Zoox Logo

Zoox

Senior/Staff Software Engineer - Simulation Motion Planning

Job Posted 23 Days Ago Posted 23 Days Ago
Be an Early Applicant
Hybrid
Seattle, WA
200K-285K Annually
Senior level
Hybrid
Seattle, WA
200K-285K Annually
Senior level
The role involves populating simulated roads with intelligent participants, creating realistic traffic models, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to enhance autonomous driving technology.
The summary above was generated by AI
Simulation is essential to Zoox’s mission. Zoox uses simulation to develop our driving software, validate safety, and analyze our real-world performance. Our team’s work directly impacts how rapidly and successfully Zoox will achieve its goals.

For our simulators to successfully validate our autonomous driving stack, we need to realistically model and replicate the worlds we will be driving in. This includes modeling and simulating human behaviors, specifically traffic and other pedestrian behaviors. The challenge is that the simulated humans need to show realistic and representative behavior — we want our agents to jaywalk as a human might do, and also replicate a wide range of behaviors that we encounter while driving in real cities.

In this role, you will:

  • Populate the simulated roads with intelligent participants.
  • Create simulated cars, pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, etc. to behave realistically by default, and tunable to create a full gamut of traffic/agent behaviors.
  • Push the state of the art in traffic and behavior modeling to capture real-world behaviors as closely as possible.
  • Work closely with various teams — including AI software teams, QA, and Validation Engineers — to push autonomous driving forward.

Qualifications:

  • Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Robotics Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field
  • PhD or 8+ years of experience in a related field
  • Fluency in C++
  • Mathematics skills, including trigonometry, linear algebra, and calculus
  • Experience with motion planning, control systems, constrained optimization, and state estimation

Bonus Qualifications:

  • Experience in game development, traffic simulation or pathfinding
  • Experience in automotive, robotics, data science, or machine learning
  • Familiarity with Python

Compensation
There are three major components to compensation for this position: salary, Amazon Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), and Zoox Stock Appreciation Rights. The salary will range from $200,000 to $285,000. A sign-on bonus may be part of a compensation package. Compensation will vary based on geographic location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.  

Zoox also offers a comprehensive package of benefits including 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.

About Zoox
Zoox is developing the first ground-up, fully autonomous vehicle fleet and the supporting ecosystem required to bring this technology to market. Sitting at the intersection of robotics, machine learning, and design, Zoox aims to provide the next generation of mobility-as-a-service in urban environments. We’re looking for top talent that shares our passion and wants to be part of a fast-moving and highly execution-oriented team.

Follow us on LinkedIn

Accommodations
If you need an accommodation to participate in the application or interview process please reach out to accommodations@zoox.com 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.

Top Skills

C++
Python

Zoox Seattle, Washington, USA Office

1111 3rd Ave, Seattle, WA, United States, 98101

Similar Jobs

21 Hours Ago
Hybrid
4 Locations
195K-343K Annually
Expert/Leader
195K-343K Annually
Expert/Leader
Artificial Intelligence • Cloud • Machine Learning • Mobile • Software • Virtual Reality • App development
The Staff Software Engineer will design and optimize ML Infrastructure, develop high-performance inference systems, and collaborate with ML engineers on production models.
Top Skills: C++DockerGoJavaKubernetesNvidia TritonPyTorchTensor RtTensorFlowTensorflow ServingVllm
21 Hours Ago
Seattle, WA, USA
138K-207K Annually
Mid level
138K-207K Annually
Mid level
Aerospace • Artificial Intelligence • Hardware • Robotics • Security • Software • Defense
As a Software Engineer, you will design and implement developer tools to enhance the workflow and productivity of engineers at Anduril, focusing on streamlining the web application infrastructure.
Top Skills: BazelCircleCIGoGrpcJavaScriptProtobufReactRxjsTypescript
21 Hours Ago
Seattle, WA, USA
168K-252K Annually
Mid level
168K-252K Annually
Mid level
Aerospace • Artificial Intelligence • Hardware • Robotics • Security • Software • Defense
As a Senior Software Engineer in Platform Security, you'll design and implement security features, perform threat modeling, and collaborate across teams to enhance Anduril's software platform security.
Top Skills: C++GoRust

What you need to know about the Seattle Tech Scene

Home to tech titans like Microsoft and Amazon, Seattle punches far above its weight in innovation. But its surrounding mountains, sprinkled with world-famous hiking trails and climbing routes, make the city a destination for outdoorsy types as well. Established as a logging town before shifting to shipbuilding and logistics, the Emerald City is now known for its contributions to aerospace, software, biotech and cloud computing. And its status as a thriving tech ecosystem is attracting out-of-town companies looking to establish new tech and engineering hubs.

Key Facts About Seattle Tech

  • Number of Tech Workers: 287,000; 13% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
  • Major Tech Employers: Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Google
  • Key Industries: Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, software, biotechnology, game development
  • Funding Landscape: $3.1 billion in venture capital funding in 2024 (Pitchbook)
  • Notable Investors: Madrona, Fuse, Tola, Maveron
  • Research Centers and Universities: University of Washington, Seattle University, Seattle Pacific University, Allen Institute for Brain Science, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle Children’s Research Institute
By clicking Apply you agree to share your profile information with the hiring company.

Sign up now Access later

Create Free Account

Please log in or sign up to report this job.

Create Free Account