Senior AI Researcher, End-to-End Autonomous Systems

Nissan Motor Corporation • Santa Clara, CA

1d • $122,001 - $256,894 • Hybrid

About The Position

Nissan is seeking a Senior AI Researcher to lead research and development of large-scale AI models for autonomous systems. The role focuses on unified end-to-end learning frameworks that enable systems to perceive, reason, predict, plan, and interact with the physical world. The researcher will use large-scale real-world driving data from global markets and vehicle platforms, and validate ideas through offline simulation and real-world vehicle testing.

The researcher will develop autonomous systems using multimodal data—including camera, radar, map, vehicle-state, and natural-language inputs—with scalable pretraining and fine-tuning strategies. The models will predict future scene evolution and support planning and decision-making across routine driving situations and long-tail edge cases. The role also evaluates emerging state-of-the-art techniques from academia and industry and translates them into Nissan’s next-generation autonomy platform.

This position includes ownership of research roadmaps from literature review and innovation through real-world vehicle deployment, contributions to autonomy data flywheels and continuous-learning loops, rigorous experimentation using current sensors and compute hardware, and mentorship of junior researchers. The researcher will collaborate across Nissan’s Silicon Valley office and global teams, present findings and roadmaps to internal audiences and leadership, and communicate progress through bi-weekly updates and sprint planning. Research outcomes may be shared externally through patents, conference technical reports, and peer-reviewed papers.

Requirements

• At least a master's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, or Software Engineering, Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, or a related field.
• Either a Ph.D. with at least 3 years of relevant industry, research, or postdoctoral experience, or a master's degree with at least 5 years of relevant industry or research experience applying large-scale AI models to robotics, autonomous systems, embodied AI, physical-world decision-making, or related technical fields.
• Demonstrated experience building, deploying, and validating AI models on real-time robotic, autonomous, or embedded systems, with continuous learning and performance improvement using real-world operational data.
• Demonstrated expertise in one or more of the following: foundation models for physical-world intelligence, including Vision Language Models (VLMs), Vision-Language-Action Models (VLAs), world models, generative AI, diffusion models, neural environment modeling, reinforcement learning, self-supervised learning, or large-scale distributed training.
• A demonstrated track record of peer-reviewed publications at leading conferences or journals and translating research into practical autonomous-driving systems.
• Ability to independently formulate research problems, drive technical investigations, and deliver research outcomes from concept through deployment.
• Expert-level knowledge of C++, Python, PyTorch, TensorFlow, and TensorRT.
• Ability to manage evaluations and stakeholder relationships, mentor junior researchers, work autonomously across teams, and communicate research findings and roadmaps.

Nice To Haves

• Research expertise and in-depth knowledge in intelligent mobility, smart cities, computer science, mathematics or statistics, civil or transportation fields, or a related area.
• A solid foundation in software development.
• Proficiency in at least one of Python, Java, or C++.
• Experience with relational or NoSQL databases, such as PostgreSQL or MongoDB.
• Hands-on experience with common machine-learning tools, cloud platforms, and frameworks, such as Flow, AWS, TensorFlow, or PyTorch.
• A publication track record and experience filing patents.

Responsibilities

• Lead research and development of large-scale AI models for end-to-end autonomous systems.
• Develop autonomous systems using multimodal camera, radar, map, vehicle-state, and natural-language data, with scalable pretraining and fine-tuning strategies.
• Build models that predict future scene evolution and support planning and decision-making across diverse operating conditions, including long-tail edge cases.
• Evaluate emerging state-of-the-art techniques from academia and industry and translate them into Nissan’s next-generation autonomy platform.
• Contribute to autonomy data flywheels, including data mining, scenario discovery, model evaluation, and continuous-learning loops.
• Own research roadmaps from literature review and innovation through real-world vehicle deployment.
• Conduct systematic evaluations using current sensors and compute hardware; validate ideas through offline simulation and real-world vehicle testing.
• Deliver reusable research outputs that provide a foundation for future autonomy-platform work.
• Manage evaluations and build trust with office stakeholders through consistent, high-value contributions.
• Assist and mentor junior researchers and foster technical excellence and respectful feedback.
• Establish cross-functional connections within the Silicon Valley office and broader global teams.
• Present research findings and roadmaps to internal Tech Talks, management, and executives.
• Translate research breakthroughs into external-facing value through patents, conference technical reports, and peer-reviewed papers.
• Provide bi-weekly updates and participate in sprint planning to drive alignment.

Benefits

• Career growth and continuous-learning opportunities, including diverse career paths, cross-departmental moves, learning platforms, seminars, and leadership training.
• Tuition reimbursement.
• Comprehensive benefits package, including medical, mental-health, and parental-leave benefits and retirement savings.
• Employee Lease Program discounts and a Vehicle Purchase Program (VPP).

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior