Principal Software Engineer - Vehicle AI

Description

The company is building intelligent in-cabin experiences, and this principal role leads the technical direction of its next-generation in-vehicle AI assistant platform.

The work covers cabin intelligence, voice interaction and conversational AI, from the Android Automotive OS client app through cloud AI orchestration to backend services.

You would help define the assistant experience for millions of vehicles worldwide and work across Cloud AI and ML, in-cabin UX, vehicle platform, security and infrastructure teams.

Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end architecture of the in-vehicle AI assistant, covering both the Android client and cloud backend integration services.
• Design the hybrid edge-cloud orchestration layer, balancing on-device latency, network bandwidth, cloud compute cost and offline reliability.
• Set engineering standards and API protocols for fast, real-time client-server communication over gRPC and streaming audio and text.
• Assess and bring in newer AI and ML agent frameworks, large language model orchestrators and tool execution engines.
• Lead cross-functional technical strategy with Cloud AI and ML, product management, in-cabin UX, security and data engineering so system boundaries and interface contracts line up.
• Help shape the multi-year technical vision, turning product direction into scalable platform architecture.
• Clear critical architectural blockers across several engineering pods, settling trade-offs in reliability, privacy and data streaming.
• Set up platform-wide testing, evaluation pipelines and telemetry to measure end-to-end voice latency, response accuracy and system health.
• Mentor and grow Staff and Senior engineers across client and backend work, building a habit of technical rigor.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or equivalent practical experience.
• 12+ years of professional software development, including large-scale distributed systems across client apps and cloud microservices.
• Strong grounding in Android client architecture with Kotlin or Java, and in backend cloud integration including microservices, REST, gRPC and streaming APIs.
• A record of leading cross-functional technical work and building agreement across several engineering organizations.
• Deep knowledge of client-server interaction, state synchronization and low-latency network protocols.
• Experience building multi-year technical roadmaps and turning high-level product vision into scalable platform architecture.
• Preferred: Master's or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or a related field.
• Preferred: Expertise in conversational AI architectures, voice assistant frameworks or agentic LLM orchestration.
• Preferred: Familiarity with Android Automotive OS applications or in-cabin system constraints.
• Preferred: Background in edge-cloud hybrid computing, including on-device machine learning and server-side model streaming.
• Preferred: Strong communication skills, with a record of explaining complex architectural trade-offs to senior leaders and non-technical stakeholders.

Conditions

The role is remote or hybrid: you are expected to report to Austin, TX, Mountain View, CA or work remotely from Washington State at least three days per week, or as the business requires.

The role is based out of the Mountain View, CA or Seattle, WA offices.

The base salary range is $238,700 to $365,700, and the offer within that range depends on job-related factors.

This pay figure is a good-faith estimate under applicable state law and may not reflect positions outside the California Bay Area.

Relocation benefits may be available for this job.

Candidates may need to complete a role-related assessment and or a pre-employment screening before starting.

The company is committed to a workplace free of unlawful discrimination that also fosters inclusion and belonging.

Benefits

• An incentive pay program pays out based on company performance, job level and individual performance.
• After a motor vehicle record review, you may join a company vehicle evaluation program and drive and assess an assigned company vehicle.
• Participants must buy or lease a qualifying vehicle from the company every four years, unless one of a limited number of exceptions applies.
• Well-being support starts on day one, covering both work and home.
• Total Rewards resources explain the career and reward options available.