Head of Systems Engineering

Nuro•Mountain View, CA

About The Position

Nuro is looking for a Head of Systems Engineering to own the systems backbone that enables the Nuro Driver to scale safely and commercially. This leader will own the end-to-end systems engineering function across autonomy, software and hardware systems, technical parts of the safety case, requirements, system architecture, validation strategy and execution, system performance, and deployment readiness. The role sits at the center of Nuro’s technical and commercial execution, connecting product, functional and safety goals, autonomy capabilities, hardware constraints, the operational design domain, and commercial milestones into one coherent system strategy. This is a critical role for Nuro’s next phase of growth. As we scale toward larger commercial launches, new geographies, new vehicle platforms, and broader deployment environments, this leader will help define what the system must do, how we know it works, what evidence proves it is ready, and what must be true before we launch or expand. This is a technical leadership role for someone who is excited about turning frontier autonomous driving technology into a durable commercial product. Autonomous driving does not scale through isolated technical wins. It scales when the full system can be integrated, validated, safety-verified, deployed, monitored, and expanded with confidence. Systems Engineering helps to define the technical bar, structure the safety and validation evidence, identify system-level risks, and create the mechanisms that allow Nuro to move faster without losing rigor. This role is critical to Nuro’s ability to: Scale the Nuro Driver across different vehicle platforms and commercial applications. Build a robust safety case that supports public-road deployment and expansion. Translate autonomy progress into measurable system-level readiness. Connect hardware, software, safety, product, and operations into one integrated technical strategy. Create the standards, evidence, and decision frameworks required for long-term commercial scale.

Requirements

10+ years of systems engineering experience in a related field (e.g. automotive, aerospace, defense, robotics, medical devices, or another safety-critical domain), including 7+ years managing managers and scaling high-performing engineering organizations.
Experience leading systems engineering or equivalent technical functions across complex hardware and software products, including ownership of safety-critical system development (safety case, hazard analysis, risk assessment, validation evidence, and deployment readiness).
A track record of developing senior technical leaders, recruiting exceptional talent, and building teams that operate with high standards and high ownership.
Excellent communication skills, able to make complex technical tradeoffs clear to engineering teams, executives, and cross-functional stakeholders.

Nice To Haves

Experience with modern autonomy stacks (perception, prediction, planning, localization, mapping, sensing, compute, vehicle integration) and the validation challenges specific to ML-based and end-to-end AI systems in real-world environments.
Experience with vehicle platforms, embedded systems, automotive-grade hardware, compute systems, sensor integration, or hardware/software co-design.
Experience building V&V strategies for public-road or regulated environments — spanning simulation, scenario-based testing, closed-course validation, operational readiness reviews, and launch decision frameworks.

Responsibilities

Own and scale Nuro’s Systems Engineering function across autonomy, hardware, safety case, requirements, validation, system performance, technical risk, and deployment readiness.
Define the systems engineering strategy required to support Nuro’s next phase of growth across multiple cities, vehicle platforms, commercial partnerships, and future international markets.
Translate product goals, safety goals, commercial use cases, and deployment milestones into system requirements, measurable performance targets, validation plans, and launch readiness frameworks.
Own the requirements architecture, system decomposition, and interface management for the Nuro Driver across autonomy software, sensing, compute, vehicle software and hardware, and safety.
Drive the system-level safety case in collaboration with Autonomy, Hardware, Legal, Product, and Operations, ensuring the safety argument is rigorous, evidence-based, and tied to commercial deployment milestones.
Define the technical and validation framework for public-road operation, commercial launch, geographic expansion, platform expansion, and new use cases.
Lead technical analyses and trade studies that inform architecture, sensing configuration, compute strategy, vehicle integration, safety mitigations, ODD expansion, and deployment readiness.
Create mechanisms for risk identification, readiness reviews, requirements governance, launch decision-making, and cross-functional execution.
Build, develop, and retain a high-caliber Systems Engineering organization.