Principal Motion Planning Engineer – Outrider
About the Company
Outrider is a software company automating distribution yards with electric, self-driving trucks. Our system eliminates hazardous and repetitive manual tasks while improving safety and efficiency.
Outrider’s mission is to drive the rapid adoption of sustainable freight transportation. We are a private company founded in 2018, backed by NEA, 8VC, Koch Disruptive Technologies, NVIDIA, and other top-tier investors. Our customers include Fortune 200 companies, and our autonomous trucks are already operational in distribution yards.
At Outrider, you'll develop and improve cutting-edge software that drives next-generation freight transportation. Your work will directly contribute to autonomous systems that move millions of tons of freight across shipping and logistics centers, revolutionizing global goods transportation. Over time, your contributions will enhance efficiency, safety, precision, and sustainability across the supply chain.
The Team
You will be joining a growing team responsible for motion planning, controls, and behaviors for Outrider’s autonomous trucks. This team is collaborative and committed to continuous improvement. Members use tools such as off-the-shelf simulation software and data analytics to understand product performance at scale in diverse situations.
They also maintain a state-of-the-art motion planning stack by routinely studying new research techniques. Leadership, growth, and development opportunities are abundant.
The Role
As a full-time Principal Motion Planning Engineer, you will develop and deploy high-performance software to control the behaviors of our automated electric yard trucks, which transport trailers around customer sites.
You will steer and execute the technical strategy for our planning stack while collaborating with a talented engineering team focused on delivering real-world autonomous solutions. Our leadership is laser-focused on making this product a success.
Duties & Responsibilities
- Design, implement, and deploy motion planning and controls algorithms.
- Develop cutting-edge C++ software running on autonomous vehicles to control maneuvers and avoid collisions.
- Build new features to support the needs of customers in global distribution centers.
- Monitor product performance metrics at customer sites and develop new metrics to meet customer needs.
- Contribute to Outrider’s growth and a culture focused on responsible deployment of zero-emission autonomous vehicle technology.
- Provide technical and theoretical guidance to the planning team.
- Communicate evaluations and results to leadership.
- Help design and improve key tools: simulation, evaluation, and compute.
- Lead cross-functional efforts with autonomy stakeholders and upstream/downstream components.
Qualifications
Required:
- Familiarity with state-of-the-art best practices and research in motion planning and controls.
- Ability to design, implement, and deploy motion planning and control software stacks.
- A growth mindset.
- Strong C++ software development skills.
- Strong written and oral communication skills.
- Fluency in English.
- Proven success in multiple technical projects of increasing complexity.
- Experience developing motion planning and controls software for robots or autonomous vehicles outside of a laboratory setting.
- Degree in Computer Science or equivalent field.
Ideal:
- Experience with software development on autonomous vehicles.
- Experience working on safety-certifiable autonomous systems.
- Familiarity with Robot Operating System (ROS).
- Experience with containerized environments (e.g., Docker).
Compensation & Benefits
- Salary: $250,000 - $450,000+
- Equity: Significant equity package based on experience and skills.
- Benefits: Full health benefits.
- Remote Work: Fully remote, with opportunities to travel to our Denver headquarters for team collaborations and special events.
- Home Office Stipend: Up to $500 to help create a comfortable and productive workspace.
Actual compensation is based on job-related skills, qualifications, experience, and specific work location due to differences in labor costs.
