Software Engineer - Autonomy
Applied Intuition is hiring a Software Engineer - Autonomy in Tokyo, Japan. Level rates it ; you can apply on Applied Intuition.
Level's read on this job
- Level rates this software engineer role Builds AI ●●●●: the job is building AI systems.
- The posting mentions c, real time systems and sensor fusion among its tools and skills.
- Level classes it as a mid-level role.
- Applied Intuition has 327 other open roles on Level.
AI in this role
Software Engineer developing real-time onboard software modules for autonomous highway trucks.
Applied Intuition, Inc. is powering the future of physical AI. Founded in 2017 and now valued at $15 billion, the Silicon Valley company is creating the digital infrastructure needed to bring intelligence to every moving machine on the planet. Applied Intuition services the automotive, defense, trucking, construction, mining and agriculture industries in three core areas: tools and infrastructure, operating systems, and autonomy. Eighteen of the top 20 global automakers, as well as the United States military and its allies, trust the company’s solutions to deliver physical intelligence. Applied Intuition is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in Washington, D.C.; San Diego; Ft. Walton Beach, Florida; Ann Arbor, Michigan; London; Stuttgart; Munich; Stockholm; Bangalore; Seoul; and Tokyo. Learn more at applied.co.
We are an in-office company, and our expectation is that full-time employees primarily work from their Applied Intuition office 5 days a week. However, we also recognize the importance of flexibility and trust our employees to manage their schedules responsibly. This may include occasional remote work, starting the day with morning meetings from home before heading to the office, or leaving earlier when needed to accommodate family commitments. This in-office expectation does not apply to contractor positions
About the role
As a Software Engineer on the Autonomy team, you will be at the heart of our autonomy stack. We are building the software stack that drives multi-ton trucks autonomously on highways. As an Onboard Software Engineer, you will own the real-time systems that run directly on the vehicle compute platform - from sensor data ingestion and perception pipelines to motion planning execution and safety arbitration. Your code ships on trucks, not just in simulation.
This is a deeply cross-functional role. You will collaborate daily with autonomy domain experts, hardware engineers, safety leads, and validation teams to turn algorithms into production-grade software that operates safely and reliably at highway speeds.
At Applied Intuition, you will:
Design, implement, and optimize real-time onboard software modules including perception, sensor fusion, path planning execution, vehicle control, and safety monitoring.
Maintain and improve the middleware layer connecting sensor hardware (lidar, radar, cameras, GPS/IMU) to autonomy algorithm consumers.
Own latency and throughput performance across the onboard compute stack, profiling and tuning for deterministic behavior under resource constraints.
Implement ASIL-relevant architecture patterns including fault detection, isolation, and recovery mechanisms.
Build diagnostics, logging, and observability tooling to support post-drive analysis and rapid root-cause investigations.
Write thorough unit, integration, and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) tests; contribute to CI/CD pipelines for onboard compute targets.
Collaborate with the autonomy team to productionize research algorithms, translating prototype SW into efficient C++ deployments.
We’re looking for someone who has:
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, or a related field.
5+ years of professional experience in software development.
Exceptional proficiency in C++ and experience with modern C++ standards.
Experience working in a Linux environment.
Knowledge of data serialization formats (e.g., Protobuf, JSON).
Nice to have:
Experience with robotics middleware like ROS or DDS.
Background in AV perception, prediction, or planning systems.
Familiarity with vehicle data buses (e.g., CAN, Ethernet).
Experience with multi-threaded and concurrent programming.
Experience in a startup or fast-paced environment.
Don’t meet every single requirement? If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.
Applied Intuition is an equal opportunity employer and federal contractor or subcontractor. Consequently, the parties agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-1.4(a), 41 CFR 60-300.5(a) and 41 CFR 60-741.5(a) and that these laws are incorporated herein by reference. These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities, and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin. These regulations require that covered prime contractors and subcontractors take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status or disability. The parties also agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of Executive Order 13496 (29 CFR Part 471, Appendix A to Subpart A), relating to the notice of employee rights under federal labor laws.
FOR US-BASED ROLES: Applied Intuition is committed to providing an accessible and inclusive application and interview experience to applicants who are disabled veterans and other applicants with disabilities or medical conditions. Reasonable accommodations are available, requesting an accommodation will not affect your candidacy in any way, and you are not required to disclose the nature of your disability or medical condition in order to make a request.
If you require an accommodation please contact careers@applied.co. We will work with you!
How we rate this
Software Engineer - Autonomy at Applied Intuition rates 85 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.
Builds AI. The job is building AI systems.
- ●●●● 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.
Prepare for this job
Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.
Skills and AI tools this role asks for
Also common in software engineer jobs at this level
Pay
- Typical software engineer job
- $168k
This posting doesn't list pay. Use the typical software engineer figure when pay comes up. See software engineer jobs
Questions you could be asked
- Tell me about a project where c was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where real time systems was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where sensor fusion was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where autonomous vehicles was part of your work. What did you do?
- How would you decide a model or AI system is ready to ship?
Adapt your resume
- List these exact terms on your resume: C, Real Time Systems, Sensor Fusion, and Autonomous Vehicles. 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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