Software Engineer, Decision Making & Path Planning

Pony.ai, Inc.; Fremont, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Care Plan

401k Plan

Life Insurance

Paid Time Off

Family Leave

Disability Insurance

Free Food

Job summary

Pony.ai, Inc. is seeking an experienced autonomous driving software engineer to join our L4 planning team in Silicon Valley.

You will design architecture, algorithms and systems for high-performance planning, safety fallbacks, and road-test data analysis to support safe, HD-map-independent autonomous driving. The role requires a BS in CS/Robotics, strong software engineering skills (C/C++, Python/Java), excellent communication, and creative problem solving to advance real-world autonomous

Qualifications

• BS in Computer Science, ML, Robotics, or related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• General software engineering experience, proficient in at least one major programming language (C, C++, Python, or Java) and familiar with common data structures and algorithms.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
• Excellent problem transformation and modeling capabilities with creative thinking.

Responsibilities

• Architecture design, algorithm, and system development for high-performance L4 autonomous driving planning.
• Optimize and provide safety fallbacks for end-to-end model outputs and ensure HD-map independence.
• Design and develop a redundant system to meet L4 capabilities with lower compute and limited sensors.
• Architecture design and system development for road-test big data analysis and processing.
• Simulation platform development using massive road-test data to align with real-world scenarios.

Job description

Founded in 2016 in Silicon Valley, Pony.ai has quickly become a global leader in autonomous mobility and is a pioneer in extending autonomous mobility technologies and services at a rapidly expanding footprint of sites around the world. Operating Robotaxi, Robotruck and Personally Owned Vehicles (POV) business units, Pony.ai is an industry leader in the commercialization of autonomous driving and is committed to developing the safest autonomous driving capabilities on a global scale. Pony.ai’s leading position has been recognized, with CNBC ranking Pony.ai #10 on its CNBC Disruptor list of the 50 most innovative and disruptive tech companies of 2022. In June 2023, Pony.ai was recognized on the XPRIZE and Bessemer Venture Partners inaugural “XB100” 2023 list of the world’s top 100 private deep tech companies, ranking #12 globally. As of August 2023, Pony.ai has accumulated nearly 21 million miles of autonomous driving globally. Pony.ai went public at NASDAQ in November 2024.

Responsibility

The team is responsible for determining how autonomous vehicles navigate based on real-time traffic conditions, including roads, surrounding environments, other vehicles, and pedestrians. It is one of the most core teams in autonomous driving. You will be responsible for one or more of the following tasks:

1. Architecture design, algorithm, and system development for high-performance and highly reliable L4 Autonomous Driving Planning algorithms.
2. Optimizing and providing safety fallbacks for end-to-end model outputs. Through post-processing, ensure vehicle behavior is safe and controllable, realizing an HD-map-independent autonomous driving system that satisfies L4 capabilities and requirements.
3. Designing and developing a redundant system that satisfies L4 capabilities and requirements using lower compute power, select sensors, and end-to-end technology.
4. Architecture design and system development for road-test big data analysis and processing.
5. Simulation platform development, using massive road-test data to make the simulation platform better align with real-world road test scenarios.

• BS in Computer Science, ML, Robotics, similar technical field of study, or equivalent practical experience
• General software engineering experience, proficient in at least one mainstream programming language (such as C, C++, Python, or Java) and familiar with common data structures and algorithms.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
• Excellent problem transformation and modeling capabilities, with creative thinking to solve challenging problems that haven't been resolved industry-wide.

Preferred

• MS in Computer Science, ML Robotics, similar technical field of study
• General software engineering experience solving motion planning or related robotics problems

Compensation and Benefits

Base Salary Range: $120,000 - $200,000 Annually

Compensation may vary outside of this range depending on many factors, including the candidate’s qualifications, skills, competencies, experience, and location. Base pay is one part of the Total Compensation and this role may be eligible for bonuses/incentives and restricted stock units.

Also, we provide the following benefits to the eligible employees:

• Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
• Retirement Plan (Traditional and Roth 401k)
• Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
• Paid Time Off (Vacation & Public Holidays)
• Family Leave (Maternity, Paternity)
• Short Term & Long Term Disability
• Free Food & Snacks

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