Motion Planning Software Engineer

Title: Software Engineer - Motion Planning

Pay Rate: $80/hr

Location: Foster City, CA Onsite / at least 3 days in office

Type: Assignment 6+ Months with possibility of extension


About Our Client

Our client is a pioneering automotive services organization committed to redefining how people move. With a focus on innovation, quality, and user experience, they collaborate across industries to develop transformative solutions that respond to evolving urban needs.


About the Role

On the Motion Planning team at our client's, you'll be dedicated to improving the driving behaviors of the robot on public roads. The Planner's job is to figure out where the robot is going and how to get there safely in situations as complex as those found in Downtown San Francisco or on the Las Vegas Strip.


This is a cutting-edge problem, which requires teamwork and collaboration across a broad set of experts spanning Planner, Perception, Prediction, Operations, and more. Together, you will create the next generation of algorithmic improvements to expand our robot's ability to drive in some of the most complex situations found on public roads. You will take a measured approach - develop a principled modification to the Planner, test in simulation and on closed courses, and team up with their safety drivers for on-road testing.


What You'll Be Doing:

• Implement, debug, and test features and modifications to specific areas of driving behavior in our production code base.
• Work closely with senior engineers to understand design specifications and deliver reliable, high-quality code.
• Utilize our extensive backend tooling to run regression tests and validate your changes across various driving situations.
• Participate in on-vehicle drive reviews, helping to collect data and generate actionable feedback on driving performance.

About You

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Robotics, or a related technical field.
• 0-5 years of professional experience in software development.
• Strong proficiency in C++.
• Familiarity with foundational concepts of motion planning and pathfinding techniques (e.g., A*, RRTs, PRMs).
• Experience with large-scale codebases, version control (e.g., Git), and software development workflows.
• Eagerness to learn and debug complex, real-time systems.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Coursework or project experience in geometric and/or sampling-based planning algorithms.
• Experience with autonomous robots, simulation environments, or machine learning/data-driven development processes.
• Experience with ROS, pose estimation, SLAM, probabilistic filtering, or CUDA.

Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the US. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment Visas.

About Cinder

Cinder is a people-first staffing and recruiting company committed to creating workplaces where employees feel valued, supported, and engaged. Our mission is to leverage our power as a recruiting and consulting company to build workplaces where people thrive. Backed by our ISO 9001 certification, we deliver high-quality staffing solutions, and our clients have rated us over 100% for multiple quarters. Join us and be part of a team that makes a real impact!