Director, Vehicle Integration (AV Platform Engineering)

ATOMS Careers page; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 185,000 - 254,000; Full time

Job summary

Atoms is hiring a Director of Vehicle Integration to lead the hardware‑in‑the‑loop and bench validation for its autonomous vehicle platforms. You will own electrical architecture, harnesses, mounting, sensor/compute placement, and drive-by-wire interfaces, ensuring modular, testable configurations and reliable field support.

The role requires hands-on leadership of senior engineers, ownership of fleet deployment, and collaboration with OEM partners.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in an engineering field and 3+ years leading engineers.
• Ownership of vehicle integration from architecture through fleet deployment.
• Hands-on experience with vehicle networks (CAN, CAN FD, LIN, Automotive Ethernet) and drive-by-wire.
• Experience turning bespoke bring-up into repeatable processes; ADAS/AV program exposure.
• Ability to work onsite in San Francisco five days a week; lifting up to 50 lbs; valid driver’s license.

Responsibilities

• Own hardware-in-the-loop and bench validation for software releases against real vehicle interfaces.
• Own autonomy integration on the development fleet: electrical architecture, harnesses, mounting, sensor and compute layout, power, and drive-by-wire interfaces; manage fault handling.
• Own build instructions, drawings, calibration procedures, and production scripts for development vehicle builds and retrofits; enable gate-based commissioning.
• Collaborate with robotics, vehicle operations, hardware engineering, manufacturing, and OEM/supplier partners.

Skills

Electrical Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

Computer Engineering

Robotics

Project Leadership

Vehicle networks (CAN/CAN FD/LIN)

Drive-by-Wire

Harness architecture

Embedded compute & sensor integration

Hardware-in-the-Loop

ADAS/Autonomous Driving (L3/L4)

Laboratory bring-up documentation

Onsite work (SF)

Licensed driver

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical, Mechanical, or Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Robotics, or a related field

Tools

NVIDIA DRIVE Orin/Thor

DRIVE OS / QNX

Job description

Director, Vehicle Integration (AV Platform Engineering)

Who we are

Atoms is building the machines that power the next era of progress.

Over the last decade, software has transformed the digital world. But the physical world, where food is made, minerals are mined, goods are moved, and industries are run, remains far less intelligent, far less efficient, and far more constrained. We’re changing that.

Atoms builds Physical AI— real-world robots for the industries that move civilization forward, starting with food, mining, and transport. Our systems are designed to understand, predict, and control the real world with precision, turning complex physical operations into something more reliable, more scalable, and more productive.

This work requires more than robotics. It requires deep integration across hardware, software, AI, operations, manufacturing, and real estate. We don’t just build machines in a lab. We deploy them into real environments, operate them, learn from them, and improve them until they work at scale.

We are roboticists, engineers, operators, and builders. We believe the next great technology companies will not only transform information, but the physical systems that shape everyday life.

If you want to work on hard problems with real-world impact, join us.

About the role

We are hiring a Director of Vehicle Integration to lead the group that makes it possible to develop and test our vehicle platforms. The group owns the hardware-in-the-loop and bench capability our autonomy software is validated against, the bring-up and commissioning that take a vehicle from kit to fleet. When a problem cannot be resolved in the field, this group is the engineering backstop.

One platform will serve more than one vehicle program, and we expect the hardware to be re-spun as we learn from deployment. What we intend to control is that any re-spin is cheap, fast, and testable off the vehicle, which makes modularity the governing design constraint on what this group builds in the lap. This is a player-coach role: hands‑on leading senior engineers and technicians who are doing this work alongside the open positions you will create and fill.

What you’ll do

• Off‑vehicle validation. Own the hardware-in-the-loop and bench capability that validates a software release against real vehicle interfaces, including where bench behavior and vehicle behavior diverge. Build it modular, so later configurations reuse the harness breakouts, power, sensor interfaces, and logging paths.
• Integration architecture. Own the autonomy integration on the development fleet: electrical architecture, harnesses, mounting, sensor and compute placement, power, and the drive‑by‑wire and actuation interface to the base vehicle, including fault handling and degraded‑mode behavior.
• On‑vehicle bring‑up and commissioning. Own the build instructions, drawings, calibration procedures, and production scripts that development vehicle builds and retrofits run against, and make commissioning into a gate.
• Cross‑functional interfaces. Work with robotics on the release interface, with vehicle operations on availability and field issues, with hardware engineering and manufacturing on build and retrofit execution, and with OEM and supplier partners.

What we’re looking for

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical, Mechanical, or Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Robotics, or a related field is required, with 3+ years of relevant experience including 3+ leading engineers. Equivalent hands‑on experience will be considered in place of the degree.
• Ownership of vehicle integration from architecture through fleet deployment, with personal accountability for how the system was installed, validated, and supported on the road.
• Hands‑on depth in experience in: vehicle networks (CAN, CAN FD, LIN, Automotive Ethernet); drive‑by‑wire and actuation integration; electrical and harness architecture; embedded compute and sensor integration; hardware‑in‑the‑loop and bench validation.
• Experience converting bespoke, per‑vehicles bring up engineering into a repeatable process, with documentation an engineer who did not build it can work from.
  Experience on an L3 or L4 automated driving program, or a production ADAS program at L2+.
• Ability to work onsite five days a week in San Francisco, with travel to test and deployment sites. The role requires lifting up to 50 lbs and working at roof level and under vehicles, with or without reasonable accommodation, and a valid driver's license with a clean driving record.

Nice to have

• High‑voltage and EV platform integration.
• Bring‑up experience on automotive compute platforms such as NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Orin or Thor, DRIVE OS, or QNX.
• Familiarity with functional safety practice for automated driving, including ISO 26262 and ISO 21448, and the evidence a safety case depends on.
• Experience standing up a lab, bench, or test function from 0 to 1

At Atoms, you’ll work on one of the defining challenges of our time—bringing automation into the physical world to drive real, lasting impact. We exist to uncover valuable unknown truths and turn them into progress, which means constantly pushing beyond what’s known and building what doesn’t yet exist. The work is ambitious and often challenging, but it’s grounded in a shared sense of purpose and a team committed to seeing it through together. Our work only matters if it serves others, and we know that meaningful progress depends on the trust of the people we serve and the strength of our team—so we invest in both, creating an environment where you can do your best work and grow.

What else you need to know

This role is based in our San Francisco office. Atoms is a company driven by invention and continuous change - we are constantly reimagining our industries, building new products, and refining how we operate. We do our best work together. That’s why all of our office‑based teams work onsite, five days a week.

The base salary range for this role is $185,000 - $254,000 per year.

Actual compensation will be determined on an individual basis and may vary