Systems Engineer, Motion Controls Safety

Zoox; Foster City (CA); On-site; USD 194,000 - 244,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

RSUs

Stock appreciation rights

Paid time off

Disability insurance

Life insurance

Job summary

Zoox is seeking a qualified engineer to advance safety analysis and performance requirements for motion planning and control within evolving ODDs. You will extend fault-injection simulations and support AI-driven verification pipelines to ensure robust vehicle dynamics and safety compliance.

Join a cross-functional team and leverage the latest AI tools to automate processes, accelerate insights, and deliver high-assurance autonomous mobility solutions.

Qualifications

• Master's degree or higher with 4+ years of relevant experience.
• Hands-on experience with vehicle motion control systems development.
• Experience building or using simulations to analyze vehicle dynamics.
• Strong analytical skills and cross-functional collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Perform safety analysis and define performance requirements for motion planning and control across growing ODDs.
• Build and extend fault injection simulations to inform safety requirements and specs.
• Support simulation pipelines that verify AI driving safety and vehicle dynamics models.
• Collaborate with software, hardware, and verification teams to ensure requirements are met through SIL, HIL and on-vehicle testing.
• Leverage AI and LLM tools to accelerate analysis and automate repetitive tasks.

Skills

Motion control systems

Analytical modeling

Technical communication

Education

Master's degree or higher in Robotics/Automotive/Mech Eng/Elec Eng

Tools

Polarion

DOORS

Job description

Zoox is on an ambitious journey to develop a full-stack autonomous mobility solution for cities and safely deploy such a robotaxi solution. The System Design and Mission Assurance (SDMA) team plays a foundational role in the company's success, responsible for constructing the safety case and fail-operational design for our autonomous driving robots before public road deployment. You will be part of an organization with strong leadership and a transparent, respectful culture that enables you to reach your full potential.

In this role, you will:

• Perform safety analysis and define performance requirements for our motion planning and control systems as our Operational Design Domain (ODD) grows, covering different road/environmental conditions and degraded driving modes.
• Build and extend fault injection simulations to determine how quickly the vehicle must detect and respond to faults in new ODDs and on next-generation platforms, with the goal to inform safety requirements and specifications.
• Support simulation pipelines that verify AI driving safety, including setting requirements for the vehicle dynamics models they rely on.
• Partner with software, hardware and verification and validation teams to ensure that requirements are met through rigorous SIL, HIL and on-vehicle testing.
• Leverage the latest AI and LLM tools to accelerate the analysis work and automate processes to reduce repetitive manual work.

Qualifications

• Master's degree or higher in Robotics, Automotive, Mechanical, Electrical Engineering, or a related field, with 4+ years of relevant experience.
• Hands-on experience with vehicle motion control systems development.
• Experience building or using simulations to analyze vehicle dynamic behavior and inform motion control requirements.
• Strong analytical skills in quantitative analysis and modeling, performance metrics definition, and system-level trade-off analysis.
• Excellent technical communication and documentation abilities, with demonstrated success working with cross-functional teams in complex technical environments.

Bonus Qualifications

• Experience with autonomous vehicle development or similar complex robotics systems.
• Familiarity with requirements management tools (e.g., Polarion, DOORS).
• Experience with vehicle dynamics modeling and simulation-based safety verification.
• Familiarity with ISO 26262, ISO 21448, and other industry safety standards.

Base Salary Range

$194,000 - $244,000 a year

There are three major components to compensation for this position: salary, Amazon Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), and Zoox Stock Appreciation Rights. A sign-on bonus may be offered as part of the compensation package. The listed range applies only to the base salary. Compensation will vary based on geographic location and level. Leveling, as well as positioning within a level, is determined by a range of factors, including, but not limited to, a candidate's relevant years of experience, domain knowledge, and interview performance. The salary range listed in this posting is representative of the range of levels Zoox is considering for this position. Zoox also offers a comprehensive package of benefits, including paid time off (e.g. sick leave, vacation, bereavement), unpaid time off, Zoox Stock Appreciation Rights, Amazon RSUs, health insurance, long-term care insurance, long-term and short-term disability insurance, and life insurance.

• Zoox also offers a comprehensive package of benefits, including paid time off (e.g. sick leave, vacation, bereavement), unpaid time off, Zoox Stock Appreciation Rights, Amazon RSUs, health insurance, long-term care insurance, long-term and short-term disability insurance, and life insurance.

About Zoox

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 robotics, machine learning, 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.

Follow us on LinkedIn

Accommodations

If you need an accommodation to participate in the application or interview process please reach out to [e-mail] or your assigned recruiter.

A Final Note:

Here at Zoox, we know that diverse perspectives foster the innovation we need to be successful, and we are committed to building a team that encompasses a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and skills.