Senior Robotics Engineer

motional; United States; On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Motional is seeking a senior robotics engineer to investigate and diagnose complex autonomous vehicle behaviors across on-road, simulation, and synthetic environments. You will own end-to-end investigations, drive solutions from triage to resolution, and translate findings into clear executive summaries.

You will work across perception, prediction, localization, planning, controls, and vehicle systems, using Python, Spaceship tooling, and Looker to build dashboards and deliver robust performance

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or equivalent; strong robotics background.
• 5+ years in software or systems engineering for safety-critical autonomous systems.
• Strong Python data analysis and scripting skills; experience with data visualizations.
• Familiarity with modern software development, CI/CD, and Git workflows.
• Ability to translate complex findings into clear executive summaries and reports.

Responsibilities

• Perform deep technical investigations of autonomous vehicle behaviors across simulations and on-road operations.
• Debug behaviors across perception, prediction, localization, planning, controls, and vehicle systems.
• Analyze large datasets from system logs and telemetry using Python; develop automated workflows with Spaceship tooling.
• Design interactive dashboards using Python frameworks and Looker to measure AV system performance.
• Generate hypotheses from ambiguous evidence and test potential root causes with systematic analyses.
• Synthesize findings into clear technical stories for cross-functional and executive audiences.

Skills

Python

Data analysis

Robotics systems

CI/CD

Git

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Tools

Spaceship tooling

Looker

Job description

Motional is a leading autonomous driving company on a mission to make driverless vehicles a safe, reliable, and accessible reality. Backed by Hyundai Motor Group, Motional is at the forefront of the physical AI revolution. Motional isn't just building first-of-its-kind technology; we are transforming transportation to create safer streets and more sustainable mobility options.

The Systems Readiness and Performance team is the crucial bridge between software development and real-world deployment. We are responsible for driving system design, for verifying and validating the autonomy stack, and for defining, measuring, and validating system performance targets. We work closely with stakeholders in autonomy, infrastructure, and operations to build the definitive safety case for the commercial launch of our fully driverless IONIQ 5 robotaxis in Las Vegas later this year.

We are seeking a highly skilled and autonomous Senior Robotics Engineer to play a critical role in investigating and diagnosing complex autonomous vehicle (AV) behaviors across on-road, resimulation, and synthetic simulation environments. This engineer will be responsible for taking end-to-end ownership of ambiguous problem spaces, utilizing Python, custom Spaceship tooling, and data visualization platforms to effectively perform root-cause analysis on emergent behaviors across our autonomy stack. Their work will directly contribute to accelerating the development of safe and reliable autonomous technologies by transforming deep technical debugging into clear summaries that support unified release narratives and executive insights.

What You'll Be Doing

• System Diagnosis & Root Cause Analysis: Perform deep technical investigations of undesirable AV behaviors across simulation, HIL, and on-road operations. Take end-to-end ownership of complex investigations, driving solutions autonomously from initial triage to final resolution with little to no oversight.
• Cross-Subsystem Debugging: Debug behaviors across perception, prediction, localization, planning, controls, and vehicle systems. Reason across subsystem boundaries to diagnose emergent behaviors resulting from component interactions.
• Data Analysis & Tooling: Analyze large datasets from system logs, telemetry, and software outputs using Python. Develop automated diagnostic workflows and custom internal tooling using Python and Spaceship to increase the speed and scale of investigations.
• Performance Visualization: Design and build interactive dashboards using Python frameworks and Business Intelligence tools (e.g., Looker) to effectively measure, analyze, and report on the performance of our AV systems.
• Hypothesis Generation: Develop technical hypotheses from incomplete or ambiguous evidence, distinguish behavioral symptoms from underlying root causes, and design analyses to systematically test potential causes.
• Problem Space Identification: Autonomously identify recurring undesirable behaviors, regressions, and emerging system-level performance issues, categorizing them into meaningful failure modes.
• Technical Storytelling & Synthesis: "Dive deep" into technical complexities to uncover root causes, then step back to synthesize findings. Translate raw performance metrics into clear summaries that support executive-level reporting, unified release narratives, and cross-functional communication.

What We're Looking For

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Engineering (Computer Science, Electrical, Systems, Robotics) or equivalent work experience, with a Master's degree considered a strong plus.
• Robotics Experience: 5+ years of professional software or systems engineering experience working on safety-critical, complex systems such as Autonomous Vehicles, Robotics, Medical Devices, or Aerospace. Thorough understanding of robotics systems including sensors, actuators, and software autonomy stacks.
• Data & Analytics Expertise: Strong proficiency in Python for data analysis and scripting, backed by a strong understanding of modern software development principles. Experience building data visualizations using Python frameworks, with a willingness to learn Business Intelligence tools (e.g., Looker).
• Systems Thinking & Quality: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills for complex system performance evaluation. Ability to think logically, remove bias, perform root cause analysis using system logs, and maintain a strict commitment to data quality and rigorous testing.
• Engineering Workflows: Proficient with Git and standard version control workflows, and entirely comfortable working in a fast-paced, agile, continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) environment.
• Autonomy & Communication: Proven ability to work both independently and effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team. Excellent communication skills with the ability to synthesize complex technical findings into clear summaries that support cross-functional teams and executive leadership.

Bonus Points (not required)

Experience