Senior/Staff Software Engineer, Motion Planning

Gatik; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Gatik is seeking senior or staff software engineers to join the planning team to design motion planning and decision-making systems for autonomous driving. The role is onsite five days a week in Mountain View, CA, focusing on safe paths using mapping, localization, and predicted actors.

You will own the planning stack from development to production and work across teams to mature new products. You will build and test algorithms, develop simulation tools, and contribute to scalable deployment of

Qualifications

• PhD with 3+ years of industry experience or MS with 5+ years of relevant industry experience.
• Deep expertise in search-based planning, MPC, optimization, and/or trajectory generation.
• Proficient in C++ with hands-on experience in Python.
• Proven experience designing real-time, on-device planning algorithms.
• Ability to collaborate cross-functionally on system integration and large-scale deployments.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and test motion and behavior planning algorithms for autonomous driving on urban roads and highways.
• Own path planning and decision-making systems end-to-end for safe, smooth vehicle behavior.
• Develop tools and simulation architecture to train, test, prototype, and validate in virtual environments.
• Understand constraints of path planning for Gatik's ODD and integrate algorithms into the software stack.

Skills

C++

Python

Motion planning

MPC

Trajectory generation

Real-time systems

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

PhD + 3+ years

MS + 5+ years

Tools

ROS

Git

Job description

Gatik, the leader in autonomous middle-mile logistics, is revolutionizing the B2B supply chain with its autonomous transportation-as-a-service (ATaaS) solution and prioritizing safe, consistent deliveries while streamlining freight movement by reducing congestion. The company focuses on short-haul, B2B logistics for Fortune 500 retailers and in 2021 launched the world’s first fully driverless commercial transportation service with Walmart. Gatik's Class 3-7 autonomous trucks are commercially deployed across major markets, including Texas, Arkansas, and Ontario, Canada, driving innovation in freight transportation.

The company's proprietary Level 4 autonomous technology, Gatik Carrier™, is custom-built to transport freight safely and efficiently between pick-up and drop-off locations on the middle mile. With robust capabilities in both highway and urban environments, Gatik Carrier™ serves as an all-encompassing solution that integrates advanced software and hardware powering the fleet, facilitating effortless integration into customers' logistics operations.

About the role

We are seeking senior or staff software engineers to join our planning team to build motion planning and decision-making systems and help mature new products all the way through to production. Our planning team calculates safe paths for the autonomous vehicle to follow using mapping data, localization data, waypoints, and predicted actors around the vehicle. Your contribution will improve planning for emergency situations and planning for complicated maneuvers such as loading dock access and variable lane changes.

This role is onsite 5 days a week at our Mountain View, CA office!

What you’ll do

• Design, build, and test the algorithms for motion and behavior planning for autonomous driving on urban roads and highways.


• Provide end-to-end ownership of the path planning and decision-making systems, ensuring that the behavior of Gatik's vehicles is safe, smooth, and predictable to other road users.


• Build tools that prioritize and debug issues and contribute to the development of simulation architecture to enable Gatik's software stack to be trained, tested, prototyped, and validated in a virtual environment.


• Develop a thorough understanding of the constraints and challenges of path planning for Gatik's unique use case and ODD.


• Own the vehicle functions end to end, integrate the algorithms into Gatik's software stack, and mature them to production quality.


• Automate scenario generation of on-road experiences using analytical and learned techniques

What we’re looking for

• Ph.D. with 3+ years of industry experience or Master’s degree with 5+ years of relevant industry experience


• Deep expertise in search-based planning, model predictive control (MPC), optimization, and/or trajectory generation


• Proficient in C++ with hands‑on experience in Python


• Proven experience in designing and implementing real‑time, on‑device behavior and motion planning/control algorithms


• Demonstrated ability to collaborate cross-functionally with engineers on system integration and large-scale product deployment


• Strong background in conducting thorough code and design reviews

More about Gatik

Founded in 2017 by experts in autonomous vehicle technology, Gatik has rapidly expanded its presence to Mountain View, Dallas‑Fort Worth, Arkansas, and Toronto. As the first and only company to achieve fully driverless middle-mile commercial deliveries, Gatik holds a unique and defensible position in the AV industry, with a clear trajectory toward sustainable growth and profitability.

We have delivered complete, proprietary AV technology - an integration of software and hardware - to enable earlier successes for our clients in constrained Level 4 autonomy. By choosing the middle mile - with defined point-to-point delivery, we have simplified some of the more complex AV challenges, enabling us to achieve full autonomy ahead of competitors. Given extensive knowledge of Gatik’s well‑defined, fixed route ODDs and hybrid architecture, we are able to hyper‑optimize our models with exponentially less data, establish gate‑keeping mechanisms to maintain explainability, and ensure continued safety of the system for unmanned operations.

Visit us at Gatik for more company information and Careers at Gatik for more open roles.

Notable News

• Forbes: Forget robotaxis. Upstart Gatik sees middle-mile deliveries as the path to profitable AVs


• Tech Brew: Gatik AI exec unpacks the regulations that could shape the AV industry


• Business Wire: Gatik Paves the Way for Safe Driverless Operations('Freight-Only') at Scale with Industry-First Third-Party Safety Assessment Framework


• Auto Futures: Autonomous Trucking Group Gatik Secures Investment From NIPPON EXPRESS HOLDINGS


• Automotive News: Gatik foresees hundreds of self‑driving trucks on road soon, and that's just the beginning


• Bloomberg: Autonomous Vehicle Startup Takes Off by Picking Off Easier Routes


• Reuters: Driverless vehicles on limited routes bump along despite US robotaxi scrutiny

Taking care of our team

At Gatik, we connect people of extraordinary talent and experience to an opportunity to create a more resilient supply chain and contribute to our environment’s sustainability. We are diverse in our backgrounds and perspectives yet united by a bold vision and shared commitment to our values. Our culture emphasizes the importance of collaboration, respect and agility.

We at Gatik strive to create a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone feels they have opportunities to succeed and grow because we know that together we can do great things. We are committed to an inclusive and diverse team. We do not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, marital status or any legally protected status.