{"id":40199,"url":"https://alion.io/job/pony-ai-staffsenior-staff-software-engineer-perception","title":"Staff/Senior Staff Software Engineer - Perception","company":{"id":119,"name":"Pony.ai","domain":"pony.ai","url":"https://alion.io/company/pony-ai","size_band":"201-500","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workable","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":100,"open_postings":9,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":null,"computed_at":"2026-10-28T05:59:10Z"}},"role":"Backend","role_family":"Backend","seniority":"staff","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Fremont, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":245000,"max":null,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":245000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"Computer Vision","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-26T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-26","last_verified_at":"2026-10-28T12:27:25Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":2,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":0,"flags":[],"days_open":2},"description":"Founded in 2016 in Silicon Valley, Pony.ai has quickly become a global leader in autonomous mobility and is a pioneer in extending autonomous mobility technologies and services at a rapidly expanding footprint of sites around the world. Operating Robotaxi, Robotruck and Personally Owned Vehicles (POV) business units, Pony.ai is an industry leader in the commercialization of autonomous driving and is committed to developing the safest autonomous driving capabilities on a global scale. Pony.ai’s leading position has been recognized, with CNBC ranking Pony.ai #10 on its CNBC Disruptor list of the 50 most innovative and disruptive tech companies of 2022. In June 2023, Pony.ai was recognized on the XPRIZE and Bessemer Venture Partners inaugural “XB100” 2023 list of the world’s top 100 private deep tech companies, ranking #12 globally. As of August 2023, Pony.ai has accumulated nearly 21 million miles of autonomous driving globally. Pony.ai went public at NASDAQ in November 2024.\nResponsibility\nAs the Staff/Senior Staff Software Engineer - Perception, you will be responsible for developing and implementing the next-generation perception system that enables our autonomous systems to understand and navigate their environment with precision and reliability. You will work closely with the planner team to accomplish the final end-to-end AI-based autonomous driving system.\nPush forward innovative AI techniques to solve extremely challenging real-world robotics problems that are deployed at large scale. \nManage the team with world-class deep learning engineers and software engineers, ensure each team member operates with excellence and achieves their objectives. \nDrive both the short-term and long-term technical vision in a domain where long-term solutions are still evolving research challenges, continually advancing the state of the art of the autonomous driving system. \nDevelop and maintain strong collaborative relationships with peers across the entire company, foster a unified and synergistic environment that leverages cross-functional expertise to propel our autonomous systems forward.\nRequirements\nMaster’s or PhD Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, or related fields\n5+ years of experience in deploying state-of-the-art computer vision or deep learning technologies to real-world applications.\nProficiency in programming languages such as C++ or Python.\nExecution mindset and skills in a fast paced environment.\nExcellent technical leadership abilities.\nPassionate about AI technologies for real-world applications.\nPreferred Experience\nStrong track record in designing org structures and growing people.\nExtensive experience in the autonomous driving industry.\nStrong understanding of real-time systems and optimization techniques.\nHands-on experience having deployed real products or platforms into the real world, and intimately understanding the challenges of working with complex systems\nCompensation and Benefits\nBase Salary Range: $245,000 - $350,000 Annually\nCompensation may vary outside of this range depending on many factors, including the candidate’s qualifications, skills, competencies, experience, and location. Base pay is one part of the Total Compensation and this role may be eligible for bonuses/incentives and restricted stock units.\nAlso, we provide the following benefits to the eligible employees:\nHealth Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)\nRetirement Plan (Traditional and Roth 401k)\nLife Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)\nPaid Time Off (Vacation & Public Holidays)\nFamily Leave (Maternity, Paternity)\nShort Term & Long Term Disability\nFree Food & Snacks\nPlease click here for our privacy disclosure.","description_format":"text","description_chars":3690,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["401k plan","Life insurance","Parental leave","Restricted stock units","Retirement plans"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Autonomous Driving","Ride Hailing"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-05-28T00:00:00Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 12 · green card filings: 6","filings_12m":12,"filings_prev_12m":18,"green_card_filings_12m":6,"median_offered_wage_usd":172500,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-15T11:24:14+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":7}],"liveness":{"score":90,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.903,"p_room":1,"age_days":2,"expected_fill_days":45,"reasons":["conf:2","velocity","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-10-28T05:59:10Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":245000,"is_top_pay":false},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/pony-ai-staffsenior-staff-software-engineer-perception","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/pony-ai-staffsenior-staff-software-engineer-perception.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-28T17:22:10Z","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":23583,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-29T00:00:00Z"}},"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":119},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=119"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fpony-ai-staffsenior-staff-software-engineer-perception"},{"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%2Fpony-ai-staffsenior-staff-software-engineer-perception"},{"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%2Fpony-ai-staffsenior-staff-software-engineer-perception"},{"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/pony-ai-staffsenior-staff-software-engineer-perception\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fpony-ai-staffsenior-staff-software-engineer-perception"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":40199}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"pony.ai","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":40199},"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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