Senior Software Engineer (Vehicle Interaction)

• The Vehicle Interaction team tackles critical autonomous driving challenges, directly responsible for modeling agent interactions with other vehicles to advance our mission of safety and building the world’s most trusted driver
• The team develops agent reasoning and motion planning algorithms to resolve complex interactive scenarios—including lane changes, merges, unprotected maneuvers, and cut-ins
• By combining core robotics principles with scalable, production-deployed machine learning models, the team enables the Driver to safely, predictably, and seamlessly navigate dynamic real-world environments
• In this hybrid role, you will report directly to the Technical Lead Manager
• Design, evaluate, and deploy learned interaction policies to handle complex navigation and yielding scenarios
• Collaborate cross-functionally at the intersection of prediction and planning, leveraging large-scale models to solve complex agent interaction problems
• Integrate learned models into closed-loop simulation environments, benchmark against rigorous safety metrics, and drive seamless transitions to production releases
• Focus on high-impact product outcomes, making pragmatic engineering decisions to accelerate the shift from rule-based heuristics to scalable, data-driven policies

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and dependents
• Employee assistance programs focused on mental health
• Personalized workplace adjustments for diverse needs and abilities, including physical, mental, and neurodivergent considerations
• Access to mental health apps
• Onsite wellness centers
• Support programs including menopause benefit
• Second medical opinion for you and your loved ones
• Medical advocacy program for transgender employees
• Counseling services
• Competitive compensation
• Regular bonus and equity performance grant opportunities
• Generous 401(k) and regional retirement plans
• 1-on-1 financial coaching
• Annual cross-company compensation review and pay equity analysis
• Fertility and growing family assistance
• Parental leave and baby bonding leave
• Elder care and support
• Survivor income benefit
• Backup childcare
• Caregiver leave
• Paid time off, including vacation, bereavement, sick leave, parental leave, disability, and holidays
• Jury duty leave
• Military leave
• Hybrid work model with remote work opportunities also available
• Educational reimbursement
• Peer learning and coaching platform
• Donation matching programs
• Volunteer hours
• Employee resource groups
• Internal community groups and local culture clubs
• Inspiring spaces to work, recharge, and collaborate with fellow Waymonauts
• On-site meals and snacks
• Fitness centers, massage programs, and ergonomic support
• On-demand fitness, wellbeing, and cooking classes
• Commuter benefits- Proven capability to collaborate effectively across cross-functional engineering teams
• Hands-on experience building ML models, including expertise in learned driving policies (RL/imitation learning), PyTorch or JAX, closed-loop simulation evaluation, and a proven track record of shipping models to production
• 5+ years of software engineering experience developing high-performance, efficient C++ code
• BS in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Robotics, a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience
• MS or PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Robotics, or a related technical field
• Demonstrated software engineering expertise in motion planning or related autonomous systems problems
• Technical leadership experience guiding engineers or leading small project teams
• Experience building, training, and benchmarking machine learning systems at scale