Senior / Staff Software Engineer, Mapping

Waabi; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 141,000 - 242,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

Health and wellness benefits

Unlimited vacation

Flexible hours

Daily drinks and snacks

Regular team-building activities

Job summary

Waabi is looking for a Senior or Staff Software Engineer for its Mapping team in San Francisco. This role involves building scalable, AI-driven mapping infrastructure for autonomous vehicles. Candidates should have a strong background in C++ and Python, and experience in distributed systems. The position offers a competitive salary range from $141,000 to $242,000 USD along with attractive perks including unlimited vacation and wellness benefits.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 years of industry experience.
• Strong fundamentals in computer science.
• Proven ability across various programming languages.

Responsibilities

• Act as a versatile engineering powerhouse.
• Architect and build long-term mapping infrastructure.
• Engineer real-time, high-availability systems.

Skills

C++

Python

3D geometry

Distributed systems

Cloud platforms

Education

BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science or Electrical Engineering

Tools

QGIS

GDAL

PostGIS

Apache Spark

Airflow

Ray

Kafka

Job description

Waabi, founded by AI visionary Raquel Urtasun, is the leader in Physical AI. With a world‑class team, we’re unlocking the next era of autonomous transportation with technology that powers commercial autonomous trucks and robotaxi.

With offices in Toronto, San Francisco, Dallas, and Pittsburgh, Waabi is growing quickly and looking for diverse, innovative, and collaborative candidates who want to impact the world in a positive way.

The Mapping team develops the foundational spatial intelligence of our autonomous fleet. As a Senior or Staff Software Engineer on our Mapping team, you will act as a versatile, foundational builder for our highly scalable, AI‑driven mapping infrastructure. We are looking for a strong software generalist who thrives on variety, can pivot across projects, and tackles complex distributed systems problems from data ingestion to real‑time serving.

You will collaborate and exchange ideas with a multidisciplinary team of engineers and scientists specialized in robotics, deep learning, computer vision, and autonomous driving. We value original, high‑impact ideas and rigorous experimental validation.

You Will

• Act as a versatile engineering powerhouse, quickly ramping up on new domains and fluidly transitioning between backend pipelines, API design, and vehicle‑side serving.
• Be part of a multidisciplinary team of engineers and research scientists using an AI‑first approach to create high‑definition (HD) maps at scale.
• Architect and build the engineering foundations of our long‑term mapping infrastructure.
• Build robust, scalable pipelines to automatically create, validate, maintain, and visualize massive amounts of data.
• Design and develop comprehensive metrics, observability, and anomaly detection across various systems.
• Partner directly with downstream customers (e.g. Perception, Motion Planning, Simulation) to capture complex requirements and implement intuitive APIs.
• Engineer real‑time, high‑availability, and low‑latency systems for a fleet of self‑driving vehicles.

Qualifications

• BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field, with a minimum of 5 years of industry experience.
• Strong computer science fundamentals with an aptitude and willingness to quickly learn domain‑specific concepts such as 3D geometry and spatial data structures.
• Proven ability to work across various programming languages, seamlessly bridging high‑level Python development with robust systems‑level engineering in C++ or Rust.
• Solid experience in designing, developing, and deploying production‑quality, fault‑tolerant software at scale (beyond prototypes or proofs of concept).
• Hands‑on experience building distributed systems on modern cloud platforms.

Bonus / Nice to Have

• A generalist mindset: you enjoy wearing multiple hats, diving into unfamiliar codebases, and picking up new technologies as the mission dictates.
• Prior experience with autonomous vehicles, HD mapping, or robotics.
• Familiarity with 3D geometry, geospatial systems, spatial databases, and tooling such as QGIS, GDAL, or PostGIS.
• Familiarity with machine learning pipelines or integrating AI models into production engineering systems.
• Experience with large‑scale data processing systems and orchestration frameworks such as Apache Spark, Airflow, Ray, or Kafka.
• Open‑minded and collaborative team player with a strong willingness to help others.

The US yearly salary range for this role is: $141,000 – $242,000 USD, in addition to competitive perks and benefits. Waabi (US) Inc.’s salary ranges are determined based on company compensation practices and vary by location. The base range reflects the minimum and maximum target for new‑hire salaries for this position across all US locations. Additional compensation may include equity incentives and an annual performance bonus.

Perks / Benefits

• Competitive compensation and equity awards.
• Health and wellness benefits, including medical, dental, and vision coverage (for full‑time employees only).
• Unlimited vacation.
• Flexible hours and work‑from‑home support.
• Daily drinks, snacks, and catered meals (when in office).
• Regularly scheduled team‑building activities and social events, on‑site, off‑site, and virtually.
• Our benefits portfolio continues to evolve as we grow.

Waabi is a technology start‑up building technologies to transform the way the world moves. Join our talented team to be part of the future and make an impact!

Waabi is an equal‑opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating a supportive, inclusive, and accessible workplace for all employees. We seek applicants of all backgrounds and identities and provide workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law. If you require reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, please let our recruiting team know.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.