{"id":255883,"url":"https://alion.io/job/motional-senior-motion-planning-engineer","title":"Senior Motion Planning Engineer","company":{"id":66433,"name":"Motional","domain":"motional.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/motional-com","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":85,"open_postings":15,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.4,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":83,"computed_at":"2026-11-05T05:54:30Z"}},"role":"Robotics","role_family":"Robotics","seniority":"senior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Boston, United States","Las Vegas, United States","Pittsburgh, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":172000,"max":229000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":229000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":5,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"Motion Planning","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-02T13:45:14Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-16","last_verified_at":"2026-11-06T00:48:58Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":64,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":64},"description":"Mission Summary:\nOn our Motion Planning team, you'll apply your passion in robotics and software development for production-ready autonomous vehicles. In this role you'll perform cutting-edge research, develop advanced algorithms, and build robust software to generate safe, comfortable, and intuitive routes and motions.\nRole responsibilities:\nLead the research and development of novel algorithms for motion planning in autonomous driving, including but not limited to advanced search-based methods, sophisticated geometry-based methods, and decision making under uncertainty with a strong emphasis on probabilistic approaches.\nArchitect and integrate complex combinations of motion planning and prediction algorithms, driving their evaluation and refinement for real-world deployment.\nDesign and build a robust, scalable, and high-performance codebase that facilitates rapid exploration, prototyping, and rigorous evaluation of innovative motion planning approaches and algorithms.\nDrive 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.\nLeverage your deep software development and research expertise to teach others better software practices and principles, fostering a culture of technical excellence.\nGuide and mentor junior team members, cultivating a culture of product-focused engineering, rigorous research, and advanced development.\nWhat we're looking for:\nPhD preferred in Robotics, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field; or a Master's degree with 2+ years of experience in the robotics (preferably AV industry)\n5+ years of research experience in robotics / motion planning, with a proven track record of contributing to state-of-the-art solutions\n3+ years of C++ software development, with an emphasis on developing high-performance and reliable systems\nPast experience owning and leading technical development on complex features from problem formulation through research, implementation, and deployment in a production environment.\nThirst for knowledge, continuous innovation, and a drive to push the boundaries of autonomous driving technology.\nBonus points(not required):\nExperience with probabilistic models, including but not limited to Gaussian mixture models, Hidden Markov Models, and Particle Filters.\nExperience with Bayesian modeling and inference techniques for decision making under uncertainty.\nExperience with the Bazel build framework\nWe encourage a hybrid schedule with in-office time at one of our locations in Boston, Pittsburgh, or Las Vegas to support collaboration, or this role can be fully remote.\nThe salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of 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. \nCandidates 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.\nSalary Range\n$172,000—$229,000 USD\nMotional is a driverless technology company making autonomous vehicles a safe, reliable, and accessible reality. We’re driven by something more.\nOur journey is always people first.\nWe 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.\nHigher purpose, greater impact.\nWe’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. \nScale up, not starting up.\nOur 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.\nFormed 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 and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.\nMotional 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 participate in E-Verify. 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