Engineer, Systems Readiness & Performance Feature

Socket.dev; Boston (MA); Hybrid; USD 123,000 - 164,000; Full time

Job summary

Motional, a driverless technology company, is seeking a pragmatic Feature Engineer to help design and improve autonomous vehicle features with a focus on safety and performance. The role collaborates across product, autonomy, operations and safety teams to define desired behaviors and robust targets.

Hybrid work with in-office time in Boston, Pittsburgh, or Las Vegas, or fully remote. Candidates should have a robotics/CS background and hands-on validation experience (HIL/SIL).

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Robotics, Autonomous Systems, Control Systems, Systems Engineering, CS, or related field with 1+ years experience.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate root cause analysis, design and verification goals clearly.
• Experience with systems engineering and safety analysis processes.
• Pragmatic, results-oriented mindset able to drive complex projects to completion.
• Hands-on robotics validation testing experience (HIL, SIL, Integration SW Level).

Responsibilities

• Design and improve AV features to support performance and safety.
• Collaborate across product, autonomy, operations, and safety teams to define vehicle behaviors.
• Establish validation and verification suites across software, simulation, HIL, and tracks.
• Set up performance measures and automated checks for testing and in-service data.
• Conduct safety analyses on feature designs to ensure safe operations.
• Identify root causes of issues observed during testing or on road and recommend actions.

Skills

Robotics

Autonomous systems

Systems engineering

Safety analysis

Python/SQL/MATLAB

Data analysis

Documentation

Education

Bachelor's degree in Robotics or related field

Tools

HIL

SIL

Integration SW Level

Job description

Mission Summary:

The Systems Readiness and Performance (SRP) team is the crucial bridge between software development and real-world deployment. We are responsible for driving system design, for verifying and validating the autonomy stack, and for defining, measuring, and validating system performance targets. We work closely with stakeholders in autonomy, infrastructure, and operations to build the definitive safety case for the commercial launch of our fully driverless IONIQ 5 robotaxis in Las Vegas later this year.

We are looking for a pragmatic, results-oriented Feature Engineer to join the Systems Readiness and Performance (SRP) organization. In this role, you will help design new AV features and improve existing ones, ensuring our autonomous vehicles operate with the highest standards of performance and safety. You will collaborate across product, autonomy, operations, and safety teams to define desired behaviors and establish clear design targets.

What You'll Do:

• Design & Improve AV Features: Help design new Autonomous Vehicle (AV) features and continuously improve existing features to support enhanced product performance and safety. Utilize engineering best practices to pragmatically design, analyze, and test these critical features.


• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate closely across product, autonomy, operations, and safety teams to define desired vehicle behaviors and establish robust design targets for these features.


• Validation & Verification: Work hand-in-hand with testing and engineering teams to establish comprehensive validation and verification suites across software integration, simulation, Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL), and closed-course test tracks to validate feature functionality.


• Performance Measurement & Monitoring: Establish rigorous performance measures and implement automated checks for both controlled testing and in-service data monitoring to continuously measure and evaluate feature performance.


• Drive Safety Analysis: Drive thorough safety analysis on feature designs to ensure safe, reliable, and compliant operations.


• Root Cause issues observed during testing or road related to the features and help determine corrective action.

What We're Looking For:

• Bachelor's degree in Robotics, Autonomous Systems, Control Systems, Systems Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field with 1+ years of experience.


• Strong technical writing to communicate clear and concise root cause analysis, design and verification goals.


• Demonstrated experience with systems engineering and safety analysis processes.


• A pragmatic, results-oriented engineering mindset with a proven ability to drive complex projects to completion.


• Hands-on experience with robotics validation testing (HIL, SIL, Integration SW Level).

Ideally, You Also Have:

• Proficiency with programmatic data analysis and visualization (e.g., Python, SQL, or MATLAB) to extract insights from testing.


• Prior experience working directly on autonomous vehicles or advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS).

We encourage a hybrid schedule with in-office time at one of our locations in Boston, Pittsburgh, or Las Vegas to support collaboration, or this role can be fully remote.

Salary Range

• The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors including but not limited to specific skills, experience and expertise, role location, certifications, licenses, and business needs. The estimated compensation range listed in this job posting reflects base salary only. This role may include additional forms of compensation such as a bonus or company equity. The recruiter assigned to this role can share more information about the specific compensation and benefit details associated with this role during the hiring process.


• Candidates for certain positions are eligible to participate in Motional's benefits program.


• Motional's benefits include but are not limited to medical, dental, vision, 401k with a company match, health saving accounts, life insurance, pet insurance, and more.


• $123,000 — $163,500 USD

Motional is a driverless technology company making autonomous vehicles a safe, reliable, and accessible reality. We’re driven by something more.

Our journey is always people first.

We 're not just developing driverless cars; we're creating safer roadways, more equitable transportation options, and making our communities better places to live, work, and connect. Our team is made up of engineers, researchers, innovators, dreamers and doers, who are creating a technology with the potential to transform the way we move.

Higher purpose, greater impact.

We’re creating first-of-its-kind technology that will transform transportation. To do so successfully, we must design for everyone in our cities and on our roads. We believe in building a great place to work through a progressive, global culture that is diverse, inclusive, and ensures people feel valued at every level of the organization. Diversity helps us to see the world differently; it’s not only good for our business, it’s the right thing to do.

Scale up, not starting up.

Our team is behind some of the industry's largest leaps forward, including the first fully-autonomous cross-country drive in the U.S, the launch of the world's first robotaxi pilot, and operation of the world's longest-standing public robotaxi fleet. We’re driven to scale; we’re moving towards commercialization of our technology, and we need team members who are ready to embrace change and challenges.

Formed as a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv, Motional is fundamentally changing how people move through their lives. Headquartered in Boston, Motional has operations in the U.S and Asia. For more information, visit www.Motional.com and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.

Motional AD Inc. is an EOE. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. To comply with Federal Law, we participate in E-Verify. All newly-hired employees are queried through this electronic system established by the DHS and the SSA to verify their identity and employment eligibility.