{"id":105856,"url":"https://alion.io/job/zoox-principal-software-engineer-perception-architect","title":"Principal Software Engineer, Perception Architect","company":{"id":3626,"name":"Zoox","domain":"zoox.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/zoox","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Lever","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":72,"open_postings":42,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.905,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":85,"computed_at":"2026-10-17T05:46:00Z"}},"role":"Backend","role_family":"Backend","seniority":"lead","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Foster City, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":410000,"max":492000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":492000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":8,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"Computer Vision","optional":false},{"name":"Interpretability","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"Sensor Fusion","optional":false},{"name":"SLAM","optional":false},{"name":"World Models","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-04-20T23:36:45Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-04-20","last_verified_at":"2026-10-17T23:12:52Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":180,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":180},"description":"Be the visionary Perception Architect designing the sensory \"nervous system\" for our next generation of autonomous products. Evolve our end-to-end perception architecture, serving as the essential liaison between Sensing teams and the core ML system. Drive architectural evolution toward next-generation sensing and compute platforms by influencing Hardware-Software Co-Design.\nIn this role, you will:\n System Synthesis: Define the end-to-end perception architecture-assess new sensing (LiDAR, Radar, Camera) to the final fused world model.\nHardware-Software Co-Design: Partner with Compute and Sensing teams to influence the design, ensuring our algorithms have the \"computational oxygen\" they need.\nAlgorithmic Strategy: Lead the transition from current pipelines to AI innovation pipelines, while maintaining the safety and interpretability required for edge deployment.\nFuture-Proofing: Evaluate emerging technologies and determine their viability for the 3-5 year roadmap.\nPerformance Budgeting: Collaborate on rigorous metrics for latency and accuracy across diverse edge-computing environments.\nLead cross functional teams: to create a viable plan to move to new platforms and unlock further technical capabilities for Perception systems. Coordinate projects across partner teams to make sure work is aligned with the overall org direction.\nQualifications\nEducation: Ph.D. or MS in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, or a related field with a focus on Computer Vision.\nExperience: 8+ years in autonomous systems with at least 2 years in an architectural role, shipping and evolving perception systems\n Deep Domain Expertise: Mastery of systems focused on Computer Vision, Deep learning, Foundational models, Sensor Fusion, and State Estimation (SLAM, EKF/UKF). Deep understanding of sensor modalities and their impact to perception/autonomy systems, including: Camera, lidar, radar.\nPlatform Proficiency: Deep understanding of hardware acceleration, component budgeting and transition to new platforms.\nMathematical Rigor: Strong foundation in 3D geometry, linear algebra, and probabilistic robotics.\nHands on Skills: Proficiency in C++ (production-grade) and Python (rapid prototyping). Ability to run experiments across system components and run metrics platforms.\nSoft Skills: Curious, Data driven, with ability to translate complex technical trade-offs to non-technical stakeholders and executive leadership.","description_format":"text","description_chars":2436,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":8,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"master","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Autonomous Driving","Smart Mobility","Automotive Manufacturing","Ride Hailing"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-04-20T23:36:45Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 373 · green card filings: 120","filings_12m":373,"filings_prev_12m":311,"green_card_filings_12m":120,"median_offered_wage_usd":181283,"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":167}],"liveness":{"score":12,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.438,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":179,"expected_fill_days":85,"reasons":["conf:1","stale_co","velocity","win:tail","crowd:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-17T05:46:00Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":492000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/zoox-principal-software-engineer-perception-architect","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/zoox-principal-software-engineer-perception-architect.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-18T00:00:02Z","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":3,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-19T00:00:00Z"}},"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":3626},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=3626"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fzoox-principal-software-engineer-perception-architect"},{"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%2Fzoox-principal-software-engineer-perception-architect"},{"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%2Fzoox-principal-software-engineer-perception-architect"},{"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/zoox-principal-software-engineer-perception-architect\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fzoox-principal-software-engineer-perception-architect"}]}