Staff Software Engineer Mission Planning

## About the role Kodiak is recruiting a Staff Software Engineer to join our Planning team and advance the Kodiak Driver's ability to safely and gracefully handle complex real-world driving scenarios. In this role, you will: - Design and develop mission planning and prediction systems for driverless operation on public roads - Develop the architecture and long-term roadmap for planning and prediction - Mentor and provide technical leadership to junior and senior engineers, raising the bar for engineering excellence across the engineering organization - Integrate engineered driving logic and machine-learning models - Develop robust models to predict the behavior of other actors, improving both safety and driving performance - Partner cross-functionally with Perception, Controls, Systems, and Simulation teams to define interfaces, requirements, and system behavior - Solve difficult real-world problems involving lane changing, merging, speed modulation, mission updates, multi-trajectory prediction, and more! ## What you'll bring - 6+ years of experience developing production-level robotics software - Strong facility with modern C++ - Expertise in motion planning, trajectory optimization, graph theory, and related domains - Delivery of complex autonomous systems - Leadership through ambiguous, unsolved challenges ## Bonus points if you have - Experience deploying software on driverless autonomous vehicles - Experience improving system performance (latency, throughput, reliability) in production environments - Familiarity with simulation frameworks and data-driven development workflows - A track record of mentoring engineers ## What we offer - Competitive compensation package including equity and annual bonuses - Excellent Medical, Dental, and Vision plans through Kaiser Permanente, Cigna, and MetLife (including a medical plan with infertility benefits) - MetLife Legal Services, Identity & Fraud Protection, Hospital Indemnity Insurance, Accident Insurance, & Critical Illness Insurance - Flexible PTO, 10 paid holidays, and generous parental leave policies - Our office is centrally located in Mountain View, CA - Office perks: dog-friendly, free catered lunch, a fully stocked kitchen, and free EV charging - Long Term Disability, Short Term Disability, Life Insurance - Wellbeing Benefits - Headspace through Cigna, Calm through Kaiser, One Medical, Gympass, Spring Health through Cigna, Rula (mental health navigation) - Fidelity 401(k) - Commuter, FSA, Dependent Care FSA, HSA - Various incentive programs (referral bonuses, patent bonuses, etc.)