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.
ResponsibilityAs the Staff/Senior Staff Software Engineer - Perception, you will be responsible for developing and implementing the next-generation perception system that enables our autonomous systems to understand and navigate their environment with precision and reliability. You will work closely with the planner team to accomplish the final end-to-end AI-based autonomous driving system.
- Push forward innovative AI techniques to solve extremely challenging real-world robotics problems that are deployed at large scale.
- Manage the team with world-class deep learning engineers and software engineers, ensure each team member operates with excellence and achieves their objectives.
- Drive both the short-term and long-term technical vision in a domain where long-term solutions are still evolving research challenges, continually advancing the state of the art of the autonomous driving system.
- Develop and maintain strong collaborative relationships with peers across the entire company, foster a unified and synergistic environment that leverages cross-functional expertise to propel our autonomous systems forward.
Requirements
- Master’s or PhD Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, or related fields
- 5+ years of experience in deploying state-of-the-art computer vision or deep learning technologies to real-world applications.
- Proficiency in programming languages such as C++ or Python.
- Execution mindset and skills in a fast paced environment.
- Excellent technical leadership abilities.
- Passionate about AI technologies for real-world applications.
Preferred Experience
- Strong track record in designing org structures and growing people.
- Extensive experience in the autonomous driving industry.
- Strong understanding of real-time systems and optimization techniques.
- Hands-on experience having deployed real products or platforms into the real world, and intimately understanding the challenges of working with complex systems
Base Salary Range: $245,000 - $350,000 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
- Master's or PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, or related fields
- 5+ years of experience in deploying computer vision or deep learning technologies
- Proficiency in programming languages such as C++ or Python
- Excellent technical leadership abilities
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.







