Staff Software Engineer, Motion Planning (Robotics)

TL;DR

Staff Software Engineer (Robotics): Designing and implementing production-grade mission, behavior, and motion planning systems for autonomous ground support equipment in airport environments with an accent on trajectory optimization and real-time constraint optimization. Focus on building the technical backbone of the planning stack and solving complex decision-making problems under uncertainty.

Location: Remote (USA, Canada, Europe) or Hybrid in specific cities (Amsterdam, Atlanta, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Poland, Stockholm, Toronto, Vancouver, UK)

Company

hirify.global is a Series A startup transforming airport ground handling through autonomous vehicle technology and a robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) business model.

What you will do

• Design, implement, and iterate on mission, behavior, and motion planners for autonomous ground support equipment in airport airside environments.
• Drive key technical decisions across the planning stack, including algorithm selection, interface definition, and architecture.
• Prototype and productionize new planning approaches such as optimization-based methods, search-based planners, or learning-augmented pipelines.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with perception, controls, localization, and systems engineering teams.
• Establish and promote best practices in software development and functional safety as they apply to the planning domain.
• Mentor other engineers through technical guidance, code reviews, and design discussions.

Requirements

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Math, Physics, or a related engineering field.
• Extensive hands-on experience implementing planning modules for autonomous systems shipped to production or deployed in real-world operations.
• Strong programming skills in C++ or Python and experience with Linux-based operating systems.
• Demonstrated ability to independently drive ambiguous technical problems to well-architected solutions.
• Excellent communication skills, proactiveness, and a strong sense of ownership.

Nice to have

• MS or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Robotics, or a related field.
• Mastery of Modern C++ (14+) and safety-critical coding practices (e.g., MISRA, ISO 26262).
• 5+ years of industry experience in planning for robotic ground vehicles.
• In-depth understanding of DDS frameworks like ROS/ROS2 or other networking middleware.
• Experience in startup environments.