Senior Software Engineer, Multimodal Transformers

Kodiak; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation package

Medical, dental, vision benefits

Flexible PTO

Dog-friendly office

Mountain View office location

401(k) and commuter benefits

Job summary

Kodiak Robotics, Inc. in Mountain View, CA is seeking an advanced ML engineer to design and develop multimodal transformer architectures that fuse camera, LiDAR, and radar data for real-time autonomous trucking applications.

You will advance cross-modal attention, token fusion, and scalable training pipelines while optimizing inference latency in real-world datasets. Ideal candidates hold a BS/MS/PhD in AI or CS with 4+ years in transformer research, Python proficiency, and experience with

Qualifications

• BS/MS/PhD in AI, CS or related field
• 4+ years experience with transformer architectures
• Familiarity with cross-attention, token fusion, modality alignment
• Proficiency in Python and DL frameworks (PyTorch or TensorFlow)
• Experience with scalable training for large models (distributed, mixed-precision)

Responsibilities

• Design multimodal transformer architectures fusing camera, LiDAR, radar data
• Research cross-modal attention and token fusion strategies
• Build scalable training pipelines for large real-world datasets
• Explore self-supervised and contrastive pretraining for multimodal representations
• Optimize models for real-time inference under latency/compute constraints

Skills

Transformer architectures

Multimodal / multi-stream

Cross-attention

Token fusion

Python

Distributed training

Mixed-precision optimization

Real-time inference

Education

BS/MS/PhD in AI or CS

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Job description

Kodiak Robotics, Inc. was founded in 2018 and has become a leader in autonomous ground transportation committed to a safer and more efficient future for all. The company has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) powered technology stack purpose-built for commercial trucking and the public sector. The company delivers freight daily for its customers across the southern United States using its autonomous technology. In 2024, Kodiak became the first known company to publicly announce delivering a driverless semi-truck to a customer. Kodiak is also leveraging its commercial self-driving software to develop, test and deploy autonomous capabilities for the U.S. Department of Defense.

In this role, you will:

• Design and develop multimodal transformer architectures that fuse camera, LiDAR, and radar into unified representations
• Research and implement cross-modal attention mechanisms, token fusion strategies, and efficient multi-stream tokenization
• Build scalable training pipelines for large-scale multimodal transformers across massive real-world datasets
• Explore self-supervised and contrastive pretraining objectives that learn transferable multimodal representations
• Optimize transformer models for real-time inference under latency and compute constraints

What you’ll bring:

• BS, MS, or PhD in AI, Computer Science, or a related field
• 4+ years experience with transformer architectures, particularly in multimodal or multi-stream settings
• Familiarity with cross-attention, token fusion, or modality alignment techniques
• Proficiency in Python and deep learning frameworks like PyTorch or TensorFlow
• Strong understanding of scalable training for large models, including distributed training and mixed-precision optimization
• Passion for building AI that reasons over the full breadth of sensory input to operate safely in the real world

What we offer:

• Competitive compensation package including equity and annual bonuses
• Excellent Medical, Dental, and Vision plans through Kaiser Permanente, Cigna, and MetLife (including a medical plan with infertility benefits)
• MetLife Legal Services, Identity & Fraud Protection, Hospital Indemnity Insurance, Accident Insurance, & Critical Illness Insurance
• Flexible PTO, 10 paid holidays, and generous parental leave policies
• Our office is centrally located in Mountain View, CA
• Office perks: dog-friendly, free catered lunch, a fully stocked kitchen, and free EV charging
• Long Term Disability, Short Term Disability, Life Insurance
• Wellbeing Benefits - Headspace through Cigna, Calm through Kaiser, One Medical, Gympass, Spring Health through Cigna, Rula (mental health navigation)
• Fidelity 401(k)
• Commuter, FSA, Dependent Care FSA, HSA
• Various incentive programs (referral bonuses, patent bonuses, etc.)

The pay range listed below reflects the base salary in our SF/Silicon Valley location, across several internal levels. Actual starting pay will be based on job-related factors including: work location, experience, relevant training, education, skill level and performance during interview. Total compensation at Kodiak includes base pay, equity, bonus and a competitive benefits package

California Pay Range: $200,000 USD - $230,000 USD

At Kodiak, we strive to build a diverse community working towards our common company goals in a safe and collaborative environment where harassment of any kind is strictly prohibited. Kodiak is committed to equal opportunity employment regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, or veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

In alignment with its business operations, Kodiak adheres to all relevant statutes, regulations, and administrative prerequisites. Accordingly, roles that carry more sensitive requirements may be limited to candidates that can satisfy additional scrutiny and eligibility for such positions may hinge on verification of a candidate’s residence, U.S. person status, and/or citizenship status. Should the position require, and Kodiak determines that a candidate’s residence, U.S. person status, and/or citizenship status necessitate an export license, bar the candidate from the position, or otherwise fall under national security-related restrictions, Kodiak will consider the candidate for alternative positions unaffected by such restrictions, under terms and conditions set forth at Kodiak’s sole discretion, or, as an alternative, opt not to proceed with the candidate’s application. If applicable, Kodiak may provide visa sponsorship for eligible candidates.