Systems Engineering Manager – Autonomy Behavior

Jobtailor; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobtailor in Sunnyvale, CA seeks a senior leader to guide autonomy behavior systems engineering and validation for major capabilities. You will align requirements, simulation validity, and release evidence across cross-functional teams.

The role requires a strong systems engineering foundation, extensive AV validation experience, and proven leadership to build an inclusive, high-performing team. On-site in Sunnyvale, collaboration with Safety and Legal is essential.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in a related field (e.g., systems or robotics).
• 8+ years in systems engineering, autonomy, robotics, or related validation roles.
• Proven record evaluating AVs for fleets or launches and making high-stakes decisions.
• Deep understanding of architecture, requirements, traceability, and validation planning.
• Experience defining or leading large-scale simulation evaluations with trade-offs.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a team of autonomy behavior systems engineers.
• Set systems engineering and validation direction for major capabilities and cross-cutting behaviors.
• Connect requirements, coverage, simulation validity, metrics, acceptance criteria, and release evidence.
• Guide scalable behavior evaluation and simulation systems across synthetic tests, road data, and counterfactual references.
• Oversee scenario sourcing, orchestration, data quality, and reproducibility.
• Partner with Engineering, Safety, Legal, Product, and Operations to align on decisions.
• Communicate recommendations for engineering, release, and launch decisions.

Skills

Systems Engineering

Autonomous Vehicles

Simulation Evaluation

Technical Leadership

Stakeholder Management

Education

Master’s in Systems Engineering

Master’s in Mechanical Engineering

Master’s in Aerospace Engineering

Master’s in Electrical Engineering

Master’s in Computer Science

Master’s in Robotics

Tools

Python

V&V Planning

Hazard Analysis

Job description

• Lead and develop a team of autonomy behavior systems engineers
• Set systems engineering and validation direction for major capabilities and cross-cutting behaviors
• Connect requirements, coverage, simulation validity, metrics, acceptance criteria, and release evidence
• Guide scalable behavior evaluation and simulation systems across synthetic tests, road data, and counterfactual references
• Oversee scenario sourcing, orchestration, data quality, and reproducibility
• Partner with Engineering, Safety, Legal, Product, and Operations to resolve ambiguity and build alignment
• Communicate recommendations for engineering, release, and launch decisions

Requirements

• Master’s degree in systems engineering, mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, robotics, or a related field
• 8 or more years of professional experience in systems engineering, autonomous vehicles, robotics, vehicle development, simulation, or safety-critical validation
• Proven record of evaluating autonomous vehicles for a commercial fleet, launch, supervised release, or other high-consequence product decision
• Deep systems engineering fundamentals, including architecture and decomposition, use-case and scene modeling, requirements strategy, interface definition, verification and validation planning, and traceability
• Professional experience defining or leading simulation evaluation at scale, including trade-offs between coverage, confidence, runtime, cost, and simulation validity
• Strong Python experience and ability to review production-quality analysis or validation software
• Strong communication skills and ability to create alignment among teams with different goals, terminology, and technical perspectives
• Demonstrated stakeholder management and technical leadership across organizational boundaries
• Experience as a Tech Lead, Technical Lead Manager, or people manager responsible for delivering complex technical work through a team
• Track record of developing engineers, giving clear feedback, supporting career growth, and building an inclusive, accountable team culture
• Preferred: Human benchmarking for behavior and safety evaluation
• Preferred: Experience with hazard analysis
• Preferred: Experience building or using a safety case and reviewing safety claims
• Preferred: Experience with risk quantification, risk acceptance, severity and exposure reasoning, risk budgets, and mitigation decisions
• Preferred: Experience turning legal or regulatory expectations into a defensible compliance strategy
• Preferred: Experience designing validation lifecycles
• Preferred: Experience hiring, organizing, and prioritizing a technical team
• Applicants may be required to complete role-related assessments and/or pre-employment screening where applicable

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in systems engineering, particularly in autonomous vehicles and robotics, with a strong focus on simulation evaluation, validation planning, and stakeholder management. Proven ability to lead and develop engineering teams while fostering an inclusive culture and aligning cross-functional objectives.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• Systems Engineering
• Autonomous Vehicles
• Simulation Evaluation
• Technical Leadership
• Stakeholder Management

ATS Optimization Keywords

Hard Skills

• Python
• Systems Engineering Fundamentals
• Verification and Validation Planning
• Requirements Strategy
• Architecture and Decomposition
• Use-Case and Scene Modeling
• Trade-Off Analysis
• Risk Quantification
• Safety Case Development
• Hazard Analysis

Soft Skills

• Strong Communication Skills
• Team Development
• Feedback Delivery
• Inclusive Team Culture
• Alignment Building

Certifications & Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in Systems Engineering
• Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering
• Master’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering
• Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering
• Master’s Degree in Computer Science
• Master’s Degree in Robotics

Industry Keywords

• Safety-Critical Validation
• Behavior Evaluation
• Simulation Validity
• Release Evidence
• Technical Management
• Compliance Strategy
• Risk Acceptance
• Severity Reasoning
• Exposure Reasoning
• Validation Lifecycles