Director, Autonomous Vehicles Platform

NVIDIA is hiring a Director, Autonomous Vehicles Platform in Santa Clara, United States. It pays $320k-$489k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on NVIDIA.

Level's read on this job

On Level's scale, this role is Little AI ●○○○: aI is not part of the work.
Level classifies it as an executive role.
Level lists 2,700+ other open roles at NVIDIA.

AI in this role

The era of AI is here — and it's transforming how machines learn, reason, and interact with the world. Today, AI-powered autonomous vehicles can navigate rural roads at night, understand dynamic environments, and make real-time driving decisions.

In this role, you will work closely with key OEM partners to lead end-to-end platform integration and adapt our technology to OEM solutions.

You will also lead the architecture and development of vehicle and sensor abstraction layers that bridge our autonomous driving software with the physical world — from low-level sensor inputs and actuator commands to scalable integration with real-world hardware.

As a key contributor to enabling real-time autonomy at scale, you will help shape the future of robotics and self-driving technology.

What you will be doing:

Collaborate with key OEM partners to lead full platform integration and adapt our technology to OEM solutions.
Lead the Vehicle Adaptation Layer (VAL) and Sensor Adaptation Layer (SAL) teams, designing and developing software abstractions and plug-in frameworks that interface with vehicle and sensor systems while delivering exceptional customer outcomes.
Build efficient, user-friendly mechanisms to improve software integration across a wide range of vehicles and sensor configurations.
Enhance existing frameworks and software components, validating improvements through extensive real-world and synthetic testing to enhance computational performance and system utilization.
Conduct in-vehicle tests, collect and analyze sensor and vehicle data, and support the completion of autonomous drive missions.
Develop unit tests and documentation for key features, evaluate software quality, and propose corrective actions in alignment with industry best practices.
Write highly efficient, production-quality C++ code, demonstrating parallel computing capabilities through GPGPU (CUDA) to accelerate processing workloads.
Follow industry safety and quality standards, including MISRA and other automotive-grade software development practices.

What we need to see:

MS or PhD in Computer Engineering, Computer Science or related Engineering fields (or equivalent experience).
15+ overall years of relevant industry experience and 8+ years of managing a team.
Excellent C and C++ programming skills.
Experience developing and debugging multithreaded/distributed applications like multimedia systems, game engines, etc.
Strong knowledge of programming and debugging techniques, especially for parallel and distributed architectures.
Strong knowledge on Linux, Android, and/or other real-time operating systems.
Experience with frameworks for robotics such as ROS and/or for multimedia such as GStreamer.
Passion for writing low-latency, high-performance software.
Excellent communication and analytical skills.
Self-motivated and a strong team-oriented mindset

Ways to stand out from the crowd:

Understanding of embedded and heterogeneous architectures, including GPUs.
Knowledge of automotive systems, including ADAS applications, AUTOSAR and drive-by-wire systems.
Be hands-on and work well within a team of algorithm, software and hardware engineers, with a significant level of detail orientation and a penchant for data organization and presentation
Experience developing software using modern OpenGL (Core Profile) on Linux.
Experience with version control systems GIT and build system like CMake/Bazel.

NVIDIA is widely considered to be one of the technology world’s most desirable employers with some of the most forward-thinking and dedicated people in the world working here. If you want to help make autonomous vehicles and robotics progress in challenging contexts, we want to hear from you!

Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and other objective job-related factors. The expected base salary range for this position is 320,000 USD – 488,750 USD.

You will also be eligible for equity and benefits.

Applications for this job will be accepted at least until November 3, 2026.

This posting is for an existing vacancy.

NVIDIA uses AI tools in its recruiting processes.

NVIDIA is committed to fostering an inclusive work environment and proud to be an equal opportunity employer. As we highly value diversity in our current and future employees, we do not discriminate (including in our hiring and promotion practices) on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status or any other characteristic protected by law.

How we rate this

Director, Autonomous Vehicles Platform at NVIDIA rates 15 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Little AI (AI Level 1 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.

Classification

Little AI. AI is not part of the work.

●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
●○○○ Little AI0 to 39

Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.