{"id":859271,"url":"https://alion.io/job/didi-motion-planning-engineer-phd-intern","title":"Motion Planning Engineer (PhD, Intern)","company":{"id":720017,"name":"Didi","domain":"didi.co","url":"https://alion.io/company/didi-7","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":null},"role":"Industrial Engineering","role_family":"Industrial Engineering","seniority":"intern","employment_type":"internship","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["San Jose, United States","Mountain View, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":51000,"max_usd":92000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":23},"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"AI Agents","optional":false},{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"Motion Planning","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-12T00:46:41Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-01","last_verified_at":"2026-11-04T08:29:00Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":53,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":53},"description":"About The Company\nDiDi's autonomous driving unit was established in 2016 with the mission of developing Level 4 autonomous driving (AD) technology to make transportation safer and more efficient. In August 2019, the unit became an independent company, DiDi Autonomous Driving, dedicated to advanced AD R&D, product application, and business expansion. We believe integrating AD technology into a shared-mobility fleet will generate immense social value. By leveraging DiDi's specialized technology, operational expertise, and integrated ecosystem, we are positioned to build and operate a highly efficient, user-oriented autonomous fleet.\nAbout The Role\nWe are seeking a motivated PhD graduate with a strong research background in motion planning, robotics, or autonomous systems. In this role, you will apply your expertise in algorithm design and system integration to help develop next-generation planning capabilities for autonomous vehicles.\nResponsibilities\n\nImplement novel solutions for Behavioral Planning, enabling high-level decision-making for lane changes, merges, yields, and multi-agent interactions.\nDesign and optimize motion planning algorithms that integrate geometry-based path reasoning and context-aware speed reasoning into smooth, safe trajectories.\nDevelop and improve core geometry and velocity planning systems to ensure feasibility, compliance, and comfort across diverse driving scenarios.\nModel complex driving environments and agent behaviors to create a robust world representation for planning under uncertainty.\nFormulate cost functions and optimization frameworks that balance safety, comfort, and efficiency in trajectory selection.\nAnalyze, test, and debug system performance through simulation and real-world data, conducting root-cause investigations and proposing enhancements.\nCollaborate with researchers and engineers across Perception, Prediction, and Control to ensure an integrated, reliable autonomy stack.\nQualifications\n\nRecently completed or soon-to-complete PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.\nResearch or Internship experience in one or more of the following:\nMotion planning algorithms (optimization, sampling, graph/search-based methods)\nBehavioral planning and decision-making under uncertainty\nTrajectory optimization and control\nMulti-agent interaction modeling\nProven research ability demonstrated by publications in top-tier conferences (e.g., RSS, ICRA, IROS, CVPR, NeurIPS, CoRL).\nHands-on experience in C++ for implementing complex, real-time algorithms.\nExcellent analytical and communication skills, with a collaborative mindset.\nFor Internship Applicants: This role offers a clear pathway, with top-performing interns receiving the opportunity to convert to a full-time engineer upon successful completion of the program.\nThe hourly rate for the Intern position in the selected city is $46. Interns will also be eligible for Intern benefits. \nApplications are accepted on an ongoing basis. This posting is for an existing vacancy.\nI acknowledge that prior to submitting this application, I have read and accepted the Privacy Notice for California Residents which is available on https://v.didi.cn/AQnxlBa","description_format":"text","description_chars":3212,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"phd","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Robotic Software & Control Systems","UI/UX Design"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-13T08:41:40Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 4 · green card filings: 1","filings_12m":4,"filings_prev_12m":1,"green_card_filings_12m":1,"median_offered_wage_usd":149500,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-29T16:27:21+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)","US Department of Labor: PERM disclosure data (green cards)"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":{"score":14,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.49,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":53,"expected_fill_days":26,"reasons":["conf:2","win:tail","crowd:junior"],"computed_at":"2026-11-04T06:34:25Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/didi-motion-planning-engineer-phd-intern","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/didi-motion-planning-engineer-phd-intern.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-04T09:26:49Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":14722,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-05T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":720017},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=720017"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fdidi-motion-planning-engineer-phd-intern"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fdidi-motion-planning-engineer-phd-intern"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fdidi-motion-planning-engineer-phd-intern"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/didi-motion-planning-engineer-phd-intern\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fdidi-motion-planning-engineer-phd-intern"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":859271}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"didi.co","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":859271},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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