Software Engineer II - Offboard Python Application

Description

The company is building hands-free driver assistance for Ford's autonomy roadmap, with its first platform set to debut on the all-new Ford Fathom in 2027.

The company is a Ford Motor Company subsidiary that works independently and moves at startup speed. It is headquartered in Pittsburgh, with engineering centers in Dearborn, Michigan, and Palo Alto, California.

You would join the Virtual Test Ecosystem team, which keeps fully synthetic simulation and log-replay (resimulation) workflows running reliably at large scale. The team uses open source tools and cloud services to build a processing framework that works across cloud providers and can also run on-premises. Its results drive large-scale safety and performance testing before changes reach a vehicle, and the team works closely with engineers across the onboard and offboard stack.

Responsibilities

• Improve the sim/resim cloud framework and the applications that run on it, mostly by writing Python and working with open source packages and AWS and GCP services.
• Benchmark the system to find bottlenecks that limit scalability or performance, build dashboards that track and summarize those findings, and implement fixes that raise efficiency.
• Make the framework intuitive and easy to use by watching how users work with it, taking their direct feedback, and catching misuse or misreadings of results.
• Support autonomy, systems, test, and other teams across the organization, and engage with them on future improvements.
• Write clear documentation so other teams can extend the framework themselves, while answering their questions. For example, let the autonomy team add a new part of the stack to resim without help.
• Help manage how logs are stored and searched, including automatic indexing of interesting actors and interactions in a scene and measuring dataset coverage.
• Build the framework so developers can add metrics for the vehicle's performance, from low-level detector behavior to high-level business goals, and help teams implement their own metrics as needs come up.

Requirements

• A bachelor's degree in computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, robotics, or a related field, plus 4+ years of relevant experience. Alternatively, a master's degree with 2+ years of relevant experience, or a PhD.
• Strong Python skills, with code that is efficient, well documented, and well tested.
• 2+ years building scalable applications that run in a cloud or HPC environment.
• 2+ years writing software that interacts with AWS and/or GCP services.
• Familiarity with NumPy and scientific programming.
• Willingness to learn how onboard and offboard components interact, and to propose ways to improve how developers and testers work with both.
• C++ development experience.
• Experience with Kubernetes.

Conditions

The expected base salary for this full-time role in California is $150,320 to $225,480 USD. Starting pay depends on factors such as exact work location, experience, training, education, and skill level.

You must be legally authorized to work in the United States on a permanent basis. Employment eligibility must be verified at hire. Visa sponsorship is available for this role.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation.
• Eligibility for annual bonus programs and equity compensation, subject to eligibility requirements.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your family.
• Health savings account with an available employer match.
• 401(k) with an employer match that vests immediately.
• Employer-paid group term life insurance, with the option to buy voluntary life insurance.
• Paid parental leave and an adoption and surrogacy support program.
• Paid medical leave.
• Unlimited vacation and 15 paid holidays.
• Free lunches, snacks, and drinks in all offices every day.
• Pre-tax accounts for healthcare and dependent care costs, and pre-tax commuter benefits.
• Monthly wellness stipend.
• Backup child and elder care.
• Reimbursement for professional development.
• Employee assistance program.
• Discounts on legal services, identity theft protection, pet insurance, and more.
• Employee resource groups, a quarterly team activity stipend, and wellness initiatives.