Software Engineer

Motional is a leading autonomous driving company on a mission to make driverless vehicles a safe, reliable, and accessible reality. Backed by Hyundai Motor Group, Motional is at the forefront of the physical AI revolution. Motional isn’t just building first-of-its-kind technology; we are transforming transportation to create safer streets and more sustainable mobility options.

The Systems Readiness and Performance team is the crucial bridge between software development and real-world deployment. We are responsible for driving system design, for verifying and validating the autonomy stack, and for defining, measuring, and validating system performance targets. We work closely with stakeholders in autonomy, infrastructure, and operations to build the definitive safety case for the commercial launch of our fully driverless IONIQ 5 robotaxis in Las Vegas later this year.

We are seeking a highly skilled Software Engineer to play a critical role in evaluating and improving the performance of our autonomous vehicle (AV) technology. This engineer will be responsible for developing and implementing metrics and software tools, primarily using Python, to effectively measure, analyze, and report on the performance of our AV systems. Their work will directly contribute to accelerating the development of safe and reliable autonomous technologies by transforming complex AV data into actionable insights for the organization.

What You'll Be Doing:

• Design AV Performance Analysis Pipelines: Define, design, and implement key pipelines to extract on-road or simulated events and evaluate autonomous vehicle performance (e.g., lane change capability, oscillation/braking metrics, VRU emergence from occlusion).
• Develop Metrics Software and AI-Powered Tools: Leverage strong Python skills to develop frameworks, AI-powered tools, and systems for calculating, aggregating, and visualizing AV performance metrics from large datasets.
• Collaborate Cross-Functionally: Work with systems, software, AI, controls, simulation, and validation teams to understand needs and improve systems like Perception, Prediction, and Planning.
• Ensure Data Quality and Validation: Implement rigorous checks and validation processes to ensure the accuracy and integrity of data used for performance evaluation.
• Document and Share Knowledge: Create clear documentation for metrics and analysis tools, and share best practices with the engineering team.
• Advance Technical Expertise: Proactively evaluate and integrate new technologies and methodologies relevant to autonomous vehicles and software engineering.

What We're Looking For:

• 5+ years of software engineering experience and a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field; a Master's degree is a plus.
• Expert-level proficiency in Python and a strong understanding of modern software development principles and best practices.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, particularly in the context of complex system performance evaluation and data analysis.
• Proficient with Git and standard version control workflows.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to effectively communicate technical concepts and results to diverse audiences (engineers, product managers, leadership).
• Proven ability to work both independently and effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team.
• Strong attention to detail and a commitment to data quality, accuracy, and rigorous testing.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, agile, continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) environment.

Bonus Points (not required):

• Experience working with autonomous vehicle sensor data (e.g., LiDAR, camera, radar).
• Familiarity with simulation environments and data generated from AV simulations.
• Experience with data visualization tools (e.g., Looker) for presenting performance metrics.
• Knowledge of statistical analysis and machine learning techniques relevant to performance evaluation.

Success Metrics:

• Successful design and implementation of key autonomous vehicle performance metrics.
• Improvement in the efficiency and effectiveness of AV performance evaluation processes.
• Timely and accurate delivery of data and insights to AV development teams.
• Contribution to the overall advancement and safety of our autonomous vehicle technology.

This is a unique opportunity to make a meaningful impact at Motional by enhancing our data platform and accelerating development speed for our industry-leading autonomous vehicle metrics and capabilities eco