Software Engineer, Perception

Who We Are

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. For Aurora’s latest news, visit aurora.tech and @aurora_inno on Twitter.

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 Machine Learning / Computer Vision Software Engineer for our Perception Team.

In this role, you will

1. Collaborate with other members of the Perception autonomy team to improve/ideate and implement perception algorithms that power the Aurora Driver.
2. Serve as a technical expert for the team on at least one area related to machine learning, with particular focus on computer vision, recursive state estimation, structured prediction, optimization, and others.
3. Research and develop state-of-the-art deep learning/machine learning models to improve our perception solutions under challenging and diverse scenarios (e.g., on highways and city streets, long-range and multi-sensor object detection, detection under degraded sensors, etc.).
4. Design, prototype and evaluate machine learning algorithms and DNN architectures for detection of traffic actors, their action recognition, and semantic understanding of various traffic scenes that the Aurora Driver encounters.
5. Drive performance improvements & own validation for a perception capability (e.g., Vehicle tracking, Traffic Lights, etc.).
6. Integrate, test, and deploy production-ready solutions into the production code that powers the Aurora Driver.

Required Qualifications

1. Excellent software engineering skills in C++ and Python.
2. Extensive experience in any deep learning framework, such as PyTorch, JAX, TensorFlow.
3. 6+ years of industry experience in Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, or other relevant areas of Artificial Intelligence (e.g., as evidenced by industry experience, publication record).
4. Relevant industry experience (prior work on self-driving vehicles, autonomy, and/or other robotics related projects).

Desirable Qualifications (this Section Is Optional)

1. Contributions to open source project(s).
2. Strong track record in any field related to machine learning, as evidenced by top-tier publications.
3. Examples of relevant fields and conferences: computer vision (e.g., CVPR, ECCV, ICCV, IJCV), machine learning (e.g., ICML, NeurIPS, JMLR, PAMI), robotics (e.g., RSS, IJRR), graphics (e.g., SIGGRAPH, TOG).

The base salary range for this position is $168K-$252K 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.

Our Learning and Development offerings include Aurora Academy, where our people learn, develop, and practice the essential skills that drive Aurora’s mission, continually up-leveling our team along the way. Our Careers page provides insight into career opportunities at Aurora, and you can find all the latest news on our Blog.

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.

Aurora is committed to providing access to anyone who seeks information from our website. We invite anyone using assistive technologies, such as a screen reader or Braille reader, to email us at if they experience difficulty using our website. Please describe the accessibility problem and include a URL (if available).

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

For California applicants, information collected and processed as part of your application and any job applications you choose to submit is subject to Aurora’s California Employment Privacy Policy.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

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.

We are committed to helping qualified military community members leverage their talents in service of our mission. To understand how your military experience aligns with career opportunities at Aurora, review your military job classification at MyNextMove.org and consider applying for open positions corresponding to your identified skills and experiences!