Zoox · Engineering · Staff+ · Posted 2026-08-31
Senior Staff / Principal Software Engineer - Freeway Autonomy
Zoox · Foster City, CA · $340k–493k base
This is one of the highest posted engineering ranges at AI companies right now. See the salary index.
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In this role, you will:
Guide autonomy-wide initiatives toward driverless freeway operation, including setting the technical vision and strategy, building the roadmap, and driving cross-functional execution
Identify the highest-risk gaps between our current freeway capabilities and driver-out readiness, and lead the engineering work to close them
Develop algorithms that enable freeway driving capabilities, spanning architecture, design, implementation, integration, testing, and verification and validation
Communicate technical trade-offs, risk assessments, and readiness recommendations to diverse stakeholders, including senior and executive leadership
Mentor engineers across the freeway program and raise the bar for how we design, test, and validate high-speed autonomous driving
Qualifications:
10+ years of industry software experience
Demonstrated technical leadership of removing the human driver from an autonomous vehicle operating on freeways or highways
Deep technical expertise in at least one autonomy domain, such as behavior/motion planning, perception, prediction, simulation, or systems engineering
Proven ability to lead large, cross-functional engineering efforts from ambiguity to shipped results
Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex technical trade-offs for varied audiences including executives
Bonus Qualifications:
Experience scaling and operating a driverless service after driver removal
Experience constructing safety cases or defining driver-out readiness criteria for high-speed autonomous driving
Proficiency in C++
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