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Senior Staff / Principal Software Engineer - Freeway Autonomy

at Zoox

Location
Foster City, CA — US
Mode
On-site
Level
Staff+
Posted
Aug 31, 2026
Salary
$340k–$493k
Apply at Zoox

You’ll apply on the company’s own site.

  • autonomous-driving
  • motion-planning
  • perception
  • prediction
  • simulation
  • c++
  • systems-engineering
  • robotics

Pay context

Staff+ ML Engineering roles on this board that post annual USD salaries: median $276k, middle half $238k–$302k, across 113 postings from 23 companies. The midpoint of this role's posted range sits about 51% above that median.

Hiring at Zoox

62 open AI roles listed here · 10 added in the past 30 days · 1 remote.

Zoox is on an ambitious journey to develop a full-stack autonomous robotaxi solution, and freeways are the next frontier. We are looking for a Senior Staff or Principal Software Engineer who has played a significant role in removing the driver from an autonomous vehicle operating on freeways, and who can help Zoox navigate that same journey. You will bring deep technical expertise in a relevant autonomy domain — the specific domain is flexible — along with the hard-won judgment that comes from having taken a freeway driving program from supervised operation to driverless. This is a highly visible role with broad influence across the Autonomy organization.

In this role, you will:

  • Guide autonomy-wide initiatives toward driverless freeway operation, including setting the technical vision and strategy, building the roadmap, and driving cross-functional execution

  • Identify the highest-risk gaps between our current freeway capabilities and driver-out readiness, and lead the engineering work to close them

  • Develop algorithms that enable freeway driving capabilities, spanning architecture, design, implementation, integration, testing, and verification and validation

  • Communicate technical trade-offs, risk assessments, and readiness recommendations to diverse stakeholders, including senior and executive leadership

  • Mentor engineers across the freeway program and raise the bar for how we design, test, and validate high-speed autonomous driving

    • Qualifications:

  • 10+ years of industry software experience

  • Demonstrated technical leadership of removing the human driver from an autonomous vehicle operating on freeways or highways

  • Deep technical expertise in at least one autonomy domain, such as behavior/motion planning, perception, prediction, simulation, or systems engineering

  • Proven ability to lead large, cross-functional engineering efforts from ambiguity to shipped results

  • Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex technical trade-offs for varied audiences including executives

    • Bonus Qualifications:

  • Experience scaling and operating a driverless service after driver removal

  • Experience constructing safety cases or defining driver-out readiness criteria for high-speed autonomous driving

  • Proficiency in C++

    • Apply at Zoox

    You’ll apply on the company’s own site.