Staff Motion Planning Engineer - Trajectory Generation (Pittsburgh)

Mission Summary:On our Motion team, you will serve as a technical leader, leveraging your deep expertise in motion planning, robotics, and software development to architect and advance the capabilities of production-ready autonomous vehicles. In this role, you will drive innovative research, own systemic design processes, and spearhead the implementation of performance-critical algorithms that enable safe, comfortable, and intuitive autonomous vehicle behaviors across Motional's fleet of robotaxis.If you are passionate about autonomous driving, thrive on solving challenging motion planning problems, and are eager to make a significant impact in a rapidly evolving field, we want to hear from you.Technical Scope:Architect State-of-the-Art Solutions: Drive the long-term technical strategy and framework for motion planning and trajectory optimization algorithms to guarantee safe, smooth, and comfortable vehicle motion.Scalable Core Software Architecture: Own the structural design of robust and scalable software that enables real on-road impact by evaluating, benchmarking, and integrating diverse optimal control techniques and motion planning algorithms. Systemic Code Quality & Governance: Establish code quality benchmarks and lead high-impact architectural code and design reviews (C++) based on an exhaustive understanding of the cross-functional teams' services and technologies. Advanced Engineering Infrastructure: Champion and define modern development toolchains, including next-generation testing frameworks, high-fidelity simulation, and continuous integration, to enable rapid development cycles across the organization. Role responsibilities:Strategic Technical Leadership: Define, justify, and navigate complex system trade-offs and highly technical concepts to engineering peers and executive leadership to drive critical platform-level decisions. Cross-Functional Orchestration: Lead architectural co-design and alignment with adjacent teams working on decision/behavior planning, prediction, and vehicle control to build comprehensive, integrated, and safety-critical solutions. Subsystem Roadmapping: Author high-impact project proposals that anchor long-term technical roadmaps and span multiple safety-critical vehicle subsystems.Engineering Mentorship: Cultivate the technical growth of senior and junior team members alike, fostering an organizational culture of product-focused engineering, rigorous research, and cutting-edge development. What we're looking for:Extensive Production Experience: 5+ years (or equivalent expert level) of production-grade C++ software development, with a proven track record in real-time, low-latency, or safety-critical applications.Educational Background: Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD degree preferred in Robotics, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.Proven Technical Ownership: A distinct track record of defining, scaling, and leading large-scale technical development initiatives from initial problem formulation through algorithm design, validation, and on-vehicle production implementation.Motion Planning & Control: Deep, domain-expert experience with Model Predictive Control (MPC), motion planning architectures, planning under uncertainty, vehicle dynamics/control, and closed-loop simulation environments.Theoretical Excellence: Thorough, first-principles mathematical understanding of non-linear and numerical optimization algorithms (including interior point methods, sequential quadratic programming, and convex/non-convex optimization formulations).Solver Optimization Expertise: Extensive experience deploying, customizing, and scaling numerical optimization solvers (e.g., IPOPT, Gurobi, OSQP, CasADi) within real-time embedded environments.Strong knowledge of Python for simulation, data analysis, or rapid prototyping is considered a bonusWe encourage a hybrid schedule with in-office time at one of our locations in Boston, Pittsburgh, or Las Vegas to support collaboration, or this role can be fully remote.The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors including but not limited to specific skills, experience and expertise, role location, certifications, licenses, and business needs. The estimated compensation range listed in this job posting reflects base salary only. This role may include additional forms of compensation such as a bonus or company equity. The recruiter assigned to this role can share more information about the specific compensation and benefit details associated with this role during the hiring process. Candidates for certain positions are eligible to participate in Motional’s benefits program. Motional’s benefits include but are not limited to medical, dental, vision, 401k with a company match, health saving accounts, life insurance, pet insurance, and more.Salary Range$205,000—$272,500 USDMotional is a driverless technology company making autonomous vehicles a safe, reliable, and accessible reality. We’re driven by something more.Our journey is always people first.We aren't just developing driverless cars; we're creating safer roadways, more equitable transportation options, and making our communities better places to live, work, and connect. Our team is made up of engineers, researchers, innovators, dreamers and doers, who are creating a technology with the potential to transform the way we move.Higher purpose, greater impact.We’re creating first-of-its-kind technology that will transform transportation. To do so successfully, we must design for everyone in our cities and on our roads. We believe in building a great place to work through a progressive, global culture that is diverse, inclusive, and ensures people feel valued at every level of the organization. Diversity helps us to see the world differently; it’s not only good for our business, it’s the right thing to do. Scale up, not starting up.Our team is behind some of the industry's largest leaps forward, including the first fully-autonomous cross-country drive in the U.S, the launch of the world's first robotaxi pilot, and operation of the world's longest-standing public robotaxi fleet. We’re driven to scale; we’re moving towards commercialization of our technology, and we need team members who are ready to embrace change and challenges.Formed as a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv, Motional is fundamentally changing how people move through their lives. Headquartered in Boston, Motional has operations in the U.S and Asia. For more information, visit and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.Motional AD Inc. is an EOE. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. To comply with Federal Law, we participate in E-Verify. All newly-hired employees are queried through this electronic system established by the DHS and the SSA to verify their identity and employment eligibility.