Senior Software Engineer, Behavior Prediction Planning

Kodiak; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 225,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation package

Medical, Dental, and Vision plans

Flexible PTO

Free catered lunch

Dog-friendly office

Job summary

Kodiak is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to enhance behavior prediction for autonomous driving. In this role, you will work on how our autonomy system predicts the behavior and intent of road users and optimize the planning system's decisions.

The ideal candidate has ample experience in autonomous vehicle prediction and is proficient in C++. This position offers competitive compensation, equity, comprehensive health plans, flexible PTO, and various office perks.

Qualifications

• Strong experience with behavior prediction, trajectory prediction, or related autonomous vehicle prediction problems.
• Strong software engineering skills with proficiency in C++.
• Experience working with Planning Systems and understanding of how Prediction impacts planning.

Responsibilities

• Own prediction improvements within the Planning team.
• Improve prediction‑planning interfaces including confidence, uncertainty, and intent representation.
• Define metrics and evaluation frameworks for prediction quality.

Skills

Behavior prediction

Trajectory prediction

Actor intent modeling

C++

Python

Job description

Kodiak Robotics, Inc. was founded in 2018 and has become a leader in autonomous ground transportation committed to a safer and more efficient future for all. The company has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) powered technology stack purpose-built for commercial trucking and the public sector. The company delivers freight daily for its customers across the southern United States using its autonomous technology. In 2024, Kodiak became the first known company to publicly announce delivering a driverless semi-truck to a customer. Kodiak is also leveraging its commercial self-driving software to develop, test and deploy autonomous capabilities for the U.S. Department of Defense.

We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer to improve behavior prediction for autonomous driving. In this role, you will work on how our autonomy system predicts the behavior, intent, and future motion of other road users, and how those predictions are used by the planning system to make safe, comfortable, and effective decisions.

This role is ideal for someone with deep experience in autonomous vehicle prediction, trajectory prediction, behavior modeling, or actor intent understanding. You will work closely with Planning and ML engineers to improve prediction quality, model integration, evaluation, and downstream planning behavior.

This is not only an ML integration role. Through this high-impact role, you will improve prediction using the most effective approach for the problem, whether that means improving heuristic prediction logic, collaborating on learned prediction models, refining prediction‑planning interfaces, or changing how Planning consumes prediction outputs.

In this role, you will:

• Own prediction improvements within the Planning team. Advance prediction models and collaborate closely with ML teams on learned prediction models, model outputs, uncertainty, and failure modes.
• Improve prediction‑planning interfaces, including confidence, uncertainty, intent representation, and fallback behavior.
• Collaborate on projects that improve planning behavior in scenarios where actor intent is uncertain or changing.
• Define metrics and evaluation frameworks for prediction quality as it relates to planning behavior. Analyze prediction‑related planning failures using logs, simulation, metrics, and scenario‑based evaluation.
• Lead technical projects and mentor junior engineers.

What you’ll bring:

• Strong experience with behavior prediction, trajectory prediction, actor intent modeling, or related autonomous vehicle prediction problems.
• Strong software engineering skills with proficiency in C++. Python proficiency is a plus.
• Experience working with Planning Systems and understanding of how Prediction impacts planning, safety, comfort, and system behavior.
• Ability to analyze complex autonomy failures using logs, metrics, and simulation.
• Strong collaboration skills across Perception, Planning, ML, Simulation, and Systems teams.
• Strong system‑level judgment around prediction uncertainty, safety, and deployment and ability to reason across heuristic, learned, and hybrid prediction approaches.

What we offer:

• Competitive compensation package including equity and annual bonuses
• Excellent Medical, Dental, and Vision plans through Kaiser Permanente, Cigna, and MetLife (including a medical plan with infertility benefits)
• MetLife Legal Services, Identity & Fraud Protection, Hospital Indemnity Insurance, Accident Insurance, & Critical Illness Insurance
• Flexible PTO, 10 paid holidays, and generous parental leave policies
• Our office is centrally located in Mountain View, CA
• Office perks: dog‑friendly, free catered lunch, a fully stocked kitchen, and free EV charging
• Long Term Disability, Short Term Disability, Life Insurance
• Wellbeing Benefits – Headspace through Cigna, Calm through Kaiser, One Medical, Gympass, Spring Health through Cigna, Rula (mental health navigation)
• Fidelity 401(k)
• Commuter, FSA, Dependent Care FSA, HSA
• Various incentive programs (referral bonuses, patent bonuses, etc.)

The pay range listed below reflects the base salary in our SF/Silicon Valley location, across several internal levels. Actual starting pay will be based on job‑related factors including: work location, experience, relevant training, education, skill level and performance during interview. Total compensation at Kodiak includes base pay, equity, bonus and a competitive benefits package.

California Pay Range: $200,000 USD - $225,000 USD

At Kodiak, we strive to build a diverse community working towards our common company goals in a safe and collaborative environment where harassment of any kind is strictly prohibited. Kodiak is committed to equal opportunity employment regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, or veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable law.