Senior Software Engineer
Los Altos, CA
Automated Driving Advanced Development – Automated Driving Advanced Development /
Full-time /
Hybrid
At Toyota Research Institute (TRI), we’re on a mission to improve the quality of human life. We’re developing new tools and capabilities to amplify the human experience. To lead this transformative shift in mobility, we’ve built a world-class team in Automated Driving, Energy & Materials, Human-Centered AI, Human Interactive Driving, Large Behavioral Models, and Robotics.
The Automated Driving Advanced Development division at TRI will focus on enabling innovation and transformation at Toyota by building a bridge between TRI research and Toyota products, services, and needs. We achieve this through partnership, collaboration, and shared commitment. This new division is leading a new cross-organizational project between TRI and Woven by Toyota to conduct research and develop a fully end-to-end learned driving stack. This cross-org collaborative project is harmonious with TRI’s robotics divisions' efforts in Diffusion Policy and Large Behavior Models.
We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer to join our end-to-end automated driving team, supporting the integration, prototyping, and deployment of advanced autonomy systems on vehicle platforms. As a software generalist with deep systems knowledge, you will work across the autonomy software stack to accelerate feature development, streamline system-level integration, and help validate both closed-course and public road deployments.
The ideal candidate has strong modern C++ (C++14/17/20) and Python programming experience, a robust understanding of robotics or embedded software systems, and thrives in collaborative, high-velocity engineering environments. This role bridges research and real-world deployment, focusing on engineering support for platform integration, evaluation tooling, system bring-up, and diagnostics. You'll partner closely with end-to-end machine learning, simulation and infrastructure teams to ensure that the full stack runs robustly on real vehicles in closed-course, public road and simulation testing.
This work is part of Toyota’s global AI efforts and will be conducted in close collaboration with teams across TRI, Woven by Toyota, and other engineering partners.
Responsibilities
- Design, implement, and maintain robust software in C++ and Python, enabling seamless integration of autonomy stack components across simulation and real-world vehicle platforms.
- Collaborate with researchers and engineers to debug, validate, and bring up autonomy features in closed-course and public road driving environments.
- Build diagnostics, monitoring, logging, and introspection tools that provide insight into real-time end-to-end machine learning model behavior and help accelerate iteration.
- Contribute to scenario test harnesses, CI pipelines, and integration frameworks, helping scale automated testing and analysis.
- Own platform-specific adaptations for simulation and vehicle deployment, including launch configuration, sensor interface wrapping, and runtime parameterization.
- Partner with cross-functional teams to support software deployment and versioning, ensuring consistent behavior across environments.
- Apply meticulous engineering best practices, including code review, documentation, and testing, to deliver robust and maintainable systems.
Qualifications
- Bachelor or master degree in Computer Science, Robotics, or a related field.
- 10+ years of relevant software development experience, ideally in robotics, automotive, embedded systems, or distributed platforms.
- Strong proficiency in modern C++ (C++14/17/20) and Python.
- Familiarity with Linux systems programming (e.g., sockets, filesystems, threading) and real-time systems.
- Experience integrating and debugging complex software systems, ideally in robotic or automated driving platforms.
- Proven track record to work hands-on and cross-functionally to tackle real-world deployment issues.
- Comfortable working with interfaces such as CAN, Ethernet, or middleware frameworks.
Bonus Qualifications
- Experience in automated driving, robotics, or simulation-based system testing.
- Hands-on experience with embedded systems development, including work on platforms such as NVIDIA Jetson Orin, Qualcomm Snapdragon Ride, or similar automotive-grade SoCs.
- Familiarity with container orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes), or orchestration tools for testing and deployment.
- Experience working with distributed compute systems, large-scale data logging, or introspection frameworks.
- Understanding of automotive software practices and standards (e.g., ISO 26262, safety-critical development).
- Prior experience in fast-paced R&D environments bridging research and production.
Please include links to any relevant open-source contributions or technical project write-ups with your application.
The pay range for this position at commencement of employment is expected to be between $180,000 and $270,000/year for California-based roles; however, base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Note that TRI offers a generous benefits package (including 401(k) eligibility and various paid time off benefits, such as vacation, sick time, and parental leave) and an annual cash bonus structure. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.
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