PlusAI

Senior/Staff Software Engineer, Motion Planning

PlusAI
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9 days ago
Santa Clara, CA, USASenior / Staff+

Base Salary

$130k - $220k/yr

Responsibilities

  • Design and implement decision-making and trajectory-generation algorithms that provide safety, comfort, and reliability across varied driving conditions.
  • Bring robotics and machine learning techniques from research into a production-grade, safety-critical autonomous-vehicle system.
  • Reason about socially nuanced driving situations, including merges, junctions, and interactions with other road users under uncertainty.
  • Use C++ numerical optimization frameworks and tools such as CasADi, Acados, Git, and ROS to integrate planning algorithms into the production stack.
  • Collaborate with ML and prediction teams to integrate probabilistic and multi-future scenario representations into planning decisions.
  • Perform system-level diagnostics and tuning using visualization tools such as Webviz.
  • Collaborate cross-functionally and produce system designs for high-level review and approval.

Requirements

  • MS with 1–2 years of relevant experience or a PhD in Computer Science, Robotics, or a related field.
  • Strong production software development skills in C++; Python experience is a plus.
  • Expertise in path planning, motion planning, trajectory generation, behavior planning, or optimal control.
  • Strong foundations in geometry, analysis, probability, kinematics, and dynamics.
  • Experience designing, implementing, and refining planning algorithms on a real-world robotic or vehicle platform.
  • Strong oral and written communication skills and the ability to collaborate across teams.
  • Preferred: PhD with 1–2 years or MS with 3–4 years of relevant experience.
  • Preferred: exposure to deep learning, imitation learning, transformer-based models, or diffusion-based models applied to decision-making or scenario generation.
  • Preferred: familiarity with autonomy safety frameworks such as RSS and collision avoidance/MRM logic.
  • Preferred: prior experience with safety-critical systems.

Benefits

  • Highly competitive salary and benefits package, including a 401(k) plan.
  • Catered free lunch, unlimited snacks, and beverages.
  • Opportunities for personal and professional development in a future-oriented autonomy field.

Tech Stack

Categories

Robotics
PlusAI

About PlusAI

201-500 employees
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