Principal Engineer Motion Planning

About Motional Motional is an autonomous vehicle technology company on a mission to make driverless vehicles a safe, reliable, and accessible reality. The company formed in 2020 and is majority-owned by Hyundai Motor Group, one of the world’s largest vehicle manufacturers. Motional has extensive experience in commercial robotaxi operations, with service currently available on the Uber network in Las Vegas and plans for driverless operations by the end of 2026. Headquartered in Boston, Motional has operations in the U.S. and Singapore. To explore our current openings, please visit our careers page at motional.com/careers. Please be alert for job recruitment scams, including fraudulent job postings, offers, and communications by individuals or entities purporting to be affiliated with Motional. All of our third party job postings link back to our motional.com/careers page. Need assistance? If you have questions or want to report suspicious activity, send us a direct message - we’re here to help.

Motional

We're making driverless vehicles a safe, reliable, and accessible reality.

autonomous vehiclesroboticsartificial intelligencemachine learningself-drivingride hailautonomyautomationsoftwareengineering

M

motional.com

501-1,000 employees

Software Development

Boston, Massachusetts

2020

Privately Held

79k LinkedIn followers

• Lead the research and development of novel algorithms and sub-systems for
• motion planning in autonomous driving, thereby expanding the Operational
• Design Domain. This includes, but is not limited to, advanced search-based
• and sophisticated geometry-based methods, as well as decision-making under
• uncertainty with a strong emphasis on probabilistic approaches
• Lead cross-functional projects to define new or upgrade existing interfaces
• to solve problems
• Monitor overall system performance to identify areas for improvement and
• develop technical strategies to address deficiencies
• Guide cross-functional project teams to provide comprehensive solutions and
• demonstrate the ability to think beyond the confines of the planning system.
• Architect and integrate complex combinations of motion planning and
• prediction algorithms, driving their evaluation and refinement for real-world
• deployment.
• Design and build a robust, scalable, and high-performance codebase that
• facilitates rapid exploration, prototyping, and rigorous evaluation of
• innovative motion planning approaches and algorithms.
• Drive technical collaboration and interface seamlessly with perception and
• prediction components upstream and trajectory optimization, tracking and
• control components downstream, ensuring end-to-end system performance.
• Leverage your deep software development and research expertise to teach
• others better software practices and principles, fostering a culture of
• technical excellence.
• Guide and mentor junior and senior team members, cultivating a culture of
• product-focused engineering, rigorous research, and advanced development.

• PhD preferred in Robotics, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Mechanical
• Engineering, or a related field; or a Master's degree with 7+ years of
• experience in the robotics (preferably AV industry).
• 10+ years of research experience in robotics / motion planning, with a proven
• track record of contributing to state-of-the-art solutions and leading
• significant projects.
• 5+ years of C++ software development, with an emphasis on developing
• high-performance and reliable systems.
• Past experience owning and leading technical development on complex features
• from problem formulation through research, implementation, and deployment in
• a production environment, demonstrating significant impact.
• Thirst for knowledge, continuous innovation, and a drive to push the
• boundaries of autonomous driving technology, acting as a technical thought
• leader.
• Experience with probabilistic models, including but not limited to Gaussian
• mixture models, Hidden Markov Models, and Particle Filters.
• Experience with machine learning techniques (such as Bayesian modeling and
• inference techniques) for decision making under uncertainty.
• Experience with the Bazel build framework
• compensation factors including but not limited to specific skills, experience
• and expertise, role location, certifications, licenses, and business needs. The
• estimated compensation range listed in this job posting reflects base salary
• only. This role may include additional forms of compensation such as a bonus or
• company equity. The recruiter assigned to this role can share more information
• about the specific compensation and benefit details associated with this role
• during the hiring process.
• Candidates for certain positions are eligible to participate in Motional’s
• benefits program. Motional’s benefits include but are not limited to medical,
• dental, vision, 401k with a company match, health saving accounts, life
• insurance, pet insurance, and more.

• Motional is a driverless technology company making autonomous vehicles a safe,
• reliable, and accessible reality. We’re driven by something more.
• Our journey is always people first.
• We aren't just developing driverless cars; we're creating safer roadways, more
• equitable transportation options, and making our communities better places to
• live, work, and connect. Our team is made up of engineers, researchers,
• innovators, dreamers and doers, who are creating a technology with the potential
• to transform the way we move.
• Higher purpose, greater impact.
• We’re creating first-of-its-kind technology that will transform transportation.
• To do so successfully, we must design for everyone in our cities and on our
• roads. We believe in building a great place to work through a progressive,
• global culture that is diverse, inclusive, and ensures people feel valued at
• every level of the organization. Diversity helps us to see the world
• differently; it’s not only good for our business, it’s the right thing to do.
• Scale up, not starting up.
• Our team is behind some of the industry's largest leaps forward, including the
• first fully-autonomous cross-country drive in the U.S, the launch of the world's
• first robotaxi pilot, and operation of the world's longest-standing public
• robotaxi fleet. We’re driven to scale; we’re moving towards commercialization of
• our technology, and we need team members who are ready to embrace change and
• challenges.
• Formed as a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv, Motional is
• fundamentally changing how people move through their lives. Headquartered in
• Boston, Motional has operations in the U.S and Asia. For more information,
• visit  www.Motional.com
• [https://www.linkedin.com/company/67123512/], Instagram
• [https://www.instagram.com/motionaldrive/] and YouTube
• Motional AD Inc. is an EOE. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating
• an inclusive environment for all employees. To comply with Federal Law, we