Senior Localization and Planning Engineer - Autonomous Vehicles

NVIDIA; Washington; On-site; USD 184,000 - 357,000; Full time

Job summary

NVIDIA is seeking Localization and Planning Engineers to work on navigation maps for autonomous driving, focusing on localization, perception-map association, and lane selection. You will develop C++ code and contribute to mapping and routing features for real-world deployment.

The role emphasizes safe, scalable software practices, cross-team collaboration, and adherence to automotive quality standards. This position is located in the United States, Washington, and involves hands-on engineering

Qualifications

• BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science or related field (or equivalent experience).
• 8+ years of proven experience.
• Strong algorithmic design background.
• Outstanding communication and teamwork skills for cross-team collaboration.
• Meticulous craftsmanship of software in modern C++, using RAII and exception-safe coding practices.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement systems using standard navigation maps to navigate a car at lane level.
• Ensure algorithms perform effectively across large-scale real-world and synthetic datasets.
• Write safe, highly efficient code in C++.
• Productize software for real-world deployment to consumer cars, following automotive safety standards (MISRA, ISO26262).

Skills

C++

Algorithms

Teamwork

Communication

8+ years experience

Education

BS/MS/PhD in CS

Job description

We are looking for Localization and Planning Engineers to join us. Navigation maps are an essential piece of autonomous driving systems, providing rich driving context, including road level and lane level information. In this role, you will work on localizing, perception-map association, and lane selection with navigation maps to enable advanced features for autonomous vehicles.

What You'll Be Doing

• Design and implement systems using standard navigation maps, e.g. Google maps, to help navigate the car along a route on a lane level.
• Ensure algorithms perform effectively across large-scale real-world and synthetic datasets in diverse environments..
• Write safe, highly efficient code in C++.
• Productize all software for real-world deployment to consumer cars, follow automotive quality and safety standards (MISRA, ISO26262).

What We Need To See

• BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science or related fields (or equivalent experience).
• 8+ years of proven experience.
• Strong algorithmic design background.
• Outstanding communication and teamwork skills, as this project requires both cross-team collaboration and work in a tightly-knit team.
• Meticulous craftsmanship of software in modern C++, using RAII and the best exception safe coding practices.

Ways To Stand Out From The Crowd

• Prior industrial experience with navigation maps, online mapping, or lane planning.

We believe that realizing self-driving cars will be a defining contribution of our generation (e.g. traffic accidents cause ~1.25 million deaths per year world-wide). We have the funding and scale, but we need your help on our team. NVIDIA is widely considered to be one of the technology world’s most desirable employers with some of the most forward-thinking and hardworking people in the world working here. If you're creative and autonomous, we want to hear from you!

Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and the pay of employees in similar positions. The base salary range is 184,000 USD - 287,500 USD for Level 4, and 224,000 USD - 356,500 USD for Level 5. You will also be eligible for equity and benefits. Applications for this job will be accepted at least until August 21, 2026. This posting is for an existing vacancy. NVIDIA uses AI tools in its recruiting processes. NVIDIA is committed to fostering an inclusive work environment and proud to be an equal opportunity employer. As we highly value diversity in our current and future employees, we do not discriminate (including in our hiring and promotion practices) on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status or any other characteristic protected by law.