Software Engineer, Controls (C++)

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.

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 2025, Kodiak listed publicly on the NASDAQ.

Kodiak is recruiting a Software Engineer who is passionate about vehicular motion control to join our Controls team. The role exposes the breadth of Kodiak’s controller, including dynamic control laws, safety limits, monitoring, feedback, and state management.

This is an opportunity to develop expertise in control theory, platform characterization, and software engineering. Kodiak supports a range of platforms, which has given rise to a cutting-edge modular controller design.

The role accelerates career development by putting driverless features on the road immediately and providing data-based performance feedback.

In this role, you will:

Implement control and actuation strategies

Develop and test reliable, safety-critical software that controls articulated trucks driving on highways

Characterize the vehicle platform, including braking, steering, and acceleration

Develop models for both onboard and simulated motion prediction

Specify requirements and document their implementation

Apply degraded operations capabilities for fail-safe driving

Collaborate with Planning, Hardware, Systems, and Infrastructure colleagues to advance a robust vehicle control architecture

What you’ll bring:

2+ year of experience developing production-level vehicular controls software

Software development experience writing production-level C++

A strong background in robotics, controls, and mathematics

Experience developing, testing, and tuning controllers for autonomous robots, ideally trucks, cars, or flying vehicles

A focus on vehicle safety

Bonus points if you have:

Characterized, modeled, and simulated robotic systems

Facility with control theory, including stability analysis

Written low-level drivers for software/hardware interfacing using protocols such as CAN or ethernet

Developed efficient code running on resource-constrained embedded systems with a real-time operating system

Experience with software design and implementation in safety-critical domains (e.g. automotive, aerospace, medical, etc)

Knowledge of formal verification methods, writing requirements, and systems engineering processes

Proficiency with Python

Proficiency with MATLAB / Simulink

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)

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