Senior Systems Engineer, Fail Operational Capabilities (Automotive)

TL;DR

Senior Systems Engineer, Fail Operational Capabilities (Automotive): Developing fail-operational capabilities for an autonomous mobility service with an accent on safety, reliability, systems integration, and operational efficiency. Focus on designing complex hardware/software behaviors, decomposing requirements, planning verification across the full V cycle, and resolving cross-functional system issues.

Location: Foster City, California; hybrid work required

Salary: $196,000–$236,000 per year in base salary, plus potential bonuses, RSUs, and stock appreciation rights.

Company

Zoox develops autonomous mobility services and integrated vehicle, autonomy, and operations capabilities.

What you will do

• Lead the design of fail-operational behaviors while balancing safety, reliability, and operational efficiency.
• Partner with functional safety specialists to identify product risks and quantify fail-operational performance.
• Own feature design and implementation across Hardware, Software, Operations, IT, Safety, Manufacturing, and Validation throughout the full V cycle.
• Create verifiable requirements, context diagrams, requirement decompositions, and model-based system designs.
• Develop systems engineering documentation and multi-quarter capability and verification plans.
• Lead cross-functional triage of bugs and reported system issues.

Requirements

• At least 8 years of engineering experience and a Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or Physics.
• Experience designing complex systems that integrate multiple hardware and software components.
• Strong understanding of complete hardware and software development lifecycles.
• Ability to produce high-quality technical documentation, including context diagrams, requirement decompositions, and presentations.
• Demonstrated leadership, organization, and communication skills.

Nice to have

• Experience designing fail-operational or safety-critical systems.
• Knowledge of software development and architecture principles.
• Experience with requirements management tools such as Polarion, DOORS, or JAMA.
• Experience with MBSE tools such as Cameo, MagicDraw, or CATIA Magic.

Culture & Benefits

• Hybrid work environment in Foster City, California.
• Paid time off, including sick leave, vacation, and bereavement leave.
• Health, long-term care, disability, and life insurance.
• Additional compensation may include a sign-on bonus, Amazon RSUs, and stock appreciation rights.
• Artificial intelligence tools may support parts of the hiring process, while final decisions remain human-led.