Job Description
The role involves designing and developing the core behavior planning system for autonomous vehicles to enable safe and intelligent decision-making in complex environments, collaborating with cross-functional teams, and providing technical leadership within the autonomous driving technology space.
Key Responsibilities
- Design, implement, and maintain the core behavior planning system for autonomous vehicles.
- Develop and extend behavior tree architectures for hierarchical decision logic, including mission planning, tactical maneuvers, and contingency handling.
- Collaborate with motion planning, prediction, and control teams to ensure seamless decision-to-action transitions.
- Build and optimize C-based software infrastructure for behavior planning, including tools for simulation, debugging, visualization, and testing.
- Evaluate planner performance in real-world and simulated environments to identify failure modes and improve robustness.
- Participate in system design reviews and integrate behavior planning within the full autonomy stack.
- Provide technical leadership, mentorship, and architectural guidance to junior team members.
Requirements
- Ph.D. with 3 years or Master’s with 5 years of industry experience in robotics, autonomous systems, or behavior planning
- Proven experience in behavior planning, including use of behavior trees, finite state machines, or rule-based planners in autonomous driving or robotics applications
- Strong proficiency in C with a deep understanding of performance, memory management, and software architecture in production systems
- Solid understanding of motion planning and prediction interfaces, with experience building real-time, safety-critical systems
- Ability to design, implement, and maintain the core behavior planning system for autonomous vehicles, enabling safe and intelligent decision-making in complex real-world scenarios
- Experience developing and extending behavior tree architectures for hierarchical decision logic, including support for mission planning, tactical maneuvers, and contingency handling
- Experience collaborating closely with motion planning, prediction, and control teams to ensure seamless transitions from high-level decisions to executable trajectories
- Ability to build and optimize C-based software infrastructure for behavior planning, including tools for simulation, debugging, visualization, and closed-loop testing
- Experience evaluating planner performance in diverse real-world and simulated environments, identifying failure modes, and developing strategies to improve robustness and generalization
- Participation in design reviews and system integration across the full autonomy stack
- Providing technical leadership, mentorship, and architectural guidance for junior team members
Benefits & Perks
Salary Range - 180,000-260,000
Onsite work schedule - 5 days a week at Mountain View, CA office
Work environment perks - collaborative culture emphasizing respect, agility, diversity, and inclusion
Ready to Apply?
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