Senior Software Engineer, Behavior Prediction Planning
About The Position
Kodiak Robotics, Inc. is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to enhance behavior prediction for autonomous driving. This role involves working on how the autonomy system predicts the behavior, intent, and future motion of other road users, and how these predictions inform the planning system's decisions for safety, comfort, and effectiveness. The ideal candidate has deep experience in autonomous vehicle prediction, trajectory prediction, behavior modeling, or actor intent understanding. You will collaborate with Planning and ML engineers to improve prediction quality, model integration, evaluation, and downstream planning behavior. This is a high-impact role where you will improve prediction using the most effective approach, whether through heuristic logic, learned models, refining interfaces, or altering how Planning consumes prediction outputs.
Requirements
- Strong experience with behavior prediction, trajectory prediction, actor intent modeling, or related autonomous vehicle prediction problems.
- Strong software engineering skills with proficiency in C++.
- Experience working with Planning Systems and understanding of how Prediction impacts planning, safety, comfort, and system behavior.
- Ability to analyze complex autonomy failures using logs, metrics, and simulation.
- Strong collaboration skills across Perception, Planning, ML, Simulation, and Systems teams.
- Strong system-level judgment around prediction uncertainty, safety, and deployment and ability to reason across heuristic, learned, and hybrid prediction approaches.
Nice To Haves
- Python proficiency is a plus.
Responsibilities
- Own prediction improvements within the Planning team.
- Advance prediction models and collaborate closely with ML teams on learned prediction models, model outputs, uncertainty, and failure modes.
- Improve prediction-planning interfaces, including confidence, uncertainty, intent representation, and fallback behavior.
- Collaborate on projects that improve planning behavior in scenarios where actor intent is uncertain or changing.
- Define metrics and evaluation frameworks for prediction quality as it relates to planning behavior.
- Analyze prediction-related planning failures using logs, simulation, metrics, and scenario-based evaluation.
- Lead technical projects and mentor junior engineers.
Benefits
- Competitive compensation package including equity and annual bonuses
- Excellent Medical, Dental, and Vision plans through Kaiser Permanente, Cigna, and MetLife (including a medical plan with infertility benefits)
- MetLife Legal Services, Identity & Fraud Protection, Hospital Indemnity Insurance, Accident Insurance, & Critical Illness Insurance
- Flexible PTO, 10 paid holidays, and generous parental leave policies
- Dog-friendly office
- Free catered lunch
- Fully stocked kitchen
- Free EV charging
- Long Term Disability, Short Term Disability, Life Insurance
- Wellbeing Benefits - Headspace through Cigna, Calm through Kaiser, One Medical, Gympass, Spring Health through Cigna, Rula (mental health navigation)
- Fidelity 401(k)
- Commuter, FSA, Dependent Care FSA, HSA
- Various incentive programs (referral bonuses, patent bonuses, etc.)
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
No Education Listed
