bar for how we design, test, and validate high-speed autonomous driving
Qualifications:
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10+ years of industry software experience
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Demonstrated technical leadership of removing the human driver from an autonomous vehicle operating on freeways or highways
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Deep technical expertise in at least one autonomy domain, such as behavior/motion planning, perception, prediction, simulation, or systems engineering
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Proven ability to lead large, cross-functional engineering efforts from ambiguity to shipped results
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Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex technical trade-offs for varied audiences including executives
Bonus Qualifications:
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Experience scaling and operating a driverless service after driver removal
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Experience constructing safety cases or defining driver-out readiness criteria for high-speed autonomous driving
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Proficiency in C++
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