Senior Software Engineer, Localization

Kodiak Robotics, Inc. was founded in 2018 and has become a leader in autonomous ground transportation committed to a safer and more efficient future for all. The company has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) powered technology stack purpose-built for commercial trucking and the public sector. The company delivers freight daily for its customers across the southern United States using its autonomous technology.

In 2024, Kodiak became the first known company to publicly announce delivering a driverless semi-truck to a customer. Kodiak is also leveraging its commercial self-driving software to develop, test and deploy autonomous capabilities for the U.S. Department of Defense.

We are looking for a Localization Engineer — a problem solver with solid expertise in state estimation, inertial navigation, and sensed odometry.

• Develop and integrate onboard navigation and pose estimation algorithms.
• Optimize sensor fusion and pose estimation using IMU, camera, and lidar sensors.
• Develop visual and lidar odometry algorithms.
• Develop navigation metrics for evaluating offboard and onboard performance of algorithms and systems in the autonomous trucking domain.
• Troubleshoot, problem solve, innovate, create, and collaborate.
• Evaluate sensor performance and optimize sensor selection.
• Verify correct sensor calibrations, settings, and uncertainty characterizations.

• Strong technical background. BS, MS or PhD with academic or industry experience in building navigation, localization, and odometry systems.
• Skilled in C++ and strong problem-solving skills.
• Strong software engineering skills and experience building high-reliability deployed applications. You write well-designed, highly maintainable code. Code is your craft.
• Experience with transforming raw sensor data from GNSS, IMU, wheel speed, etc into 6-DOF pose using common approaches like Kalman Filtering or factor graphs.
• Experience with computer vision, visual odometry, and/or odometry from point clouds.
• Solid understanding of metrics, data analysis, and scientific evaluation.
• A team player. You take ownership and work with the team to deliver exceptional results. You are interested in the performance of the entire system across engineering disciplines.
• Ability to build and iterate quickly. You enjoy working fast and smart, and you are comfortable in defining and building lasting infrastructure components from scratch.
• Hands on. Curious. Flexible. Interested in new domains to expand your horizons and provide a complete system-wide solution.
• Great communicator. You have experience writing clear, concise design documentation to gather feedback from across the team to find the best solution.

• Competitive compensation package including equity and annual bonuses.
• Excellent Medical, Dental, and Vision plans through Kaiser Permanente, Cigna, and Met Life (including a medical plan with infertility benefits).
• Met Life Legal Services, Identity & Fraud Protection, Hospital Indemnity Insurance, Accident Insurance, & Critical Illness Insurance.
• Flexible PTO, 10 paid holidays, and generous parental leave policies.
• Our office is centrally located in Mountain View, CA.
• Office perks: dog-friendly, free catered lunch, a fully stocked kitchen, and free EV charging.
• Long Term Disability, Short Term Disability, Life Insurance.
• Wellbeing Benefits - Headspace through Cigna, Calm through Kaiser, One Medical, Gympass, Spring Health through Cigna, Rula (mental health navigation).
• Fidelity 401(k).
• Commuter, FSA, Dependent Care FSA, HSA.
• Various incentive programs (referral bonuses, patent bonuses, etc.).

The pay range listed below reflects the base salary in our SF/Silicon Valley location, across several internal levels. Actual starting pay will be based on job-related factors including: work location, experience, relevant training, education, skill level and performance during interview. Total compensation at Kodiak includes base pay, equity, bonus and a competitive benefits package.

$180,000 – $230,000 USD

At Kodiak, we strive to build a diverse community working towards our common company goals in a safe and collaborative…