Senior Staff / Principal Software Engineer - Freeway Autonomy
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Nov 3, 2026. First seen by Alion on Aug 31, 2026. Zoox scores B on the Alion truth index.
Zoox is on an ambitious journey to develop a full-stack autonomous robotaxi solution, and freeways are the next frontier. We are looking for a Senior Staff or Principal Software Engineer who has played a significant role in removing the driver from an autonomous vehicle operating on freeways, and who can help Zoox navigate that same journey. You will bring deep technical expertise in a relevant autonomy domain - the specific domain is flexible - along with the hard-won judgment that comes from having taken a freeway driving program from supervised operation to driverless. This is a highly visible role with broad influence across the Autonomy organization.
In this role, you will:
Guide autonomy-wide initiatives toward driverless freeway operation, including setting the technical vision and strategy, building the roadmap, and driving cross-functional execution
Identify the highest-risk gaps between our current freeway capabilities and driver-out readiness, and lead the engineering work to close them
Develop algorithms that enable freeway driving capabilities, spanning architecture, design, implementation, integration, testing, and verification and validation
Communicate technical trade-offs, risk assessments, and readiness recommendations to diverse stakeholders, including senior and executive leadership
Mentor engineers across the freeway program and raise the bar for how we design, test, and validate high-speed autonomous driving
Qualifications:
10+ years of industry software experience
Demonstrated technical leadership of removing the human driver from an autonomous vehicle operating on freeways or highways
Deep technical expertise in at least one autonomy domain, such as behavior/motion planning, perception, prediction, simulation, or systems engineering
Proven ability to lead large, cross-functional engineering efforts from ambiguity to shipped results
Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex technical trade-offs for varied audiences including executives
Bonus Qualifications:
Experience scaling and operating a driverless service after driver removal
Experience constructing safety cases or defining driver-out readiness criteria for high-speed autonomous driving
Proficiency in C++