Motional · 2 months ago
Principal Engineer Motion Planning
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Full-time
Onsite
Lead/Staff
$212K/yr - $284K/yr
10+ years expMotional is a driverless technology company focused on making autonomous vehicles safe, reliable, and accessible. They are seeking a Principal Engineer for the Planning team to lead the development of motion planning and control systems, ensuring effective fleet operation in complex environments.
AutomotiveAutonomous VehiclesFleet ManagementInformation TechnologySoftware
Responsibilities
Lead the research and development of novel algorithms and sub-systems for motion planning in autonomous driving, thereby expanding the Operational Design Domain. This includes, but is not limited to, advanced search-based and sophisticated geometry-based methods, as well as decision-making under uncertainty with a strong emphasis on probabilistic approaches
Lead cross-functional projects to define new or upgrade existing interfaces to solve problems
Monitor overall system performance to identify areas for improvement and develop technical strategies to address deficiencies
Guide cross-functional project teams to provide comprehensive solutions and demonstrate the ability to think beyond the confines of the planning system
Architect and integrate complex combinations of motion planning and prediction algorithms, driving their evaluation and refinement for real-world deployment
Design and build a robust, scalable, and high-performance codebase that facilitates rapid exploration, prototyping, and rigorous evaluation of innovative motion planning approaches and algorithms
Drive technical collaboration and interface seamlessly with perception and prediction components upstream and trajectory optimization, tracking and control components downstream, ensuring end-to-end system performance
Leverage your deep software development and research expertise to teach others better software practices and principles, fostering a culture of technical excellence
Guide and mentor junior and senior team members, cultivating a culture of product-focused engineering, rigorous research, and advanced development
Qualification
Required
PhD preferred in Robotics, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field; or a Master's degree with 7+ years of experience in the robotics (preferably AV industry)
10+ years of research experience in robotics / motion planning, with a proven track record of contributing to state-of-the-art solutions and leading significant projects
5+ years of C++ software development, with an emphasis on developing high-performance and reliable systems
Past experience owning and leading technical development on complex features from problem formulation through research, implementation, and deployment in a production environment, demonstrating significant impact
Thirst for knowledge, continuous innovation, and a drive to push the boundaries of autonomous driving technology, acting as a technical thought leader
Preferred
Experience with probabilistic models, including but not limited to Gaussian mixture models, Hidden Markov Models, and Particle Filters
Experience with machine learning techniques (such as Bayesian modeling and inference techniques) for decision making under uncertainty
Experience with the Bazel build framework
Benefits
Medical
Dental
Vision
401k with a company match
Health saving accounts
Life insurance
Pet insurance
Company
Motional
Motional offers an autonomous driving platform for robotaxi providers, fleet operators, and automotive manufacturers.
1001-5000 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Motional has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (56)
2024 (111)
2023 (57)
2022 (110)
2021 (100)
2020 (7)
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
unknown2024-05-03Acquired
2024-03-15Seed
Leadership Team
Laura Major
President and CEO
Balajee Kannan
Vice President, Autonomy
Recent News
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2026-01-16
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