Senior Software Engineer - Autonomy Core Frameworks (Autonomous Vehicles)

Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

Salary: $160,800–$193,000 USD annually, plus potential bonus, stock options, sign-on payments, and relocation compensation.

Company

Develops software for automated trucks and autonomous driving systems as part of the Daimler family.

What you will do

• Lead the architecture, design, implementation, and evolution of core frameworks for the autonomous driving stack.
• Develop real-time C++ components for system-wide data flow, state management, inter-component communication, coordination, error handling, and observability.
• Establish scalable abstractions, architectural patterns, and engineering standards across the platform.
• Collaborate with Behavior and Perception teams to maintain clean integration boundaries and coherent shared abstractions.
• Lead architecture, design, and code reviews; mentor engineers and guide technical decisions.
• Define simulation, validation, testing, and production-readiness practices while investigating complex platform-level issues.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, or a related discipline with 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, or a master’s degree with 6+ years of experience.
• Deep experience with C++17 and recent C++ standards, plus practical Python scripting.
• Experience with autonomous systems, robotics, distributed systems, or complex embedded environments using middleware and publish-subscribe communication patterns.
• Strong knowledge of systems-level software design, modular architecture, concurrency, refactoring, technical debt management, testing, continuous integration, and build systems.
• Experience providing technical leadership through architecture reviews, code reviews, mentoring, and engineering standards.
• Strong software engineering fundamentals and experience evolving production platforms while maintaining stability and performance.

Nice to have

• Experience with robotics middleware such as ROS 2, distributed systems design, consensus algorithms, state synchronization, event-driven architectures, or deterministic replay.
• Familiarity with ISO 26262, SOTIF, ASPICE, or other safety-critical software standards.
• Experience with GitHub Actions, Jenkins, Bazel, observability systems, simulation-based regression testing, or large-scale data schema versioning.

Culture & Benefits

• Collaborative, energetic, and team-focused work environment.
• 100% paid medical, dental, and vision premiums for full-time employees.
• 401(k) plan with a 6% employer match.
• Flexible schedule and generous paid vacation available immediately after the start date.
• AD&D and life insurance, plus bonus and stock option opportunities.