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NVIDIA

Senior Deep Reinforcement Learning Engineer - Autonomous Driving

NVIDIA is hiring a Senior Deep Reinforcement Learning Engineer - Autonomous Driving in Santa Clara, United States. It pays $224k-$357k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on NVIDIA.

Level's read on this job

  • Builds AI ●●●● is how Level rates this role: the job is building AI systems.
  • Tools and skills the posting cites include PyTorch and TensorFlow.
  • Level classifies it as a senior role.
  • Level lists 2,700+ other open roles at NVIDIA.

AI in this role

pytorchtensorflow

NVIDIA has been transforming computer graphics, PC gaming, and accelerated computing for more than 25 years. It’s a unique legacy of innovation that’s fueled by great technology—and amazing people. Today, we’re tapping into the unlimited potential of AI to define the next era of computing. An era in which our GPU acts as the brains of computers, robots, and self-driving cars that can understand the world. Doing what’s never been done before takes vision, innovation, and the world’s best talent. As an NVIDIAN, you’ll be immersed in a diverse, supportive environment where everyone is inspired to do their best work. Come join the team and see how you can make a lasting impact on the world.

At NVIDIA, we are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible within self-driving vehicle technology by bringing to bear the power of Deep Reinforcement Learning (RL). As a world leader in AI and high-performance computing, NVIDIA provides an outstanding platform where innovative research meets real-world production. We are looking for a Reinforcement Learning Engineer to join our mission in building intelligent, safe, and efficient self-driving technology that will redefine transportation on a global scale.

What you'll be doing:

  • Build and implement brand new Reinforcement Learning (RL) algorithms for autonomous vehicle decision-making and planning.

  • Develop and maintain scalable training pipelines and simulation environments for RL training.

  • Collaborate with perception, and planning teams to integrate RL models into the unified autonomous driving stack.

  • Benchmark RL model performance against imitation learning baselines in complex urban environments.

  • Optimize and deploy RL models to production-grade automotive hardware.

What we need to see:

  • BS or higher in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent experience).

  • 12+ years of experieence in the related field.

  • Solid background in Reinforcement Learning, including policy gradient methods (PPO, GRPO), actor-critic architectures, on-policy and off-policy RL

  • Proficiency in PyTorch or TensorFlow and real experience with RL-related algorithm

  • Experience in C++ and Python development for real-time systems.

  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a track record of implementing and debugging complex RL systems.

Ways to stand out from the crowd:

  • Background in shipping autonomous driving features or embodied AI.

  • Experience with generative models (Flow Matching, Diffusion, or AR-based decoders) in the context of policy representation or trajectory modeling.

  • Experience with training policies on their own rollout distributions and handling the compounding error problems inherent in autonomous driving.

  • Experience working with large-scale data flywheels, including mining scenarios from fleet telemetry logs, auto-labeling pipelines, and automated performance tracking.

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 224,000 USD – 356,500 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

Senior Deep Reinforcement Learning Engineer - Autonomous Driving at NVIDIA rates 91 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Builds AI (AI Level 4 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.

Classification

Builds AI. The job is building AI systems.

  1. ●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
  2. ●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
  3. ●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
  4. ●○○○ 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.

Prepare for this job

Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.

Skills and AI tools this role asks for

PyTorchTensorFlow

Questions you could be asked

  1. What's a project where you used PyTorch hands-on?
  2. Walk me through how you've used TensorFlow in your day-to-day work.
  3. How would you decide a model or AI system is ready to ship?
  4. Tell me about a time a model underperformed in production. How did you find out, and what did you change?

Adapt your resume

  • List these exact terms on your resume: PyTorch and TensorFlow. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
  • Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.
  • Lead with what you built, trained or shipped. This role is judged on the AI system itself, not the tools around it.

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