Senior Autonomy Release Engineer II

May Mobility is transforming cities through autonomous technology to create a safer, greener, more accessible world. Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, May develops and deploys autonomous vehicles (AVs) powered by our innovative Multi-Policy Decision Making (MPDM) technology that literally reimagines the way AVs think.

Our vehicles do more than just drive themselves - they provide value to communities, bridge public transit gaps and move people where they need to go safely, easily and with a lot more fun. We’re building the world’s best autonomy system to reimagine transit by minimizing congestion, expanding access and encouraging better land use in order to foster more green, vibrant and livable spaces. Since our founding in 2017, we’ve given more than 500,000 autonomous rides to real people around the globe. And we’re just getting started. We’re hiring people who share our passion for building the future, today, solving real-world problems and seeing the impact of their work. Join us.

May’s Autonomous Release Engineers are front line problem solvers that get things done. They have the initiative, experience, and technical skill to be able to solve problems delegated to them without oversight.  Confidence backed by knowledge and experience is a must.

This role sits at the intersection of:

• Release execution & CI/CD
• Autonomy system integration & debugging
• Validation, simulation, and safety gating

You will ensure not only that software is releasable, but that it is safe, well-understood, and performs reliably in real-world conditions.

As a Senior Autonomous Release Engineer you will lead the solution of challenging and complex problems facing vehicle autonomy.  You will lead the design of future May autonomy systems and track down and solve the system’s most difficult issues. 

Autonomous Release Engineers are responsible for the integrated functioning of the autonomy system.  Release Engineers interact with sensor hardware, middleware, autonomy software stack, networking, health monitoring, compute platforms and electronic systems. Release Engineers drive forward architectural design and hardware/software design through collaboration across other engineering groups.  Additionally, Release Engineers create instrumentation to prove that the autonomy system is functioning correctly.  You will be a go to person for understanding how new features will fit in, how the system might fail, how to best evolve the system to be more effective or efficient, and how to keep the system working.  

This is a hands-on, systems-oriented role requiring strong technical judgment. You are expected to actively challenge release readiness when necessary and act as a safeguard for system quality, not just execute process. You will play a key role in scaling release cadence without compromising safety, partnering closely with autonomy, infrastructure, engineering, validation, and operations teams. You will set an example of initiative, data-driven decision making, design, and trouble-shooting. This position reports to the Sr. Manager, Autonomy Technical Release..

Essential Responsibilities

• Release ownership and release execution end-to-end across:
  • Major autonomy releases
  • Incremental/performance releases
  • Hotfix/safety patches

• Manage branching strategy, versioning, and release cut processes
• Drive release readiness and go/no-go decisions
• Partner cross-functionally with Autonomy, Infra, Validation, and Fleet Ops

• Act as a system owner for release readiness

  Investigate and resolve complex issues arising from:

• Software/hardware interactions
• Distributed systems behavior
• On-vehicle vs simulation discrepancies
• Develop deep understanding of:
• Sensor stack, middleware, autonomy stack
• Compute platforms, networking, configurations
• Be the go-to for:
• “Why does this fail in the real world?”
• “What changed between releases?”
• Enforce stage-gated release framework:
• Feature Complete → Code Freeze → Validation → Release Candidate
• Integrate validation signals:
• Simulation corpus results
• Regression testing
• Vehicle testing (HIL / on-road)
• Ensure safety-critical issues are identified, tracked, and gated
• Take initiative to find and permanently solve challenging system level issues caused by the interplay between different software and hardware components.
• Collaborate and lead system-wide improvements when working with other teams without having direct ownership or management responsibility. 
• Assess and develop approaches that scale and improve performance in a variety of ways (e.g. CPU performance, memory usage, disk usage, network usage).
• Assess and improve system robustness to systematic stochastic and transient issues that impact autonomous vehicle performance.
• Support other autonomy engineers in designing and integrating their components with the full May system.

Qualifications and Experience

Candidates most successful in this role typically hold the following qualifications or comparable knowledge or experience:

Required

• 7+ years in autonomous systems, release engineering, and DevOps
• Strong Python and scripting skills
• Working knowledge or familiarity with C/C++
• Experience working across full product lifecycle
• Proven ability to debug complex system-level issues
• Strong communication skills across technical domains

Desirable

• 10+ years of experience in autonomous robotic systems, DevOps and release engineering
• Experience with autonomous cars, trucks, or similar vehicles.
• A masters or PhD degree in Robotics, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering or an applied engineering field.
• Previous experience in a startup or high performance research and development group with an emphasis on delivery
• Experience with AV or robotics systems
• Familiarity with:
• Simulation frameworks
• HIL / vehicle testing
• Safety-critical systems (ISO 26262, SOTIF)

Physical Requirements

• Standard office working conditions which includes but is not limited to:
• Prolonged sitting
• Prolonged standing
• Prolonged computer use

Travel required? -  No: 0%

Benefits and Perks

• Comprehensive healthcare suite including medical, dental, vision, life, and disability plans. Domestic partners who have been residing together at least one year are also eligible to participate. 
• Health Savings and Flexible Spending Healthcare and Dependent Care Accounts available.
• Rich retirement benefits, including an immediately vested employer safe harbor match.
• Generous paid parental leave as well as a phased return to work. 
• Flexible vacation policy in addition to paid company holidays.
• Total Wellness Program providing numerous resources for overall wellbeing   

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and/or people of color are less likely to apply to a job unless they meet every qualification. At May Mobility, we’re committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workforce, so if you’re excited about this role but your previous experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification, we encourage you to apply anyway! You may be the perfect candidate for this or another role at May.

Want to learn more about our culture & benefits? Check out our website!

May Mobility is an equal opportunity employer.  All applicants for employment will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, genetics or any other legally protected basis.   Below, you have the opportunity to share your preferred gender pronouns, gender, ethnicity, and veteran status with May Mobility to help us identify areas of improvement in our hiring and recruitment processes. Completion of these questions is entirely voluntary.  Any information you choose to provide will be kept confidential, and will not impact the hiring decision in any way. If you believe that you will need any type of accommodation, please let us know.

Note to Recruitment Agencies: May Mobility does not accept unsolicited agency resumes. Furthermore, May Mobility does not pay placement fees for candidates submitted by any agency other than its approved partners.

Salary Range

$176,000—$253,000 USD

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