Software Engineer, II - Motion Control
The Software Engineer II - Motion Control at Confidential Client is responsible for designing, developing, and optimizing vehicle motion models and control actuation strategies for autonomous trucks. This role involves collaboration across multiple engineering teams to deliver safe, reliable autonomy behaviors, and requires expertise in control theory, vehicle dynamics, and production-quality C++ software development within a Linux environment. The position supports testing, integration, and deployment activities to ensure robust autonomous vehicle performance in real-world conditions.
About Careertakes
👉 Important disclosure: Careertakes is a third-party recruiting platform supporting this hiring process. If selected, you will be employed directly by our client, Software Development.
Applicants for this role may also receive access to additional matched opportunities through the Careertakes platform.
What You’ll Do
This role focuses on motion control and vehicle modeling for autonomous vehicles. You will design, implement, validate, and deploy actuation and motion-control capabilities used on production autonomous trucks. Work closely with cross-functional teams (Motion Planning, Perception, Safety, Simulation, Validation) to deliver safe, reliable, and scalable autonomy software.
- Design, develop, and optimize vehicle motion models and control actuation strategies.
- Incorporate vehicle kinematic and dynamic constraints into high-fidelity control models for safe and comfortable behavior.
- Characterize vehicle platform performance (braking, steering, acceleration) and model nonlinear effects (gear shifts, ESC).
- Model environmental effects (grade, terrain, rolling resistance, wind) and incorporate them into controller design.
- Evaluate controller performance across multi-dimensional metrics and compare simulated vs. real-world behavior.
- Develop production-quality software in modern C++ on Linux, following safety, testing, and deployment best practices.
- Specify software requirements and document implementations.
- Implement degraded-operation / fail-safe driving capabilities and support on-vehicle fallback behavior.
- Participate in software architecture and design reviews; contribute to code reviews and continuous improvement.
- Create and execute validation strategies across SiL, HiL, and ViL environments.
- Reproduce and debug vehicle behavior in simulation and on-vehicle using real-time diagnostics and log analysis.
- Support vehicle integration, deployment activities, and post-deployment investigations.
What You’ll Need to Succeed
Minimum qualifications (one of the following degree/experience combinations is required):
- Bachelor’s in Computer Science, Robotics, EE, ME, or related + 4+ years industry experience; OR
- Master’s + 2+ years experience; OR
- PhD + 1+ year experience.
Technical skills and experience:
- Strong proficiency in modern C++ development on Linux.
- Experience developing real-time robotics, ADAS, or autonomous-vehicle software.
- Experience developing, testing, and tuning controllers for robotics or autonomous systems.
- Solid understanding of control theory (including stability analysis), vehicle dynamics, kinematics, and trajectory feasibility.
- Strong foundation in linear algebra, numerical optimization, geometry, and robotics algorithms.
- Experience supporting on-vehicle testing, debugging, and deployment.
- Strong troubleshooting skills for both real-time diagnostics and in-depth post-analysis.
- Familiarity with version control (Git), build systems, and package management.
- Understanding of test automation and unit test frameworks (gtest, pytest, Robot Framework, etc.).
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills; ability to work independently and in cross-functional teams.
Nice-to-Have / Bonus Points
- Experience with Model Predictive Control (MPC), convex/QP or nonlinear optimization.
- Experience writing low-level drivers and interfacing over CAN or Ethernet.
- Experience applying ML techniques to planning or control (imitation learning, RL, hybrid architectures).
- Experience developing in both C++ and Python.
- Familiarity with ROS/ROS2, Autoware, Apollo, or similar robotics/autonomy stacks.
- Experience with simulation platforms and large-scale autonomy validation.
- Exposure to CUDA, GPU acceleration, or high-performance compute environments.
- Contributions to open-source projects in embedded Linux, robotics, or automation.
Work Location & Clearance
- Work location: Hybrid in Blacksburg, VA office.
- U.S. Citizenship Requirement: This role requires access to information/systems restricted under U.S. law. Only U.S. citizens are eligible.
Compensation & Benefits
- Hiring range (U.S.): $139,000 — $166,800 USD (annual).
- Competitive compensation package may include bonus and equity components.
- Typical benefits may include medical/dental/vision coverage, 401(k) match, paid time off, and life/AD&D insurance. Specific benefits vary by role and may be provided in the offer.
Equal Opportunity & Hiring Transparency
Careertakes and our client are Equal Opportunity Employers committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce. We prohibit discrimination or harassment of any kind. To support a fair and efficient hiring process, AI tools may be used to assist with application review or resume screening. These tools do not replace human decision-making. Final hiring decisions are made by people.
If you have questions about how your data is used, please contact us directly.
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