Senior Vehicle Controls Engineer

Socket.dev; Georgia; Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Socket.dev is seeking a hands-on Senior Vehicle Controls Engineer to own the systems that convert a planned trajectory into safe, stable steering, braking, and acceleration commands on a real vehicle.

You will design, implement, tune, and test production‑quality real-time control software in C/C++, with Python/MATLAB for modeling and analysis. Expect close collaboration with hardware, track and road testing, and clear demonstrations of control-system deployments from design to deployment.

Qualifications

• Experience designing vehicle-control systems on real vehicles.
• Strong understanding of feedback control, stability, and vehicle dynamics.
• Ability to work with vehicle hardware and testing in real-world conditions.

Responsibilities

• Own the systems that convert a planned trajectory into steering, braking, and acceleration commands on a real vehicle.
• Design, implement, tune, and test production-quality real-time control software.
• Collaborate with hardware teams and participate in track/road testing; demonstrate end-to-end deployment of control systems.

Skills

C/C++ real-time programming

CAN bus & vehicle signals

Python & MATLAB modeling

Vehicle dynamics knowledge

Control system design & tuning

Testing on real vehicles

Track/road testing

HIL/vehicle-in-the-loop testing

Safety mechanisms & deployment

Tools

MATLAB

ROS

Openpilot

CarSim/IPG CarMaker

dSPACE

Job description

We are looking for a hands-on Senior Vehicle Controls Engineer to own the systems that convert a planned trajectory into safe, stable, and comfortable steering, braking, and acceleration commands on a real vehicle.

• Proven experience designing, implementing, tuning, and testing vehicle-control systems on real physical vehicles
• Experience with lateral and/or longitudinal control for cars, autonomous vehicles, mobile machinery, or similar wheeled vehicles
• Strong understanding of feedback control, stability, dynamic systems, and vehicle dynamics
• Experience with steering, throttle, braking, or drive-by-wire systems
• Experience with CAN bus, vehicle signals, and actuator command interfaces
• Ability to develop production-quality real-time control software in C++, C, or another suitable real-time language
• Experience with Python, MATLAB, or equivalent for modeling, system identification, log analysis, and controller evaluation
• Strong debugging and real-world testing skills
• Ability to work directly with vehicle hardware and participate in track or road testing
• Ability to demonstrate at least one control system taken from design through physical deployment, including tuning, validation, performance measurement, and safety mechanisms

Nice-to-have skills:

• Passenger-car ADAS or autonomous-driving development
• Electronic power steering, brake-by-wire, throttle control, ESC, or vehicle motion-control systems
• Model Predictive Control (MPC), optimal control, robust control, or nonlinear control
• State estimation, observers, sensor fusion, or tyre-force estimation
• Embedded Linux, RTOS, or safety-critical real-time systems
• Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) or vehicle-in-the-loop testing
• Functional safety, including ISO 26262 or SOTIF
• Experience with Openpilot, Autoware, Apollo, ROS, MATLAB/Simulink, CarSim, IPG CarMaker, dSPACE, or similar platforms