Senior / Staff Lidar Engineer (Automotive)

TL;DR

Senior / Staff Lidar Engineer (Automotive): Evaluating, validating, and scaling LiDAR systems for a fully autonomous vehicle fleet with an accent on sensor selection, performance requirements, and large-scale testing. Focus on analyzing complex LiDAR datasets, solving fleet-level issues through root-cause analysis, and validating opto-mechanical and opto-electrical systems.

Location: Foster City, California, United States; hybrid workplace

Salary: $217,000–$300,000 per year base salary, plus eligible equity and potential sign-on bonus.

Company

Zoox develops fully autonomous vehicles and a mobility-as-a-service ecosystem for urban environments at the intersection of artificial intelligence, robotics, and design.

What you will do

• Evaluate and compare automotive LiDAR technologies to support hardware down-selection decisions.
• Develop traceable test plans, execute functional and qualification testing, and report results against system requirements.
• Generate, analyze, and interpret large LiDAR datasets across diverse scenarios and operating conditions.
• Lead root-cause analysis, corrective actions, and validation for fleet issues with internal and external stakeholders.
• Support LiDAR integration, maintenance, and operation at scale across an autonomous vehicle fleet.
• Define and enforce traceable, testable LiDAR requirements throughout the design phase.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s, master’s, or PhD in physics, electrical engineering, optics, or a related field.
• Minimum 7 years of experience working with LiDAR systems.
• Strong knowledge of LiDAR physics and automotive LiDAR architectures and technologies.
• Experience writing high-quality, traceable performance requirements for LiDAR components.
• Experience with functional testing, reliability testing, and qualification of opto-mechanical or opto-electrical systems.
• Experience with laser, detector, and imaging technologies, plus strong technical documentation and communication skills.

Nice to have

• Experience integrating sensors with vehicle platforms.
• Experience with Unix/Linux, C++, Python, Git/GitHub, or MATLAB.

Culture & Benefits

• Fast-moving, execution-oriented environment focused on autonomous mobility.
• Hybrid work in Foster City, California.
• Paid time off, including sick leave, vacation, and bereavement leave.
• Health, long-term care, disability, and life insurance.
• Amazon RSUs, Zoox Stock Appreciation Rights, and potential sign-on bonus.