Kodiak Robotics, Inc. was founded in 2018 and has become a leader in autonomous ground transportation committed to a safer and more efficient future for all. The company has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) powered technology stack purpose-built for commercial trucking and the public sector. The company delivers freight daily for its customers across the southern United States using its autonomous technology. In 2024, Kodiak became the first known company to publicly announce delivering a driverless semi-truck to a customer. Kodiak is also leveraging its commercial self-driving software to develop, test and deploy autonomous capabilities for the U.S. Department of Defense.
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 motion 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.)
The pay range listed below reflects the base salary in our SF/Silicon Valley location, across several internal levels. Actual starting pay will be based on job-related factors including: work location, experience, relevant training, education, skill level and performance during interview. Total compensation at Kodiak includes base pay, equity, bonus and a competitive benefits package
Skills Required
- Strong background in robotics, planning, optimization, and mathematics
- At least 5 years of experience writing production-level C++ code
- High standards for software quality and rigor
- Good communication skills and collaborative attitude
- Ability to iterate quickly and work hands-on
- Interest in defining autonomy metrics and evaluation strategies
- Knowledge of modern C++ (C++14 and newer)
Kodiak Robotics Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Kodiak Robotics and has not been reviewed or approved by Kodiak Robotics.
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Fair & Transparent Compensation — Pay is considered market-competitive for core engineering roles, with role postings indicating strong senior bands and offers aligned to autonomy peers. Salary ranges visible on listings reinforce competitiveness for experienced technical hires.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Equity grants are commonly included with standard multi‑year vesting, and listings frequently note salary plus bonus and equity as part of offers. This makes ownership a regular component of total rewards for technical hires.
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Healthcare Strength — Health coverage includes medical, dental, and vision alongside life and short‑/long‑term disability, with FSA/HSA options available. Wellness partners such as mental‑health and primary‑care services are highlighted alongside core plans.
Kodiak Robotics Insights
What We Do
Kodiak Robotics is an autonomous technology company redefining the long-haul trucking industry. We believe self-driving trucks will be the first economically viable application of autonomous vehicle technology. We founded Kodiak in the spring of 2018 to make that belief a reality. Safety is our top priority. We are taking a safe and responsible approach to developing and testing our technology. We are proud to work with some of the best in the business. We’ve built a world class team of technologists from leading autonomous driving programs who know the industry inside and out. Our combined experience and commitment to the vision will allow us to put self-driving technology on the road in the safest and most effective way.
