Lead Motion Planning Architect for Autonomous Driving

Fruition Group US; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 270,000; Full time

Job summary

Fruition Group US is partnering with a fast-growing autonomous vehicle company to hire a Motion Planning Engineer. You will shape the planning stack architecture and drive safe, efficient real-time driving decisions in complex environments.

You’ll ship planning software onto real vehicles, mentor engineers, and collaborate with perception, controls, and simulation teams to address the hardest planning challenges at scale.

Qualifications

• BS, MS, or PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
• 8+ years of experience in motion planning, trajectory optimization, or a closely related robotics discipline, with a track record of technical leadership.
• Production experience shipping planning software onto real autonomous or robotic systems at scale, not just research or simulation.
• Deep expertise in planning algorithms (search-based, sampling-based, optimization-based) and selecting the right approach.

Responsibilities

• Help set technical direction and architecture for the motion planning stack, balancing near-term shipping needs against long-term scalability.
• Design and guide the implementation of planning algorithms that generate safe, efficient, and comfortable trajectories in complex, dynamic environments.
• Lead the design of behavior planning and decision-making logic for navigating traffic, intersections, and interactions with other road users.
• Partner with perception and prediction teams to ensure planning decisions reflect real-time environment understanding.
• Drive the evolution of simulation tools and test frameworks used to validate planning behavior before vehicles.
• Analyze on-vehicle data and logs to identify and resolve the hardest planning failures.
• Mentor other engineers on the planning team and raise the technical bar across the group.
• Represent the planning team in cross-functional architecture discussions with controls, systems, and vehicle platform teams.

Skills

C++

Python

Robotics algorithms

Leadership

Mentoring

Education

BS/MS/PhD in Robotics/CS/ME

Tools

ROS/ROS2

Job description

Fruition Group US is partnering with a fast-growing autonomous vehicle company to hire a Motion Planning Engineer. You will shape the planning stack architecture and drive safe, efficient real-time driving decisions in complex environments.

You’ll ship planning software onto real vehicles, mentor engineers, and collaborate with perception, controls, and simulation teams to address the hardest planning challenges at scale.