Senior Software Engineer, Vehicle Experience

Zoox•Foster City, CA

About The Position

Zoox is building the future of transportation and is looking for an experienced Senior Software Engineer to join their Vehicle Experience team. This role involves designing, developing, and optimizing software that powers a unique and premium vehicle experience for riders. The Vehicle Experience team is responsible for software managing ride state and orchestrating the rider experience, including audio, lighting, vehicle controls, and infotainment tablets. The on-vehicle software is written in C++ and operates under resource constraints, interfacing with all visible and touchable systems. The team also develops backend cloud services for end-to-end feature delivery. Impactful projects include improving vehicle mission handling for new autonomous capabilities, personalizing the rider experience, and providing situational awareness for rider safety and information. The position focuses on implementing and orchestrating highly visible in-vehicle features, aiming to raise performance, reliability, and quality.

Requirements

MS/BS in Computer Science, Engineering or related field with 7+ years of software development experience
Strong expertise in modern C++ development on Linux systems and backend cloud systems
Experience with modern software development practices (Git, CI/CD, code review), automated testing and validation methodologies and cross-team collaboration in large, complex software projects
Excellent problem-solving skills with the ability to analyze requirements and propose technical solutions, document technical designs and decisions and debug complex system-level issues
Track record of building user-centric product software, collaborating with Product Management and UX designers and ability to translate UX requirements into technical implementations

Nice To Haves

Knowledge of robotics, automotive or embedded systems software development, including real-time constraints and hardware interfaces
Hands-on experience with Data Distribution Service (DDS) middleware in production environments, including performance optimization and fault tolerance
Proficiency with distributed systems in Java, Kotlin or Python

Responsibilities

Design and implement software systems in C++ to manage autonomous vehicle ride states, passenger interactions, and vehicle control interfaces while ensuring optimal performance on Linux systems.
Implement backend cloud features to support Vehicle Experience features end-to-end.
Architect and integrate mission-critical software components that process data from multiple vehicle sensors and systems, implementing robust error handling and failsafe mechanisms while adhering to automotive-grade safety standards.
Lead technical design reviews, establish coding standards, and mentor junior engineers in best practices for embedded systems development, including memory management and system optimization.
Analyze system performance metrics and telemetry data to optimize software efficiency, troubleshoot issues, and make data-driven decisions for improving ride management systems.
Partner cross-functionally with vehicle software teams, cloud engineers, Product Management, Technical Program Management, UX Design, Quality Assurance, and Feature Integration teams to deliver integrated solutions that advance autonomous vehicle technology.