Software Engineer - Autonomy

Applied Intuition; United States; Hybrid; USD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Applied Intuition in the United States is looking for a Software Engineer to join their Autonomy team. You will be crucial in building the software that drives autonomous trucks on highways. The position involves designing and optimizing real-time software modules and collaborating with cross-functional teams to turn algorithms into production-grade software.

The ideal candidate should have a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and at least 2 years of experience in software development, particularly in C++. We support a flexible working arrangement primarily in the office.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of professional experience in software development.
• Experience with multi-threaded and concurrent programming.
• Background in AV perception, prediction, or planning systems.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and optimize real-time onboard software modules.
• Maintain and improve the middleware layer connecting sensor hardware.
• Implement ASIL-relevant architecture patterns.

Skills

C++

Linux environment

Data serialization formats

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

ROS

DDS

Job description

About Applied Intuition

Applied Intuition, Inc. is powering the future of physical AI. Founded in 2017 and now valued at $15 billion, the Silicon Valley company is creating the digital infrastructure needed to bring intelligence to every moving machine on the planet. Applied Intuition services the automotive, defense, trucking, construction, mining and agriculture industries in three core areas: tools and infrastructure, operating systems, and autonomy. Eighteen of the top 20 global automakers, as well as the United States military and its allies, trust the company’s solutions to deliver physical intelligence. Applied Intuition is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in Washington, D.C.; San Diego; Ft. Walton Beach, Florida; Ann Arbor, Michigan; London; Stuttgart; Munich; Stockholm; Bangalore; Seoul; and Tokyo. Learn more at applied.co.

We are an in‑office company, and our expectation is that employees primarily work from their Applied Intuition office 5 days a week. However, we also recognize the importance of flexibility and trust our employees to manage their schedules responsibly. This may include occasional remote work, starting the day with morning meetings from home before heading to the office, or leaving earlier when needed to accommodate family commitments.

About the role

As a Software Engineer on the Autonomy team, you will be at the heart of our autonomy stack. We are building the software stack that drives multi‑ton trucks autonomously on highways. As an Onboard Software Engineer, you will own the real‑time systems that run directly on the vehicle compute platform – from sensor data ingestion and perception pipelines to motion planning execution and safety arbitration. Your code ships on trucks, not just in simulation.

This is a deeply cross‑functional role. You will collaborate daily with autonomy domain experts, hardware engineers, safety leads, and validation teams to turn algorithms into production‑grade software that operates safely and reliably at highway speeds.

At Applied Intuition, you will:

• Design, implement, and optimize real‑time onboard software modules including perception, sensor fusion, path planning execution, vehicle control, and safety monitoring.
• Maintain and improve the middleware layer connecting sensor hardware (lidar, radar, cameras, GPS/IMU) to autonomy algorithm consumers.
• Own latency and throughput performance across the onboard compute stack, profiling and tuning for deterministic behavior under resource constraints.
• Implement ASIL‑relevant architecture patterns including fault detection, isolation, and recovery mechanisms.
• Build diagnostics, logging, and observability tooling to support post‑drive analysis and rapid root‑cause investigations.
• Write thorough unit, integration, and hardware‑in‑the‑loop (HIL) tests; contribute to CI/CD pipelines for onboard compute targets.
• Collaborate with the autonomy team to productionize research algorithms, translating prototype SW into efficient C++ deployments.

We’re looking for someone who has:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, or a related field.
• 2+ years of professional experience in software development.
• Exceptional proficiency in C++ and experience with modern C++ standards.
• Experience working in a Linux environment.
• Knowledge of data serialization formats (e.g., Protobuf, JSON).

Nice to have:

• Experience with robotics middleware like ROS or DDS.
• Background in AV perception, prediction, or planning systems.
• Familiarity with vehicle data buses (e.g., CAN, Ethernet).
• Experience with multi‑threaded and concurrent programming.
• Experience in a startup or fast‑paced environment.

Don’t meet every single requirement? If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Applied Intuition is an equal opportunity employer and federal contractor or subcontractor. Consequently, the parties agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of 41 CFR 60‑1.4(a), 41 CFR 60‑300.5(a) and 41 CFR 60‑741.5(a) and that these laws are incorporated herein by reference. These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities, and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin. These regulations require that covered prime contractors and subcontractors take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status or disability. The parties also agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of Executive Order 13496 (29 CFR Part 471, Appendix A to Subpart A), relating to the notice of employee rights under federal labor laws.