ML Engineer, Behavior Planning

Auror Limited; Mountain View (CA); Hybrid; USD 139,000 - 223,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus

Equity compensation

Benefits

Job summary

Aurora is seeking an ML Engineer to join the Behavior Planning Team. You will define architecture for onboard planning models, develop offboard critics, and build a simulation engine with world models to test the Aurora Driver.

You will bridge research and production by deploying models on real vehicles that must meet high safety standards. This role emphasizes advancing state-of-the-art autonomous driving tech, working with large-scale models and distributed computing, and collaborating across

Qualifications

• BS, MS, or PhD in Robotics, ML, CS or related quantitative field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 2+ years of experience developing state-of-the-art ML models, research or production.
• Hands-on experience with Imitation Learning or RL for physical or simulated agents.
• Experience training large models on massive datasets using distributed computing.
• Fluency in Python with high-performance, maintainable code.
• Deep experience with PyTorch and modern ML architectures (Transformers, Diffusion Models).

Responsibilities

• Define onboard planning model architecture and deploy large-scale models trained with IL and RL.
• Develop offboard critic models to evaluate driving behavior at scale.
• Architect offboard foundation models powering a realistic world model simulation engine.
• Bridge research and production by deploying models on production vehicles.

Skills

Python

Imitation Learning

Reinforcement Learning

Distributed computing

Transformers

Diffusion Models

Education

Robotics/ML/CS degree

Tools

PyTorch

C++

Job description

Who we are

Aurora’s mission is to deliver the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly.

The Aurora Driver will create a new era in mobility and logistics, one that will bring a safer, more efficient, and more accessible future to everyone.

At Aurora, you will tackle massively complex problems alongside other passionate, intelligent individuals, growing as an expert while expanding your knowledge. For the latest news from Aurora, visit aurora.tech or follow us on LinkedIn.

What we are looking for

Aurora hires talented people with diverse backgrounds who are ready to help build a transportation ecosystem that will make our roads safer, get crucial goods where they need to go, and make mobility more efficient and accessible for all.

We are seeking a ML Engineer to join the Behavior Planning Team. This is a high-impact role where you will sit at the frontier of autonomous vehicle technology. You won't just be applying AI and ML methods; you will be advancing the state-of-the-art for how a self-driving system reasons about the world, interacts with humans on the road, and masters complex, high-dimensional decision-making.

In this role you will

• Define the architecture of our onboard planning models: Develop and deploy large-scale models trained with Imitation Learning and Reinforcement Learning that enable the Aurora Driver to navigate complex environments with human-like fluidity and superhuman safety.

• Revolutionize evaluation: Develop powerful offboard critic models that can evaluate driving behavior at scale, identifying subtle nuances in comfort, progress, and safety that traditional heuristics miss.

• Build our next-generation simulation engine: Architect cutting-edge offboard foundation models that power our simulation engine, creating realistic "world models" to test the Aurora Driver against an infinite variety of edge cases.

• Bridge research and production: Reach new frontiers of autonomous driving technology by pushing forward the state-of-the-art, but also deploy your models on real production vehicles that drive on public roads and must meet the highest standards of safety.

Required qualifications

• BS, MS, or PhD in Robotics, Machine Learning, Computer Science, or a related quantitative field, or equivalent practical experience.

• 2+ years of experience developing state-of-the-art ML models, either in a research or production setting.

• Hands-on experience working on Imitation Learning or Reinforcement Learning applied to physical or simulated agents.

• Experience training large models on massive datasets using distributed computing.

• Fluency in Python, with a focus on writing high-performance, maintainable code.

• Deep experience with PyTorch (preferred) or another modern ML framework, and a mastery of modern ML architectures including Transformers and Diffusion Models.

Desirable qualifications

• A track record of publications in top-tier ML conferences (NeurIPS, ICML, CoRL, CVPR, AAAI).

• Experience deploying complex ML systems in production environments.

• Experience in developing generative models or neural simulators for synthetic data generation.

• Fluency with C++, with a focus on writing high-performance, safe, and maintainable code.

The base salary range for this position is $139,000 - $223,000 per Year. Aurora’s pay ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, the successful candidate’s starting base pay will be determined based on factors including job-related skills, experience, qualifications, relevant education or training, and market conditions. These ranges may be modified in the future. The successful candidate will also be eligible for an annual bonus, equity compensation, and benefits.

Working at Aurora

At Aurora, we bring together extraordinarily talented and experienced people united by the strength of our values. We operate with integrity, set outrageous goals, and build a culture where we win together — all without any jerks.

We believe in-person work increases collaboration, empathy, and our ability to lead effectively. As a result, Aurorans are expected to work from the office at least 3 days per week, with some roles requiring more frequent in-office presence, up to 5 days per week, based on operational needs.

Our Careers page provides insight into what it is like to work at Aurora, and you can find all the latest updates in our Newsroom.

Our commitment to safety

At the core of everything we do is our commitment to safety. Building best-in-class self-driving technology will take time, and we believe that each employee at Aurora has a role in contributing to safety, every step of the way. Aurora expects commitment to our safety policies from every employee, and seeks candidates who take an active responsibility, can contribute to building an atmosphere of trust, and invest in the organization’s long-term success by prioritizing working safely, no matter what.

Our commitment to inclusion

Aurora considers candidates without regard to their race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy status, parent or caregiver status, ancestry, political affiliation, veteran and/or military status, physical or mental disability, or any other status protected by federal or state law. Aurora considers qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law. We are also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at [e-mail].

For California applicants, information collected and processed as part of your application and any job applications you choose to submit is subject to Aurora’s California Employment Privacy Policy.