Senior Autonomy Engineer - Localization
May Mobility
Ann Arbor, MI, USA
USD 160k-200k / year
Posted on May 3, 2025
May Mobility is transforming cities through autonomous technology to create a safer, greener, more accessible world. Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, May develops and deploys autonomous vehicles (AVs) powered by our innovative Multi-Policy Decision Making (MPDM) technology that literally reimagines the way AVs think.
Our vehicles do more than just drive themselves - they provide value to communities, bridge public transit gaps and move people where they need to go safely, easily and with a lot more fun. We’re building the world’s best autonomy system to reimagine transit by minimizing congestion, expanding access and encouraging better land use in order to foster more green, vibrant and livable spaces. Since our founding in 2017, we’ve given more than 300,000 autonomy-enabled rides to real people around the globe. And we’re just getting started. We’re hiring people who share our passion for building the future, today, solving real-world problems and seeing the impact of their work. Join us.
Job Summary
May’s Senior Engineers are front line problem solvers that get things done. They have the initiative, experience, and technical skill to be able to solve problems delegated to them without oversight. Confidence backed by knowledge and experience is a must.
As a Senior Autonomy System engineer you will lead the solution of challenging and complex problems facing vehicle autonomy. You will lead the design of future May autonomy systems and track down and solve the system’s most difficult issues.
Autonomy system engineers are responsible for the integrated functioning of the autonomy system. Systems engineers interact with sensor hardware, middleware, autonomy software stack, networking, health monitoring, compute platforms and electronic systems. System engineers drive forward architectural design and hardware/software design through collaboration across other engineering groups. Additionally, systems engineers create instrumentation to prove that the autonomy system is functioning correctly. You will be a go to person for understanding how new features will fit in, how the system might fail, how to best evolve the system to be more effective or efficient, and how to keep the system working.
As a leader, you will set an example of initiative, data-driven decision making, design, and trouble-shooting. You will also guide and mentor more junior autonomy engineers so that they can work more effectively with May’s systems. This position reports to the Director of Autonomy Systems..
Essential Responsibilities
- Take initiative to understand every aspect of the May vehicle architecture - hardware, software, networking, configurations - all of it.
- Take initiative to find and permanently solve challenging system level issues caused by the interplay between different software and hardware components.
- Troubleshoot and support solutions to challenging field issues.
- Collaborate and lead system-wide improvements when working with other teams without having direct ownership or management responsibility.
- Design, build, and maintain the May autonomy system architecture and cross functional autonomy components.
- Assess and develop approaches that improve performance in a variety of ways (e.g. CPU performance, memory usage, disk usage, network usage).
- Assess and improve system robustness to systematic stochastic and transient issues that impact autonomous vehicle performance.
- Support other autonomy engineers in designing and integrating their components with the full May system.
Qualifications and Experience
Candidates most successful in this role typically hold the following qualifications or comparable knowledge or experience:
Required
- Minimum of 5 years of experience in autonomous robotics system engineering with a broad focus across multiple aspects of autonomous robot components.
- Strong programming skills in C/C++
- Experience taking components and systems through the full product lifecycle.
- Demonstrated strong troubleshooting and analytic skills at the system and subsystem level.
- Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively and clearly about complex system behaviors, structures, and issues.
- Bachelor's degree in Robotics, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering or an applied engineering field.
Desirable
- 10+ years of experience in autonomous robotic systems
- Experience with autonomous cars, trucks, or similar vehicles.
- A masters or PhD degree in Robotics, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering or an applied engineering field.
- Previous experience in a startup or high performance research and development group with an emphasis on delivery
- Some management experience (this is not a management position, but some first hand awareness of management issues is helpful)
Physical Requirements
- Standard office working conditions which includes but is not limited to:
- Prolonged sitting
- Prolonged standing
- Prolonged computer use
Travel required? - Minimal: 1%-10%
Salary Range
$160,000—$200,000 USD
Benefits and Perks
- Comprehensive healthcare suite including medical, dental, vision, life, and disability plans. Domestic partners who have been residing together at least one year are also eligible to participate!
- Health Savings and Flexible Spending Healthcare and Dependent Care Accounts available.
- Rich retirement benefits, including an immediately vested employer safe harbor match.
- Generous paid parental leave with immediate eligibility as well as a phased return to work.
- Flexible vacation policy in addition to 18 paid company holidays.
- Total Wellness Program providing numerous resources for overall wellbeing
Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and/or people of color are less likely to apply to a job unless they meet every qualification. At May Mobility, we’re committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workforce, so if you’re excited about this role but your previous experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification, we encourage you to apply anyway! You may be the perfect candidate for this or another role at May.
Want to learn more about our culture & benefits? Check out our website!
May Mobility is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants for employment will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, genetics or any other legally protected basis. Below, you have the opportunity to share your preferred gender pronouns, gender, ethnicity, and veteran status with May Mobility to help us identify areas of improvement in our hiring and recruitment processes. Completion of these questions is entirely voluntary. Any information you choose to provide will be kept confidential, and will not impact the hiring decision in any way. If you believe that you will need any type of accommodation, please let us know.
Note to Recruitment Agencies: May Mobility does not accept unsolicited agency resumes. Furthermore, May Mobility does not pay placement fees for candidates submitted by any agency other than its approved partners.