Senior/Staff Software Engineer, Motion Planning

PlusAI; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Catered lunch

Unlimited snacks and beverages

401(k) plan

Job summary

PlusAI, a Silicon Valley Physical AI company, seeks a Senior Software Engineer for its Motion Planning team to research, develop, and implement planning technologies that enable autonomous trucks to handle complex driving scenarios safely and in a human-like manner.

You will work across the full decision‑making stack, integrating planning algorithms into production systems and collaborating with ML/prediction teams to refine probabilistic representations guiding planning decisions.

Qualifications

• MS or PhD in Computer Science, Robotics, or related field.
• Strong production software development in C++; Python a plus.
• Robotics expertise in path, motion, trajectory, behavior planning or optimal control.
• Solid math and physics fundamentals; geometry, probability, dynamics.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement decision-making and trajectory-generation algorithms for safe and reliable planning.
• Translate research innovations into production-grade planning components.
• Handle planning under uncertainty & complex interactions with other road users.
• Use CasADi/Acados and ROS-based stacks to integrate planning algorithms.
• Collaborate with ML/prediction teams to fuse probabilistic, multi-future representations into planning decisions.
• Perform system diagnostics and tuning with in-house and open-source tools.
• Communicate system designs clearly and gain cross-functional alignment before implementation.

Skills

C++ programming

Python experience

Robotics planning algorithms

Math & physics fundamentals

Communication skills

Education

MS or PhD in CS/Robotics

Tools

CasADi

Acados

Git

ROS

Visualization tools (Webviz)

Job description

PlusAI is a Physical AI company pioneering AI-based virtual driver software for factory-built autonomous trucks. Headquartered in Silicon Valley with operations in the United States and Europe, Plus was named by Fast Company as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies. Partners including TRATON GROUP’s Scania, MAN, and International brands, Hyundai Motor Company, Iveco Group, Bosch, and DSV are working with Plus to accelerate the deployment of next-generation autonomous trucks. If you’re ready to make a huge impact and drive the future of autonomy, Plus is looking for talented individuals to join its fast-growing teams.

About the Team

The Planning team is responsible for making sure PlusAI’s trucks make the right decision in every driving situation, safely, smoothly, and predictably for other road users, even when working with noisy, uncertain, or incomplete information about the world. This is a cross-functional problem that requires close collaboration with Perception, Prediction, Controls, and Safety, and a willingness to work at the edge of research and production: bringing state-of-the-art decision-making and optimization techniques into a system that runs on real trucks, on real roads, today.

About the Role

As a Senior Software Engineer on the Motion Planning team, you’ll research, develop, and implement planning technologies that let PlusAI’s trucks handle complex, real-world driving scenarios in a safe and human-like manner. You’ll work across the full decision-making stack, from reasoning about what the truck should do to determining precisely how it should get there, while accounting for the many ways a scenario could unfold.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement algorithms for decision‑making and trajectory generation, ensuring safety, comfort, and reliability across a wide range of driving conditions.
• Bring novel robotics and machine learning techniques from research into a production‑grade, safety‑critical system.
• Reason about complex, socially‑nuanced driving situations, such as negotiating merges, junctions, and interactions with other road users, under uncertainty.
• Utilize modern C++ numerical optimization frameworks (e.g., CasADi, Acados) and industry‑standard tooling (git, ROS, etc.) to integrate new planning algorithms into the production stack.
• Partner closely with the ML and prediction teams to integrate, refine, and act on probabilistic and multi‑future representations of how a scenario might evolve, shaping how these outputs are consumed by planning decisions.
• Perform system‑level diagnostics and tuning using in-house and open‑source visualization tools (e.g., webviz).
• Collaborate cross‑functionally and communicate clearly, producing system designs that are reviewed and approved at a high level before implementation begins.

Required skills

• MS with 1‑2 years of relevant experience, or PhD, in Computer Science, Robotics, or a related field.
• Strong production software development skills in C++; Python experience a plus.
• Robotics expertise in one or more of: path planning, motion planning, trajectory generation, behavior planning, optimal control.
• Strong math (geometry, analysis, probability) and physics (kinematics, dynamics) fundamentals.
• Experience designing, implementing, and refining planning algorithms on a real‑world robotic or vehicle platform.
• Strong oral and written communication skills, with the ability to collaborate across teams and derive solutions from cross‑functional input

Preferred skills

• PhD + 1‑2 years or MS + 3‑4 years of relevant experience.
• Bonus: exposure to machine learning techniques such as deep learning, imitation learning, transformer‑based models, or diffusion‑based models, particularly as applied to decision‑making or scenario generation.
• Familiarity with safety frameworks for autonomy (e.g., RSS, collision avoidance/MRM logic).
• Prior experience working on safety‑critical systems.

$130,000 - $220,000 a year

Your opportunities joining PlusAI

Work, learn and grow in a highly future‑oriented, innovative and dynamic field.

Wide range of opportunities for personal and professional development.

Catered free lunch, unlimited snacks and beverages.

Highly competitive salary and benefits package, including 401(k) plan.