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Staff, Software Engineer - Motion Planning (Unstructured Environments)

Blacksburg, VA💼 Full-time🗓 2026-07-20 → 2026-09-26

Core

Lead technical development for motion planning, trajectory generation, and optimization systems enabling autonomous trucks to navigate unstructured environments safely and efficiently.

Role type

Staff Software Engineer (Autonomous Vehicle Motion Planning)

Builds

Core autonomy capabilities for automated freight trucks, including planning, prediction, and decision-making systems.

Domain

Autonomous driving / Robotics / Logistics

Deliverable

production ML models | product features

Required skills

Motion planning algorithms, trajectory generation, trajectory optimization, vehicle kinematics and dynamics, modern C++, Linux, graph search, sampling-based planning, convex optimization, Frenet-frame approaches, system design, scalable development practices, test automation, debugging complex system-level issues

Preferred skills

Model Predictive Control (MPC), Model Predictive Path Integral (MPPI), reinforcement learning, imitation learning, ROS/ROS2, Autoware, Apollo, CUDA, GPU acceleration, TensorRT, on-vehicle testing and deployment

Technologies

C++, Linux, Git, pytest, Robot Framework, gtest, CUDA, TensorRT, ROS/ROS2

Responsibilities

Define and maintain architectural vision across teams for scalability and reliability; lead high-impact technical initiatives and platform modernization; design, develop, and optimize motion planning algorithms; collaborate with Safety, Controls, Perception, and Validation teams; develop validation strategies across SiL, HiL, and ViL environments; perform on-vehicle troubleshooting and log analysis; mentor and coach senior and mid-level engineers

Seniority

Staff, multi-team technical leadership

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