Staff Engineer

About the role

Motional is building the future of mobility through self-driving technology. We are seeking a Staff Engineer to contribute to our advanced autonomous vehicle systems. This role involves significant technical leadership and impact on core product development. The successful candidate will own the design and execution of critical software components that define the capabilities of our vehicles. You will operate at the intersection of complex system requirements and real-world deployment constraints. This position requires a deep commitment to engineering excellence and product reliability. You will be responsible for translating high-level product goals into robust technical implementations. Your work will directly influence the safety and performance of autonomous driving platforms.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Architect and develop core software modules that power perception and planning stacks for autonomous vehicles.
• Lead technical design reviews and advocate for scalable system architectures across multiple engineering teams.
• Mentor senior engineers and guide them through complex problem solving related to vehicle behavior and system integration.
• Partner with product managers to translate ambiguous requirements into concrete technical specifications and deliverables.
• Drive the implementation of best practices for code quality, testing, and operational reliability in production environments.
• Analyze massive datasets from vehicle logs to identify edge cases and drive the improvement of algorithmic performance.
• Collaborate with hardware engineers to ensure software optimizations align with sensor and compute constraints.
• Define and own key technical metrics that measure the success and safety of autonomous driving features.
• Evaluate and integrate new open-source and proprietary technologies to maintain a competitive engineering advantage.
• Act as a primary point of contact for resolving high-severity technical issues that impact vehicle testing and deployment.

Requirements

• Hold a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
• Possess 7+ years of professional software engineering experience in a fast-paced development environment.
• Demonstrate proven experience in developing and shipping large-scale software systems that handle real-world loads.
• Show expertise in C++ programming, including low-level systems concepts and performance optimization.
• Have direct experience with robotics or autonomous systems development in a professional setting.
• Exhibit strong communication skills to articulate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Display the ability to work effectively in a distributed team environment across multiple time zones.
• Maintain a strong sense of ownership for product quality and reliability under demanding deadlines.

Nice to have

• Hold a Master's or PhD in a relevant technical discipline with a focus on robotics, computer vision, or similar fields.
• Bring experience with simulation environments for autonomous vehicles to accelerate testing and validation workflows.
• Demonstrate familiarity with machine learning pipelines and deployment strategies for model-driven features.

Practical notes

Motional sponsors visas for qualified candidates.

Travel may be required for in-person collaboration.

The will play a pivotal role in ensuring the technical success of our autonomous vehicle programs. You will be expected to dive deep into complex codebases and understand the intricate interactions between sensors, algorithms, and control systems. Your responsibilities will include not only writing code but also establishing the technical vision that guides long-term product development. You will need to balance innovation with the practical realities of safety certification and field deployment. This role demands a high level of intellectual curiosity and the ability to learn new domains quickly. You will be evaluated on your ability to deliver solutions that are both elegant and robust. Success in this position requires a proactive approach to identifying risks and proposing mitigation strategies early in the development lifecycle.

This position is critical for bridging the gap between research prototypes and production-grade software. You will work closely with cross-functional partners to ensure that software capabilities align with market needs and vehicle hardware limitations. Your expertise in C++ will be essential for building the performance-sensitive components of our system. You will leverage your experience in robotics to contribute to the overall system architecture and interface definitions. The ability to design systems that are both efficient and maintainable is a core expectation of this role. You will be responsible for creating documentation that enables other teams to use your components effectively. Collaboration will be a key theme, as you will work with data scientists, hardware engineers, and validation teams. Your contributions will help shape the standards and tools used by engineers across the company.

Motional is committed to building a diverse team and encourages applications from all qualified individuals. The dynamic nature of the autonomous driving industry requires engineers who can adapt to changing priorities and emerging technologies. You will need to manage multiple concurrent projects while maintaining a clear focus on critical path objectives. The ability to debug issues in complex, multi-layered systems is a fundamental requirement. You will utilize simulation environments to validate changes before they reach physical vehicles. This helps reduce risk and accelerate the iteration cycle significantly. Your work will contribute to the continuous improvement of our software stack. You will be part of a team that is pushing the boundaries of what is possible in self-driving technology. The impact of your work will be seen in every mile driven autonomously.

This role offers the opportunity to work on challenging problems with significant real-world implications. You will join a team that is passionate about innovation and excellence. The technical depth of this position is suitable for an experienced engineer looking to make a lasting impact. Motional provides the resources and support needed to succeed in this demanding role. If you are ready to contribute to the future of transportation, we encourage you to apply.