Senior Software Engineer

Mountain View, California • Software Autonomy Data

Aurora (Nasdaq: AUR) is delivering the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly to make transportation safer, increasingly accessible, and more reliable and efficient than ever before. The Aurora Driver is a self-driving system designed to operate multiple vehicle types, from freight-hauling semi-trucks to ride-hailing passenger vehicles, and underpins Aurora Horizon and Aurora Connect, its driver-as-a-service products for trucking and ride-hailing. Aurora is working with industry leaders across the transportation ecosystem, including Toyota, FedEx, Volvo Trucks, PACCAR, Uber, Uber Freight, U.S. Xpress, Werner, Covenant, Schneider, and Ryder.

Aurora hires talented people with diverse backgrounds who are ready to help build a transportation ecosystem that will make our roads safer, get crucial goods where they need to go, and make mobility more efficient and accessible for all. We’re searching for a Senior Software Engineer - Core-Simulator: Simulation Vehicles .

The team is responsible for the primary simulation engine and offline testing framework. They build models for subsystems of the autonomy stack, models for the physical world, and tooling to generate complex scenarios. They build the technology for producing realistic virtual interactions at scale, modeling the physics and behaviors of agents in the world, and gaining and presenting insights about our rich simulation data. The team's goal is to enable rapid development and validation of the autonomy stack through comprehensive offline analysis.

In this role, you will

• Write high-quality, highly testable code in a fast-paced Agile (SCRUM) environment using Modern C++ (C++17) and Python.
• Contribute to the development of a scalable and robust vehicle simulation framework and associated tooling.
• Support the development of vehicle simulation fidelity metrics, visualization, and analysis tools. Some prior experience with web backend / front-end technologies is helpful.
• Contribute to data collection tooling and frameworks and the analysis of vehicle track data.
• Evaluate the interaction between perception, planning, control, and vehicle subsystems.
• Support the overall V&V of Aurora Vehicle platforms in simulation.
• Engage with numerous teams across the org and external partners.
• Contribute to engineering best practices in a large and complex code base.
• Example projects that a candidate may contribute to include:
• Improve computational performance of the vehicle simulation framework
• Improve code-coverage and suggest architectural improvements that support a loosely-coupled, highly cohesive design
• Develop data collection and data pre-processing tools that enable rapid analysis and improvement of vehicle simulation fidelity
• Investigate and troubleshoot discrepancies that are found between on-road and simulation data
• Contribute to modeling real world errors in, and testing closed-loop interactions between, planning, localization, mapping, and control subsystems in simulation.

Required Qualifications

• Strong software development skills using modern C++ (11, 14, 17, 20)
• Good development skills in Python
• Experience writing high-quality, highly testable code in a fast-paced Agile (SCRUM) environment
• Experience using code coverage tools
• Understanding of common software performance issues and design tradeoffs
• Domain experience in simulation, vehicle modeling, controls, motion planning, or other areas of robotics
• BS or higher degree in robotics, computer science, software development, mathematics, or similar technical field of study, or equivalent practical experience
• 5+ years of industry experience designing and programming C++ software
• 5+ years of experience in autonomous vehicles, simulation, robotics, motion planning, localization, controls, computer vision or machine learning

Desirable Qualifications

• Test-Driven and Behavior Driven Development
• Experience with rigid body simulation
• Experience with automotive dynamics
• 5-10+ years of industry experience designing and programming C++ software
• Excellent communication and people engagement skills
• Experience with classical machine learning (ML) algorithms
• Knowledge of linear algebra, computational geometry, or numerical methods
• Experience with Lie groups (modern geometry)
• Experience at an autonomous vehicle company
• Experience writing localization or runtime mapping (i.e. simultaneous localization and mapping, SLAM) software

The base salary range for this position is $168,000-$252,000 per year. Aurora’s pay ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, the successful candidate’s starting base pay will be determined based on factors including job-related skills, experience, qualifications, relevant education or training, and market conditions. These ranges may be modified in the future. The successful candidate will also be eligible for an annual bonus, equity compensation, and benefits.

Working at Aurora

At Aurora, we bring together extraordinarily talented and experienced people united by the strength of our values. We operate with integrity, set outrageous goals, and build a culture where we win together — all without any jerks. We have offices in several locations across the United States, where we encourage team and cross-functional collaboration. Aurora offers competitive medical, dental, and vision benefits, and additional healthcare support including medical transportation reimbursement, fertility, adoption, and surrogacy benefits. We empower our employees and their families with options to further their unique physical, mental, and financial well-being.

Safety is central to everything we do. Every employee at Aurora has a role in contributing to safety, every step of the way. We seek candidates who take active responsibility, can contribute to building an atmosphere of trust, and invest in the organization's long-term success by working safely — no matter what.

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Aurora considers candidates without regard to their race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy status, parent or caregiver status, ancestry, political affiliation, veteran and/or military status, physical or mental disability, or any other status protected by federal or state law. Aurora considers qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law. We are also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at

At Aurora, every employee is empowered to take an active role in building an inclusive, collaborative, and unified culture that leverages our diverse strengths, perspectives, and backgrounds.