Senior Autonomy Software Engineer, Mapping

<div class="content-intro"><p>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.</p></div><p class="p1">We are looking for a Staff Engineer on our Calibration, Localization and Mapping (CLAM) team — a technical leader with deep expertise in state estimation, inertial navigation, and sensed odometry who can set technical direction across the team and organization.</p> <p class="p2"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><strong>In this role, you will:</strong></span></p> <ul> <li>Set the technical strategy and architecture for our onboard navigation and pose estimation systems.</li> <li>Lead the design and development of advanced sensor fusion and pose estimation approaches across IMU, camera, and lidar sensors, anticipating failure modes before they arise in the field.</li> <li>Drive the direction of visual and lidar odometry algorithms, including evaluating build-vs-adopt tradeoffs for new techniques.</li> <li>Define and evangelize navigation metrics and evaluation methodology used across the org to assess algorithm and system performance.</li> <li>Serve as a technical escalation point for complex, ambiguous, or cross-cutting localization problems.</li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">&nbsp;</li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Evaluate sensor performance and optimize sensor selection.</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Verify correct sensor calibrations, settings, and uncertainty characterizations.</span></li> </ul> <p class="p2"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><strong>What you’ll bring:</strong></span></p> <ul> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Strong technical background. BS, MS or PhD with academic or industry experience in building navigation, localization, and odometry systems.</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Expert in C++ and strong problem-solving skills.&nbsp;</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Strong software engineering skills and experience building high-reliability deployed applications . You write well-designed, highly maintainable code. Code is your craft.</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Deep experience transforming raw sensor data from GNSS, IMU, wheel speed, etc. into 6-DOF pose using Kalman Filtering, factor graphs, or comparable state estimation techniques — and judgment on when each approach is appropriate.</li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Experience with computer vision, visual odometry, and/or odometry from point clouds</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">A history of mentoring engineers and elevating the technical practices of a team.</li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">A team player. You take ownership and work with the team to deliver exceptional results. You are interested in the performance of the entire system across engineering disciplines.</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Ability to build and iterate quickly. You enjoy working fast and smart, and you are comfortable in defining and building lasting infrastructure components from scratch.</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Hands on.&nbsp; Curious.&nbsp; Flexible.&nbsp; Interested in new domains to expand your horizons and provide a complete system wide solution.&nbsp;</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Great communicator. You have experience writing clear, concise design documentation to gather feedback from across the team to find the best solution.</span></li> </ul> <p class="p2"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><strong>What we offer:</strong></span></p> <ul> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Competitive compensation package including equity and annual bonuses</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Excellent Medical, Dental, and Vision plans through Kaiser Permanente, Cigna, and&nbsp; MetLife (including a medical plan with infertility benefits)</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">MetLife Legal Services, Identity &amp; Fraud Protection, Hospital Indemnity Insurance, Accident Insurance, &amp; Critical Illness Insurance</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Flexible PTO, 10 paid holidays, and generous parental leave policies</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Our office is centrally located in Mountain View, CA</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Office perks: dog-friendly, free catered lunch, a fully stocked kitchen, and free EV charging</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Long Term Disability, Short Term Disability, Life Insurance</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Wellbeing Benefits - Headspace through Cigna, Calm through Kaiser, One Medical, Gympass, Spring Health through Cigna, Rula (mental health navigation)&nbsp;</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Fidelity 401(k)</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Commuter, FSA, Dependent Care FSA, HSA</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Various incentive programs (referral bonuses, patent bonuses, etc.)</span></li> </ul><div class="content-pay-transparency"><div class="pay-input"><div class="description"><p>The pay range listed below reflects the base salary&nbsp;<strong data-stringify-type="bold">in our SF/Silicon Valley location,&nbsp;</strong>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</p></div><div class="title">California Pay Range</div><div class="pay-range"><span>$200,000</span><span class="divider">&mdash;</span><span>$260,000 USD</span></div></div></div><div class="content-conclusion"><div>&nbsp;</div> <div>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.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>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.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><em>We use a third-party AI tool (Endorsed) to assist in the initial screening of applications. As part of the evaluation process, we provide Endorsed with job requirements and candidate-submitted applications. Final hiring decisions are made by our human recruitment team, and no automated system makes the ultimate decision regarding hiring. Certain features of the platform may qualify it as an Automated Employment Decision Tool (AEDT) under applicable regulations. We began using Endorsed on January 1, 2026. You can review the independent bias audit report covering our use of Endorsed [here](</em><em><a href="https://endorsed.com/local-law-144" target="_blank" data-sk="tooltip_parent">https://endorsed.com/local-law-144</a></em><em>). By submitting your application, you acknowledge that your application may be processed by AI systems as part of the screening and selection process. If you have any questions or would like to request a separate review of your application, please contact </em><em><a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank" data-sk="tooltip_parent">[email protected]</a></em><em> with "Separate Review Request" in the email subject line.</em></div> <p>&nbsp;</p></div>