Senior Software Development Engineer, Motion Planning - Autonomous Vehicles

US, CA, Santa Clara
Full-time
Posted Nov 9, 2026

Skills

Git
Jira

Job description

NVIDIA has been transforming computer graphics, PC gaming, and accelerated computing for more than 25 years. It’s a unique legacy of innovation that’s fueled by great technology—and amazing people. Today, we’re tapping into the unlimited potential of AI to define the next era of computing. An era in which our GPU acts as the brains of computers, robots, and self-driving cars that can understand the world. Doing what’s never been done before takes vision, innovation, and the world’s best talent. As an NVIDIAN, you’ll be immersed in a diverse, supportive environment where everyone is inspired to do their best work. Come join the team and see how you can make a lasting impact on the world.

We are seeking an experienced Motion planning senior software development engineer to develop key features for our autonomous driving platform. In this role, you will work on a mix of Trajectory planning, Motion Planning problems to build focused software solutions. Through effective collaboration with established teams, you will help design and mature new products all the way through to production.

What you'll be doing:

Software development to deliver new motion-planning features entails a diversity of activities, including:

•Lead the entire feature lifecycle, driving motion planning solutions from initial design through to full productization and deployment..

•Model L2, L3, and L4 vehicle behaviors and driving modes by formulating them as optimal-control problems. Integrate perception, prediction data, and user-comfort preferences through deep collaboration with prediction and behavior planning teams.

•Enhance driving behavior and support overall product quality by engaging in continuous issue triage alongside product and user-experience engineers.

•Improve optimization solver performance using instruction parallelization and memory optimization techniques.

What we need to see:

•8 years of relevant experience in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field.

•Proven ability to develop high-quality C software within large, collaborative codebases.(Git, Gerrit, JIRA, Jenkins colab environments).

•Strong skills in applied mathematics, with proficiency in linear algebra, differential equations, numerical methods, and convex optimization.

Ways to stand out from the crowd:

•Prior experience contributing to product development within the Autonomous Driving industry.

•Expertise in constrained optimization-based trajectory generation for vehicle dynamics and performance optimization for in-car deployment.

•Familiarity with advanced motion planning algorithms, including lattice-based planners, hybrid A*, D*, and RRTs.

Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and other objective job-related factors. The expected base salary ranges for this position are:

184,000 USD – 287,500 USD for Level 4; and 224,000 USD – 356,500 USD for Level 5.

You will also be eligible for equity and benefits .

Applications for this job will be accepted at least until November 13, 2026.

This posting is for an existing vacancy.

NVIDIA uses AI tools in its recruiting processes.

NVIDIA is committed to fostering an inclusive work environment and proud to be an equal opportunity employer. As we highly value diversity in our current and future employees, we do not discriminate (including in our hiring and promotion practices) on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status or any other characteristic protected by law.