Staff Compute Systems Engineer

Engg; Foster City (CA); On-site; USD 226,000 - 311,000; Full time

Job summary

Zoox is hiring for an Advanced Hardware Engineering role in Foster City, CA. The position focuses on defining traceable compute requirements, converging on robust compute architectures, and coordinating with product, HW/SW, and safety teams to ensure mission-critical performance.

The role requires extensive systems engineering, safety analysis, and experience with ISO 26262/ISO 21448. You will drive sign-off, contribute to V&V plans, and mitigate failure modes early in design.

Qualifications

• B.S., M.S., or equivalent in Aerospace, Automotive, Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical, Mechanical, or Systems Engineering.
• 8+ years of staff-level experience in automotive, ADAS, autonomous vehicles, aerospace, or robotics focusing on systems design, validation, and safety for critical systems.
• Analytical skills and ability to write clear, verifiable requirements for compute and controls systems.
• Strong EE fundamentals including compute architectures, communication protocols, high-speed signals, sensing, and power electronics.
• Experience with FMEDA or FMEA and ISO 26262 / ISO 21448 safety standards.

Responsibilities

• Define traceable computing requirements from product goals.
• Author detailed requirements for compute and control modules with cross-functional teams.
• Analyze tradeoffs to converge on compute architecture for platforms.
• Gather data to define metrics and influence design decisions.
• Create and maintain documentation to support system designs and architecture.
• Collaborate with software/firmware teams to ensure requirements are met.
• Lead sign-off of compute and autonomy systems with cross-functional teams.
• Assist with V&V plans and analyze results for compute and controls systems.
• Conduct SFMEA and failure analysis to identify mitigation strategies.
• Support RCA for safety-related compute field issues.
• Collaborate with partners to improve diagnostic coverage of hardware platforms.
• Support functional safety analyses ensuring ISO 26262 compatibility.

Skills

Compute architectures

Systems-level design

Requirements writing

Safety analysis

Traceability

Cross-functional collaboration

High-level signal knowledge

Power electronics

IEEE/ISO safety standards

Education

Engineering degree

Tools

FMEA tooling

Job description

Zoox is developing the first ground-up, fully autonomous vehicle fleet and the supporting ecosystem required to bring this technology to market. Sitting at the intersection of artificial intelligence, robotics, and design, Zoox aims to provide the next generation of mobility-as-a-service in urban environments. We're looking for top talent that shares our passion and wants to be part of a fast-moving and highly execution-oriented team.

Foster City, CA – Advanced Hardware Engineering - Sensor Engineering / Full-time / On-site

In this role, you will:

• Apply compute, controls, and systems engineering principles to define traceable computing requirements from product goals
• Engage with product, HW/SW engineering, production, safety, and business teams to author detailed requirements for compute and control modules
• Analyze tradeoffs and drive consensus with product, hardware, and software teams to converge on compute architecture for current and new vehicle platforms
• Gather and analyze critical data to define metrics, qualify systems for release, and influence system design decisions based on evidence-based insights
• Create and maintain clear, precise documentation to support system designs, architectural decisions, and processes while ensuring cross-team alignment
• Work with software and firmware teams during implementation to ensure requirements are met
• Lead the sign-off of compute and autonomy systems with cross-functional teams
• Assist with the development and review of Verification and Validation (V&V) plans, and analyze test results for compute and controls systems
• Conduct System FMEA (SFMEA) and failure mode analysis in the context of part-level reliability to identify and mitigate potential failure modes early in the design cycle
• Support Root Cause Analysis (RCA) for safety-related compute platform field failures
• Collaborate with partner teams to improve diagnostic coverage against single-point and multiple-point latent failures on existing hardware platforms
• Support functional safety analyses to ensure the safety concept remains compatible with the core objectives of ISO 26262

Qualifications

• B.S., M.S., or equivalent degree in Aerospace, Automotive, Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical, Mechanical, or Systems Engineering
• 8+ years of relevant, staff-level experience in automotive, ADAS, autonomous vehicles, aerospace, or robotics, with an emphasis on systems-level design, validation, and safety analysis for complex, mission-critical systems with high levels of fail-operational redundancy
• Analytical skills and a passion for writing clear, concise, and verifiable requirements for owned compute and controls systems
• Strong EE fundamentals, including knowledge of compute architectures (e.g., x86, ARM), communication protocols (I2C, UART, SPI, CAN, LIN, USB, GMSL, FPD-Link), high-speed signals, sensing, and power electronics
• Experience with FMEDA or FMEA for safety-critical systems, as well as automotive safety standards such as ISO 26262 (Functional Safety) and ISO 21448 (SOTIF)

Bonus Qualifications

• PhD in a related technical field
• Experience working on high assurance compute solutions and GPU hardware, along with knowledge of AI models used for perception, behavior planning, and trajectory planning
• Experience with sensor interface design and data throughput analysis, including bandwidth, latency, and timing/synchronization requirements across the compute architecture
• Experience with hazard analysis, functional decomposition, validation, and verification

$226,000 - $311,000 a year

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.