Principal Engineer (Autonomy)

TL;DR

Principal Engineer (Autonomy): Leading the technical direction and hands-on development of perception, prediction, and planning stacks for autonomous ground support equipment with an accent on system-level architecture and real-world deployment. Focus on solving complex autonomy challenges, ensuring safety-critical reliability, and scaling production systems in unstructured airport environments.

Location: Hybrid in South San Francisco; Remote in New York City, Seattle, and Toronto.

Compensation: $350,000 – $500,000 + Equity

Company

hirify.global is a Series A startup transforming airport ground handling operations through autonomous driving technology.

What you will do

• Own the design and evolution of the perception, prediction, and planning stacks.
• Set technical direction for deep learning applications and model integration.
• Drive cross-stack coherence by partnering with senior engineering leadership.
• Architect functional and software systems for on-vehicle autonomy.
• Convert complex ambiguity into actionable plans and production-ready code.

Requirements

• 15+ years of hands-on experience building production autonomy systems.
• Proven track record of shipping autonomy components on real vehicles at scale.
• Deep technical expertise in perception, prediction, or planning modules.
• Strong software engineering fundamentals in C++ and Python.
• Fluency in modern deep learning for autonomy and lifecycle management.
• Experience with ROS/ROS 2 and distributed systems in safety-relevant environments.

Nice to have

• Experience with safety-critical standards like ISO 26262 or aerospace equivalents.
• Background in operating within mixed-traffic or unstructured environments.
• Familiarity with simulation-driven verification and CI/CD pipelines for autonomy.

Culture & Benefits

• Opportunity to work on a concrete path to removing safety drivers in commercial operations.
• High-impact role as the senior-most individual contributor in the autonomy organization.
• Work in a viable, real-world Operational Design Domain (ODD) at major airports.
• Equity participation in a venture-backed aviation technology company.