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Senior Software Engineer Trajectory Optimization

Overland AI


Job Location:

Seattle, OR - USA

Yearly Salary: USD 160000 - 190000
Posted: 28 August 2026 (30+ days ago)
Application Deadline: 5 February 2027
Vacancies: 1 Vacancy

Department:

Software Engineering

Job Summary

Role Summary

We are seeking a Senior Software Engineer Trajectory Optimization to design and implement local planning and trajectory optimization for unmanned ground vehicles in complex off-road and on-road terrain. These systems must perform at high speed in punishing conditions. You will need to balance fidelity and optimality against computational efficiency and robustness and be able to show the result behaves as intended.

The ideal candidate has deep experience with model predictive control and sampling- or gradient-based trajectory optimization a solid foundation in system identification and a strong intuition for how vehicles behave when tires meet dirt.

What Youll Do
  • Design and implement local trajectory optimization (e.g. MPC MPPI) for autonomous ground vehicles across a range of platforms.
  • Build and calibrate vehicle and vehicleterrain models through system identification. Know when a model is good enough and when it isnt.
  • Apply verification approaches (formal methods reachability constraint satisfaction test design) to give evidence that the optimizer respects safety constraints.
  • Make optimizers run in real time on edge compute including CPU vs. GPU tradeoffs.
  • Use our large corpus of off-road driving data for regression and progression testing.
  • Work closely with Planning Perception and Controls in a shared codebase. Integrate and adapt quickly to new vehicles and sensor suites.
  • Take part in field tests demonstrations and evaluation events and own your work through deployment.
Minimum Qualifications
  • BS or MS in CS Robotics Mechanical/Aerospace/Electrical Engineering or a related field
  • 7 years of relevant experience.
  • Hands-on experience with MPC or trajectory optimization on real systems.
  • Production-quality software in C and/or Python.
  • Willingness to support periodic field testing.
Desired Experience & Qualifications
  • PhD in a relevant field.
  • Experience with system identification and vehicle dynamics especially off-road or on low-traction surfaces.
  • Experience with safety-critical systems formal verification or certification.
  • GPU programming experience (CUDA or similar) and an understanding of CPU vs. GPU paradigms.
  • Autonomous robotic systems experience (UAV UUV AV).

Location:

This location for this position will be onsite in Seattle WA

Compensation & Benefits:

Pay range:

Software Engineer: $160000 - $190000 annually

Senior Software Engineer: $200000 - $230000 annually

Actual level and base salary will bedeterminedon a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills education and experience.

Overland AI believes in creating a work environment that you look forward to embracing every day.

Benefits Include:

  • Equity compensation
  • Best-in-class healthcare dental and vision plans
  • Flexible PTO
  • 401(k) with company match
  • Paid parental leave
  • Monthly wellness stipend
  • One-time workplace & productivity reimbursement

Overland AI is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race color religion creed sex sexual orientation gender identity or expression national origin age marital status disability genetic information protected veteran or military status or any other status protected by applicable law.

This position may involve access to export-controlled technology. Employment is contingent on the ability to comply with U.S. export control laws.

Overland AI provides reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans during the application process. Please contact to request an accommodation.


Required Experience:

Senior IC


About Company

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About Overland AI Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Overland AI is transforming land operations for modern defense. The company leverages over a decade of advanced research in robotics and machine learning, as well as a field-test forward ethos, to deliver comb ... View more

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