Staff / Senior Staff Software Engineer - Collision Avoidance System

Posted An Hour Ago
Be an Early Applicant
Foster City, CA, USA
Hybrid
291K-409K Annually
Senior level
Artificial Intelligence • Machine Learning • Robotics • Software • Transportation • Design • Manufacturing
Zoox is an autonomous mobility company that’s created a purpose-built robotaxi to give the world a better way to ride.
The Role
Lead the architecture, development, and deployment of Collision Avoidance System perception algorithms for autonomous vehicles. Design safety-critical C++ systems combining lidar, radar, camera, classical geometry, tracking, sensor fusion, and machine learning under strict latency and compute constraints. Own the technical roadmap, collaborate across autonomy and safety teams, define evaluation metrics, and mentor engineers while ensuring reliable production deployment.
Summary Generated by Built In
The Collision Avoidance System (CAS) is Zoox's independent safety layer. It runs alongside our main autonomy stack, constantly watches for imminent collisions, and reacts within milliseconds to prevent or reduce them. By using different methods and data paths than the main stack, CAS gives our robotaxi a second, diverse line of defense in the most challenging dense urban environments.

As a Staff or Senior Staff engineer, you will be the technical lead for CAS algorithms, with a focus on CAS perception. You will shape how CAS sees the world, combining interpretable geometric methods with machine learning, and you will own the architecture and roadmap that take these capabilities from idea to safe, real-time deployment on our fleet. Your work will directly affect the safety of every rider and road user around our vehicles.

In this role, you will:

  • Serve as the technical lead and architect for CAS perception, defining how lidar, radar, and camera data become reliable obstacle detection, tracking, and collision-risk estimates under tight latency and compute budgets
  • Design, implement, and ship both machine learning and classical perception algorithms (e.g., point-cloud geometry, ground estimation, clustering, state estimation and tracking, learned detection and segmentation, sensor fusion) in production-quality, safety-critical C++
  • Own the end-to-end CAS algorithm architecture and multi-release technical roadmap, making clear trade-offs between safety, performance, latency, compute, and ML vs. non-ML approaches
  • Partner across CAS perception, behavior and planning, and validation to define interfaces, requirements, metrics, and evaluation strategies that show the system is safe and ready to launch
  • Work with sensor, system performance, safety strategy, and main autonomy teams to drive cross-team technical decisions, while mentoring engineers and raising the technical bar across CAS

Qualifications

  • BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, or a related field, or equivalent experience

  • At least 10 years of experience developing perception or related algorithms for robotics, autonomous vehicles, or other real-time systems

  • Deep expertise in 3D perception from lidar, radar, and/or camera, with hands-on experience in both machine learning (detection, segmentation, fusion) and classical methods (geometry, state estimation, tracking)

  • Strong C++ or Python skills and a track record of shipping efficient, reliable real-time software to production

  • Experience leading the architecture and technical roadmap of a complex production system across multiple teams

Bonus Qualifications

  • Conference or Journal publications in Machine Learning or Robotics-related venues

  • Experience with safety-critical systems or functional safety practices (e.g., ISO 26262, SOTIF), collision avoidance, emergency braking, prediction, or planning systems for autonomous vehicles

  • Experience optimizing and deploying models or algorithms on onboard compute (e.g., GPU / CUDA, TensorRT)

Skills Required

  • BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, a related field, or equivalent experience
  • At least 10 years of experience developing perception or related algorithms for robotics, autonomous vehicles, or other real-time systems
  • Deep expertise in 3D perception using lidar, radar, and/or camera
  • Hands-on experience with machine learning, including detection, segmentation, and sensor fusion
  • Hands-on experience with classical perception methods, including geometry, state estimation, and tracking
  • Strong C++ or Python skills
  • Experience shipping efficient, reliable real-time software to production
  • Experience leading architecture and technical roadmaps for complex production systems across multiple teams
  • Conference or journal publications in machine learning or robotics venues
  • Experience with safety-critical systems or functional safety practices, including ISO 26262 or SOTIF
  • Experience with collision avoidance, emergency braking, prediction, or autonomous vehicle planning systems
  • Experience optimizing and deploying models or algorithms on onboard compute, including GPU, CUDA, or TensorRT

Zoox Compensation & Benefits Highlights

The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Zoox and has not been reviewed or approved by Zoox.

  • Healthcare Strength — Healthcare is extensive, with broad medical and vision options, company‑paid disability coverage, and multiple mental‑health resources. Feedback suggests coverage breadth and auxiliary programs support a wide range of needs.
  • Parental & Family Support — Family supports include paid parental leave, additional pregnancy disability time, fertility coverage, and adoption/surrogacy assistance. Backup care and family‑oriented programs further reinforce support across life stages.
  • Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Day‑to‑day perks are robust, including free daily meals, fitness subsidies, commuter support, and on‑site amenities. Feedback suggests these lifestyle benefits enhance convenience and workplace experience, especially for office‑based roles.

Zoox Insights

Am I A Good Fit?
beta
Get Personalized Job Insights.
Our AI-powered fit analysis compares your resume with a job listing so you know if your skills & experience align.

The Company
HQ: Foster City, CA
2,900 Employees
Year Founded: 2014

What We Do

Zoox is an autonomous mobility company that was founded to provide a safer, cleaner, and more enjoyable future on the road. To achieve that goal, the company has spent the past 10 years creating a purpose-built robotaxi that gives the world a better way to ride.

Why Work With Us

At Zoox, we are working to solve one of the greatest technological challenges of our generation. From the beginning, we have been focused on our goal of reimagining transportation from the ground up. We are a mission-driven community of innovators working together to create a safer, cleaner, and more enjoyable future on the road.

Gallery

Gallery

Similar Jobs

Micron Technology Logo Micron Technology

Design Engineer

Artificial Intelligence • Hardware • Information Technology • Machine Learning
In-Office
4 Locations
45000 Employees
186K-407K Annually

Micron Technology Logo Micron Technology

Account Manager

Artificial Intelligence • Hardware • Information Technology • Machine Learning
In-Office
San Jose, CA, USA
45000 Employees
143K-288K Annually

Sage Logo Sage

Customer Success Manager

Hardware • Healthtech • Software • Analytics
Hybrid
2 Locations
95 Employees
120K-140K Annually

Zscaler Logo Zscaler

Director, Sales Engineering - SLED

Cloud • Information Technology • Security • Software • Cybersecurity
Easy Apply
Remote or Hybrid
USA
8697 Employees
1-1 Annually

Similar Companies Hiring

Unusual Machines, Inc. Thumbnail
Hardware • Robotics
Orlando, FL
300 Employees
Blee Thumbnail
Artificial Intelligence • Marketing Tech • Software
New York, New York
33 Employees
Vega Thumbnail
Artificial Intelligence • Automotive • Insurance • Transportation
US
65 Employees

Sign up now Access later

Create Free Account

Please log in or sign up to report this job.

Create Free Account