Founded in 2016 in Silicon Valley, Pony.ai has quickly become a global leader in autonomous mobility and is a pioneer in extending autonomous mobility technologies and services at a rapidly expanding footprint of sites around the world. Operating Robotaxi, Robotruck and Personally Owned Vehicles (POV) business units, Pony.ai is an industry leader in the commercialization of autonomous driving and is committed to developing the safest autonomous driving capabilities on a global scale. Pony.ai’s leading position has been recognized, with CNBC ranking Pony.ai #10 on its CNBC Disruptor list of the 50 most innovative and disruptive tech companies of 2022. In June 2023, Pony.ai was recognized on the XPRIZE and Bessemer Venture Partners inaugural “XB100” 2023 list of the world’s top 100 private deep tech companies, ranking #12 globally. As of August 2023, Pony.ai has accumulated nearly 21 million miles of autonomous driving globally. Pony.ai went public at NASDAQ in November 2024.
ResponsibilityThe team is responsible for determining and controlling how autonomous vehicles navigate based on real-time traffic conditions—including road infrastructure, surrounding environments, other vehicles, and pedestrians—making it one of the core teams in autonomous driving.
Software or Algorithm Engineers on the team are responsible for one or more of the following:
- Architecture & Systems: Designing and developing high-performance, highly reliable Planning architectures and systems.
- Computational Algorithms: Developing and optimizing high-precision, high-performance computational geometry and numerical computing algorithms.
- Driving Intelligence: Enhancing autonomous vehicle decision-making and driving capabilities using machine learning and advanced algorithms.
- Big Data Infrastructure: Designing and building scalable data processing infrastructure and systems for large-scale road-test data.
- Simulation & Evaluation: Analyze large amounts of data of the real world and simulate driving, understanding, characterizing and clustering the performance of virtual drivers.
- Internal Tools & Productivity: Developing internal tools to optimize engineering workflows and improve R&D efficiency.
- Cross Team Collaboration: Work cross-functionally on safety, road rules compliance, and ride quality
Requirements
- BS in Computer Science, ML, Robotics, similar technical field of study, or equivalent practical experience
- 2+ years hands-on general software engineering experience, proficient in at least one mainstream programming language (such as C, C++, Python, or Java) and familiar with common data structures and algorithms.
- Ability to lead ambiguous technical work from problem framing through reliable delivery.
- Background in autonomous vehicles, robotics, or complex simulation environments.
- General software engineering experience solving motion planning or related robotics problems
Base Salary Range: $140,000 - $220,000 Annually
Compensation may vary outside of this range depending on many factors, including the candidate’s qualifications, skills, competencies, experience, and location. Base pay is one part of the Total Compensation and this role may be eligible for bonuses/incentives and restricted stock units.
Also, we provide the following benefits to the eligible employees:
- Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
- Retirement Plan (Traditional and Roth 401k)
- Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
- Paid Time Off (Vacation & Public Holidays)
- Family Leave (Maternity, Paternity)
- Short Term & Long Term Disability
- Free Food & Snacks
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Skills Required
- BS in Computer Science, ML, Robotics, or similar technical field or equivalent practical experience
- 2+ years hands-on general software engineering experience
- Proficiency in at least one mainstream programming language (C, C++, Python, or Java) and familiarity with common data structures and algorithms
- Ability to lead ambiguous technical work from problem framing through reliable delivery
- Background in autonomous vehicles, robotics, or complex simulation environments
- Software engineering experience solving motion planning or related robotics problems
Pony.AI Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Pony.AI and has not been reviewed or approved by Pony.AI.
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Healthcare Strength — Healthcare coverage is characterized as comprehensive, including medical, dental, and vision, alongside disability/life insurance and an Employee Assistance Program. This makes the core insurance offering a consistent strength within the overall package.
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Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Daily meals and on-site food perks stand out as especially generous, with free meals, snacks, and drinks repeatedly highlighted. This creates a tangible day-to-day benefit that can materially reduce employees’ out-of-pocket costs during in-office work.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Equity participation is presented as a standard part of the compensation mix, contributing to the perceived competitiveness of total packages in technical roles. At the same time, perceived value can vary with liquidity timing and broader market performance, shaping how accessible that value feels in practice.
Pony.AI Insights
What We Do
Pony AI Inc. (“Pony.ai”) is a global leader in the large-scale commercialization of autonomous mobility. Leveraging its vehicle-agnostic Virtual Driver technology, full-stack autonomous driving technology that seamlessly integrates its proprietary software, hardware, and services, Pony.ai is developing a commercially viable and sustainable business model that enables the mass production and deployment of vehicles across transportation use cases. Founded in 2016, Pony.ai has expanded its presence across China, Europe, East Asia, the Middle East, and other regions, ensuring widespread accessibility to its advanced technology. Pony.ai is among the first in China to obtain licenses to operate fully driverless vehicles in all four Tier-1 cities in China (Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen) and has begun to offer public-facing, fare-charging robotaxi services without safety drivers in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Pony.ai operates a fleet consisting of over 250 robotaxis. To date, Pony.ai has driven nearly 45 million autonomous testing and operation kilometers on open roads worldwide.
