Senior Software Engineer, Behavior & Motion Planning

Kodiak Robotics is hiring a Senior Software Engineer for Behavior & Motion Planning in Mountain View, CA. This full-time role focuses on developing and enhancing the decision-making systems that power our autonomous vehicles delivering freight across the United States.

Position Summary

As a Senior Software Engineer for Behavior & Motion Planning at Kodiak, you'll lead the design and delivery of planning systems that enable autonomous trucks to navigate complex driving scenarios safely and efficiently. You'll own projects from initial conception through production deployment, working directly with real-world autonomy data and vehicle telemetry to continuously improve system performance. This is an opportunity to build software that impacts commercial transportation at scale while collaborating with Kodiak's talented multi-disciplinary engineering teams.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities

• Architect and develop planning modules for autonomous driving, from concept through production validation.
• Lead planning initiatives across their full lifecycle: specification, implementation, testing, and field deployment.
• Investigate and resolve planning behavior anomalies using logged vehicle data, simulation tools, and performance metrics.
• Optimize system trade-offs between safety, passenger comfort, operational efficiency, and regulatory compliance.
• Coordinate with Prediction, Controls, Perception, Machine Learning, Simulation, Infrastructure, and Safety teams to integrate planning components.
• Establish performance metrics and validation frameworks for all planning features.
• Write and review C++ code to meet production reliability standards.
• Participate in architectural design reviews and mentorship of engineers at all levels.

Qualifications

• Professional experience in autonomous vehicle planning, robotics decision-making, motion planning, or equivalent autonomous systems work.
• Demonstrated expertise in C++ and strong general software engineering fundamentals.
• Production-level experience developing autonomy software in commercial or deployed settings.
• Proven ability to troubleshoot complex autonomous system behavior using data, simulation, and instrumentation.
• Mature judgment regarding safety assurance, user experience, and operational readiness in autonomous systems.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work collaboratively across technical disciplines.

About Kodiak

Kodiak Robotics, established in 2018, leads the autonomous trucking industry with proprietary AI technology built for commercial transportation and government applications. The company has achieved a historic milestone by operating the first publicly announced fully autonomous freight delivery between customers. Kodiak's engineering teams are now advancing autonomous capabilities for both commercial logistics and U.S. Department of Defense programs. Headquartered in Mountain View, California, Kodiak provides competitive compensation including base salary, equity, and performance bonuses, comprehensive health coverage, flexible time off, professional development support, and an inclusive workplace culture.

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