Director of Software Engineering

Director of Software Engineering, Autonomy

$285,000 - $320,000 + equity

About the Role

A leading autonomy/robotics company to find their next Director of Software Engineering, Autonomy - the leader who will run the software organization behind the autonomy stack: the systems that let the platform perceive, decide, and act safely in the real world.

This is a senior technical leadership role for someone who can set architecture direction at a high level while staying credible on the details: perception pipelines, planning and decision-making, and the safety-critical software that has to work every time.

The successful candidate will lead a multi-team organization spanning perception, planning/controls, and safety/validation software, and will be a key technical voice in how our client thinks about autonomy readiness and deployment risk.

What You'll Do

• Set the technical vision and roadmap for the autonomy software stack, from perception and sensor fusion through planning, decision-making, and safety validation.
• Lead and scale a multi-team software organization (typically 15-30+ engineers across several sub-teams and their managers).
• Own the balance between shipping velocity and safety rigor - this role is accountable for both.
• Drive the software safety case and validation strategy in partnership with systems safety and V&V teams (ISO 26262, SOTIF, or equivalent).
• Partner with hardware, product, and operations leadership to align the software roadmap with deployment and commercial milestones.
• Recruit, mentor, and develop engineering managers and senior ICs within the autonomy org.

What Our Client Is Looking For

• 10+ years of software engineering experience in autonomous systems, robotics, or ADAS/AV, including 5+ years leading multi-team software organizations.
• Deep technical background in at least two of: perception/sensor fusion, planning and controls software, safety-critical embedded software, or autonomy systems architecture.
• Direct experience with functional safety standards relevant to autonomy (ISO 26262, ISO 21448/SOTIF, DO-178C, or similar), including building or contributing to a safety case.
• Strong software engineering fundamentals - C++, real-time systems, and experience with the kind of large-scale software architecture that autonomy stacks require.
• A track record of shipping autonomy software that made it out of the lab and into real-world operation.
• Excellent cross-functional communication - this role sits at the intersection of engineering, safety, and the business.

Nice to Have

• Experience with radar, lidar, or camera-based sensor fusion specifically.
• Background at an AV, robotics, or advanced-mobility company that went through a safety certification or regulatory approval process.
• Experience presenting technical safety/readiness cases to executives, regulators, or customers.