Senior/Staff Software Engineer - Motion Planning

On the Motion Planning team at Zoox, 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.

Safety is foundational at Zoox, so you will take a measured approach – develop a principled modification to the Planner, test in simulation and on closed courses, and team up with our safety drivers for on‑road testing.

In this role, you will:

• Create principled algorithmic improvements to specific areas of driving behavior and implement those changes in our code base.
• Use our extensive backend tooling to test your changes across many different driving situations at the press of a button.
• Lead on‑vehicle drive reviews to generate actionable feedback on driving performance. Use this experience to help the team learn and make improvements.
• Attend conferences and survey literature to stay informed on the most recent developments in the fields of Robotics and Motion Planning.
• Write and file patents for novel technologies you develop.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Computer Science or related field and 8+ years of experience
• Fluency in C++
• Understanding of configuration spaces and a variety of planning techniques (A*, RRTs, PRMs, etc.)
• Demonstrated ability to create real‑time motion planning algorithms

Bonus Qualifications

• Significant contributions to geometric- and/or sampling‑based planning algorithms
• Experience with autonomous robots and machine learning or data‑driven development processes
• Experience with ROS, pose estimation, SLAM, probabilistic filtering, 3D data, or CUDA

$229,000 - $331,000 a year

Base Salary Range

There are three major components to compensation for this position: salary, Amazon Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), and Zoox Stock Appreciation Rights. A sign‑on bonus may be offered as part of the compensation package. The listed range applies only to the base salary. Compensation will vary based on geographic location and level. Leveling, as well as positioning within a level, is determined by a range of factors, including, but not limited to, a candidate’s relevant years of experience, domain knowledge, and interview performance. The salary range listed in this posting is representative of the range of levels Zoox is considering for this position.

Benefits

• Paid time off (e.g. sick leave, vacation, bereavement), unpaid time off
• Zoox Stock Appreciation Rights, Amazon RSUs
• Health insurance, long‑term care insurance, long‑term and short‑term disability insurance, and life insurance

Accommodations

If you need an accommodation to participate in the application or interview process please reach out to View email address on click.appcast.io or your assigned recruiter.

A Final Note:

You do not need to match every listed expectation to apply for this position. Here at Zoox, we know that diverse perspectives foster the innovation we need to be successful, and we are committed to building a team that encompasses a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and skills.