Skip to main content

PlusAI

Senior/Staff Software Engineer (Machine Learning Runtime), Motion Planning

Santa Clara, California, United States

Location
Santa Clara, California, United States
Work
Hybrid
Employment
Full-time
Level
Lead / staff
Function
Engineering
Pay
$130K – $220K a year
Posted
2 months ago

Pay and the market here

The top of this role’s range, $220K a year, is 12% below the median of $250K for lead / staff engineering jobs in Santa Clara (middle half $225K – $285K, 112 jobs that state pay).

367 engineering jobs open in Santa Clara: 10% remote, 68 posted in the last 30 days.

Wondering how well you fit this one? OptiTalent Career checks each requirement against your own record, privately. About OptiTalent Career →

About the role

PlusAI is a Physical AI company pioneering AI-based virtual driver software for factory-built autonomous trucks. Headquartered in Silicon Valley with operations in the United States and Europe, Plus was named by Fast Company as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies. Partners including TRATON GROUP’s Scania, MAN, and International brands, Hyundai Motor Company, Iveco Group, Bosch, and DSV are working with Plus to accelerate the deployment of next-generation autonomous trucks. If you’re ready to make a huge impact and drive the future of autonomy, Plus is looking for talented individuals to join its fast-growing teams.

Responsibilities

  • Design, implement, and optimize the production runtime pipeline for ML-based autonomous vehicle planning.
  • Integrate machine learning models into a scalable, safety-critical planning software stack.
  • Optimize end-to-end inference performance through algorithm optimization, C++ implementation, profiling, memory optimization, and efficient execution on compute-constrained embedded platforms.
  • Develop high-performance C++ components for feature extraction, inference, post-processing, trajectory generation, and runtime orchestration.
  • Design runtime validation, safety guardrails, and fallback mechanisms to ensure generated trajectories are feasible, robust, and compliant with traffic rules.
  • Investigate complex runtime issues by tracing failures across the planning pipeline, from feature extraction through inference to trajectory generation.
  • Debug difficult edge-case scenarios using logs, profiling tools, visualization, offline replay, and quantitative analysis to identify root causes and implement robust solutions.
  • Build tooling and infrastructure to improve debugging, observability, performance analysis, testing, and runtime monitoring.
  • Collaborate closely with machine learning engineers to efficiently deploy new models into production while maintaining system reliability and performance.
  • Drive continuous improvements in runtime architecture, scalability, reliability, and maintainability.
  • Ensure technical work complies with the company's Quality Management System (QMS), customer requirements, regulatory standards, and internal engineering processes.

Requirements

  • BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
  • 4+ years of experience developing high-performance production software.
  • Strong C++ programming skills with experience building, optimizing, and maintaining large-scale software systems.
  • Experience optimizing real-time systems, including latency, throughput, memory usage, and multithreaded performance.
  • Experience deploying machine learning inference into production environments.
  • Familiarity with TensorRT, CUDA, ONNX Runtime, or similar inference acceleration frameworks.
  • Strong software engineering fundamentals, including software architecture, testing, and code quality.
  • Excellent debugging and analytical problem-solving skills, with the ability to systematically investigate complex software and system-level issues.
  • Experience tracing failures across multi-stage pipelines, identifying root causes, and implementing reliable long-term solutions.
  • Experience designing validation strategies, automated testing, runtime monitoring, and observability for production systems.
  • Strong ownership mindset with the ability to drive problems from investigation through implementation, validation, and deployment.
  • Excellent communication skills and experience collaborating across machine learning and systems engineering teams.

Preferred Skills

  • Experience with autonomous driving planning, prediction, or robotics software.
  • Experience profiling CPU and GPU performance using modern profiling tools.
  • Experience deploying software on embedded GPU platforms.
  • Familiarity with PyTorch and machine learning workflows.
  • Experience with distributed systems, CI/CD, and cloud infrastructure.

Bonus Qualifications

Candidates who stand out typically have one or more of the following:

  • Deep expertise in modern C++ (C++17/20) and high-performance software engineering.
  • Experience optimizing production inference pipelines for low latency and high throughput.
  • Experience developing internal debugging, visualization, profiling, or observability tools.
  • Proven ability to diagnose and resolve complex production issues involving machine learning, runtime software, and system integration.
  • Strong systems thinking with the ability to balance correctness, performance, maintainability, scalability, and safety.
  • Demonstrated technical leadership and experience mentoring engineers on large production software projects.

Your opportunities joining PlusAI

Work, learn and grow in a highly future-oriented, innovative and dynamic field.

Wide range of opportunities for personal and professional development.

Catered free lunch, unlimited snacks and beverages.

Highly competitive salary and benefits package, including 401(k) plan.

Source

Posted by PlusAI on their own hiring page, jobs.lever.co. OptiTalent shows it as published, read 07 Nov 2026 11:07 UTC; the original is the reference.

View the original ad ↗

More at PlusAI

  • Fleet Manager

    3 weeks ago

    PlusAI · Fremont, California, United States

    On-siteFull-time$100K – $140K a yearOperations

    Develop, implement, and optimize a robust preventative maintenance program tailored to 5–10 distinct vehicle types, including autonomous semi-trucks, passenger cars, and trailers.; Proactively identify bottlenecks and implement strategies to minimize vehicle downtime and…

  • PlusAI · Fremont, California, United States

    HybridFull-timeMid level$150K – $180K a yearEngineering

    Design of next generation sensor and computing platform architecture; Define requirements, test and validation plans for electrical design; Lead the validation of signal integrity and power integrity; Work with cross functional teams to design, verify, and bring up the…

  • PlusAI · Fremont, California, United States

    On-siteFull-timeSenior$75K – $105K a yearOperations

    As a Vehicle Operations Specialist, you'll serve as the right-seat safety and testing operator for PlusAI's autonomous trucks, executing structured test missions on both closed courses and public roads. You'll work closely with our engineering teams to validate vehicle…

  • PlusAI · Santa Clara, California, United States

    HybridFull-timeSenior$130K – $220K a yearData & AI

    Develop and evaluate methods that turn multi-sensor recordings into accurate 3D object labels offline, using models and compute the vehicle cannot afford in real time, and measure them against reviewed ground truth; Raise label quality and reduce the human review it needs: find…