Head of Autonomous Systems Engineering

Nuro; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 284,000 - 426,000; Full time

Job summary

Nuro is seeking a Head of Systems Engineering to own the end-to-end systems backbone that enables the Nuro Driver to scale safely and commercially. You will lead the systems engineering function across autonomy, software and hardware, safety case, requirements, validation, and deployment readiness, ensuring product and safety goals translate into tangible system performance.

This role sits at the center of technical and commercial execution as we expand to new geographies, vehicle platforms, and

Qualifications

• 10+ years of systems engineering experience in related fields (e.g., automotive, aerospace, defense, robotics, or other safety-critical domains).
• 7+ years managing managers and scaling high-performing engineering organizations.
• Experience leading systems engineering across complex hardware and software products, including ownership of safety-critical development.
• Excellent communication skills, able to make complex technical tradeoffs clear to diverse stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Own and scale the Systems Engineering function across autonomy, hardware, safety case, requirements, validation, system performance, and deployment readiness.
• Define the systems engineering strategy to support growth across cities, vehicle platforms, commercial partnerships, and international markets.
• Translate product goals, safety goals, and deployment milestones into system requirements, measurable performance targets, validation plans, and launch readiness frameworks.
• Own the requirements architecture, system decomposition, and interface management for the Nuro Driver across autonomy software, sensing, compute, vehicle software and hardware, and safety.
• Drive the system-level safety case in collaboration with Autonomy, Hardware, Legal, Product, and Operations, ensuring the safety argument is rigorous and evidence-based.
• Define the technical and validation framework for public-road operation, commercial launch, geographic expansion, platform expansion, and new use cases.
• Lead technical analyses and trade studies informing architecture, sensing configuration, compute strategy, vehicle integration, safety mitigations, and deployment readiness.
• Create mechanisms for risk identification, readiness reviews, requirements governance, launch decision-making, and cross-functional execution.
• Build, develop, and retain a high-caliber Systems Engineering organization.

Skills

Systems engineering leadership

Managing managers

Cross-functional communication

Safety-critical systems

Job description

Nuro is seeking a Head of Systems Engineering to own the end-to-end systems backbone that enables the Nuro Driver to scale safely and commercially. You will lead the systems engineering function across autonomy, software and hardware, safety case, requirements, validation, and deployment readiness, ensuring product and safety goals translate into tangible system performance.

This role sits at the center of technical and commercial execution as we expand to new geographies, vehicle platforms, and