Senior Controls Engineer - Vehicle Automation & AI

John Deere; Urbandale (IA); On-site; USD 109,000 - 164,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible work arrangements

Competitive base pay

401K and Defined Contribution

Health Savings Account

Adoption assistance

Employee Assistance Programs

Tuition assistance

Fitness subsidies and on-site gyms

Charitable contribution match

Employee Purchase Plan and discounts

Vacation and Holiday Pay

Job summary

John Deere in Urbandale, IA is seeking a Sr. Controls Engineer to develop control algorithms and embedded software for vehicle automation platforms.

The role focuses on operator-assist and automated functions, with collaboration across Deere units to commercialize perception-based automation solutions. The ideal candidate will have experience in state machines, MBSD/DSM, and Linux/C++ development, with a strong emphasis on quality, testing, and timely delivery.

Qualifications

• Proven experience developing control systems, including state machines, closed-loop control, signal arbitration, fault handling, and degradation logic.
• Familiarity with MBSD/DSM workflows and aggregate closed-loop simulations.
• Ability to lead team decisions and build stakeholder consensus.
• Experience developing Linux software applications.

Responsibilities

• Develop control algorithms for John Deere vehicle platforms for automation products.
• Develop embedded control software for vehicle automation, including control, arbitration, and state-machine logic for operator-assist and automated functions.
• Partner with other Deere units and product platforms to commercialize perception-based automation solutions.
• Use AI-assisted development tools, such as GitHub Copilot and agentic workflows, to accelerate design, implementation, testing, and documentation while maintaining accountability for quality, correctness, and on-time delivery.
• Solve complex automation software system problems.
• Ensure software quality by resolving defects and continuously improving automation solutions.

Skills

Control systems

State machines

Closed-loop control

Signal arbitration

MBSD/DSM workflows

Model predictive control

C++

Linux

Qt

Embedded C

Agile/Scrum

Testing / TDD

Education

B.S. in CS/CE/EE/ME/Ag Eng or equivalent

Tools

Linux

Qt

GitHub Copilot

CAN

MQTT/UDP/TCP-IP

Job description

John Deere in Urbandale, IA is seeking a Sr. Controls Engineer to develop control algorithms and embedded software for vehicle automation platforms.

The role focuses on operator-assist and automated functions, with collaboration across Deere units to commercialize perception-based automation solutions. The ideal candidate will have experience in state machines, MBSD/DSM, and Linux/C++ development, with a strong emphasis on quality, testing, and timely delivery.