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 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. In 2025, Kodiak listed publicly on the NASDAQ.
Kodiak is recruiting a Software Engineer who is passionate about vehicular motion control to join our Controls team. The role exposes the breadth of Kodiak’s controller, including dynamic control laws, safety limits, monitoring, feedback, and state management.
This is an opportunity to develop expertise in control theory, platform characterization, and software engineering. Kodiak supports a range of platforms, which has given rise to a cutting-edge modular controller design.
The role accelerates career development by putting driverless features on the road immediately and providing data-based performance feedback.
In this role, you will:
- Implement control and actuation strategies
- Develop and test reliable, safety-critical software that controls articulated trucks driving on highways
- Characterize the vehicle platform, including braking, steering, and acceleration
- Develop models for both onboard and simulated motion prediction
- Specify requirements and document their implementation
- Apply degraded operations capabilities for fail-safe driving
- Collaborate with Planning, Hardware, Systems, and Infrastructure colleagues to advance a robust vehicle control architecture
What you’ll bring:
- 2+ year of experience developing production-level vehicular controls software
- Software development experience writing production-level C++
- A strong background in robotics, controls, and mathematics
- Experience developing, testing, and tuning controllers for autonomous robots, ideally trucks, cars, or flying vehicles
- A focus on vehicle safety
Bonus points if you have:
- Characterized, modeled, and simulated robotic systems
- Facility with control theory, including stability analysis
- Written low-level drivers for software/hardware interfacing using protocols such as CAN or ethernet
- Developed efficient code running on resource-constrained embedded systems with a real-time operating system
- Experience with software design and implementation in safety-critical domains (e.g. automotive, aerospace, medical, etc)
- Knowledge of formal verification methods, writing requirements, and systems engineering processes
- Proficiency with Python
- Proficiency with MATLAB / Simulink
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
- 2+ years developing production-level vehicular controls software
- Production-level C++ software development experience
- Strong background in robotics, controls, and mathematics
- Experience developing, testing, and tuning controllers for autonomous robots (trucks, cars, or flying vehicles preferred)
- Focus on vehicle safety
- Characterized, modeled, and simulated robotic systems
- Facility with control theory, including stability analysis
- Written low-level drivers for software/hardware interfacing using protocols such as CAN or ethernet
- Developed efficient code on resource-constrained embedded systems with a real-time OS
- Experience with safety-critical domains (automotive, aerospace, medical)
- Knowledge of formal verification methods, requirements writing, and systems engineering processes
- Proficiency with Python
- Proficiency with MATLAB / Simulink
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.
