Software Engineer - Controls

Applied Intuition, Inc. is powering the future of physical AI. Founded in 2017 and now valued at $15 billion, the Silicon Valley company is creating the digital infrastructure needed to bring intelligence to every moving machine on the planet. Applied Intuition services the automotive, defense, trucking, construction, mining and agriculture industries in three core areas: tools and infrastructure, operating systems, and autonomy. Eighteen of the top 20 global automakers, as well as the United States military and its allies, trust the company’s solutions to deliver physical intelligence. Applied Intuition is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in Washington, D.C.; San Diego; Ft. Walton Beach, Florida; Ann Arbor, Michigan; London; Stuttgart; Munich; Stockholm; Bangalore; Seoul; and Tokyo. Learn more at applied.co.

We are an in-office company, and our expectation is that full-time employees primarily work from their Applied Intuition office 5 days a week. However, we also recognize the importance of flexibility and trust our employees to manage their schedules responsibly. This may include occasional remote work, starting the day with morning meetings from home before heading to the office, or leaving earlier when needed to accommodate family commitments. This in-office expectation does not apply to contractor positions

About the role

We are looking for a software engineer with expertise in control of autonomous vehicles or mobile robots. Among your responsibilities will be the development of controls modules that must be high performance due to critical timing constraints.

In addition to your engineering contributions, by working in our dynamic and customer-focused team culture, you will contribute to and learn from best practices in the nascent autonomy industry. We move fast and we focus on excellence, for our products and for our business. If you are hands-on and looking for a place to have a multiplying effect on making autonomous systems a reality, Applied Intuition is the place for you!

At Applied Intuition, you will:

• Design and implement controls modules that can be deployed onto vehicles for autonomous navigation

• Characterize the dynamics of our customers’ vehicles to create tailored controls solutions and to reduce the gap between simulation and real-world dynamics

• Evaluate and utilize academic research to create optimal-control-based solutions using techniques like nonlinear MPC and MPPI control

• Diagnose system software and functional driving issues on target platforms, both on-road and in simulation, and drive them to the root cause.

• Perform in-vehicle testing: run autonomous drive missions, collect data, and close the loop from field failures to fixes.

• Verify and validate autonomy functions from test-case design through fault injection in SIL/HIL and in-vehicle environments.

• Contribute to functional and safety requirements and support DFMEA-style failure analysis for safety-critical vehicle functions.

• Collaborate with customers’ engineers and manage customer relationships

We're looking for someone who has:

• Passion about tackling challenging control problems involving a wide array of vehicles in various environments

• Bachelors or Masters in mechanical engineering, computer science or related field with coursework or research experience in controls

• 2+ years of experience building production software using modern software practices

• Hands-on experience testing controls solutions on real, production-grade vehicles

• Fluency in differential equations, numerical optimization, numerical analysis, and physics

• Enthusiasm for coming up with practical solutions to cutting-edge challenges in a fast-paced environment, and building towards an end-to-end strategy

Nice to have:

• Experience writing safety-critical, high-performance software using modern C++

• Experience in quadratic programming and nonlinear optimization to create robust and performant controllers

• Experience applying machine learning techniques to vehicle dynamics modeling

Compensation at Applied Intuition for eligible roles includes base salary, equity, and benefits. Base salary is a single component of the total compensation package, which may also include equity in the form of options and/or restricted stock units, comprehensive health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance coverage, 401k retirement benefits with employer match, learning and wellness stipends, and paid time off. Note that benefits are subject to change and may vary based on jurisdiction of employment.

Applied Intuition pay ranges reflect the minimum and maximum intended target base salary for new hire salaries for the position. The actual base salary offered to a successful candidate will additionally be influenced by a variety of factors including experience, credentials & certifications, educational attainment, skill level requirements, interview performance, and the level and scope of the position.

Don’t meet every single requirement? If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Applied Intuition is an equal opportunity employer and federal contractor or subcontractor. Consequently, the parties agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-1.4(a), 41 CFR 60-300.5(a) and 41 CFR 60-741.5(a) and that these laws are incorporated herein by reference. These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities, and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin. These regulations require that covered prime contractors and subcontractors take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status or disability. The parties also agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of Executive Order 13496 (29 CFR Part 471, Appendix A to Subpart A), relating to the notice of employee rights under federal labor laws.