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Director Autonomous Driving Engineer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Motional

Autonomous Driving Test Operator

Pittsburgh, PA · On-site

$17.75 - $21.75/hr

We are hiring Autonomous Driving Test Operators to support Motional's growing AV Test Operations ... As an AV Test Operator, you will serve as the "eyes and ears" for engineering teams by safely ...

Motional

Autonomous Driving Test Operator

Pittsburgh, PA

$17.75 - $21.75/hr

We are hiring Autonomous Driving Test Operators to support Motional's growing AV Test Operations ... As an AV Test Operator, you will serve as the "eyes and ears" for engineering teams by safely ...

Motional

Autonomous Driving Test Operator

Pittsburgh, PA · On-site

$17.75 - $21.75/hr

We are hiring Autonomous Driving Test Operators to support Motional's growing AV Test Operations ... As an AV Test Operator, you will serve as the "eyes and ears" for engineering teams by safely ...

AeroVect

Staff Autonomy Engineer

San Francisco, CA

Company Description At AeroVect, we provide autonomous driving solutions to some of the busiest ... directing schedule, removing obstacles, designing/coaching the team to hit aggressive milestones ...

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Showing results 1-20

All JobsDirector Autonomous Driving Engineer Jobs

Director Autonomous Driving Engineer information

See salary details

$73K

$194.7K

$254K

How much do director autonomous driving engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Jun 29, 2026, the average yearly pay for director autonomous driving engineer in the United States is $194,709.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $141,500.00 and $253,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Director Autonomous Driving Engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Director Autonomous Driving Engineer, you need deep expertise in robotics, computer vision, sensor fusion, and machine learning, typically supported by an advanced degree in engineering or computer science and significant industry experience. Familiarity with tools such as ROS, simulation platforms, automotive-grade software systems, and relevant safety certifications (like ISO 26262) is crucial. Strong leadership, strategic thinking, and effective communication are essential soft skills for guiding multidisciplinary teams and collaborating with stakeholders. These abilities are vital for driving innovation, ensuring technical excellence, and delivering safe, reliable autonomous driving solutions.

What is the difference between Director Autonomous Driving Engineer vs Senior Autonomous Driving Engineer?

AspectDirector Autonomous Driving EngineerSenior Autonomous Driving Engineer
ResponsibilitiesOversees autonomous driving projects, manages teams, sets strategic goalsDesigns and develops autonomous driving systems, implements algorithms
Required CredentialsAdvanced degree (Master's/PhD), extensive experience, leadership skillsRelevant engineering degree, several years of experience in autonomous systems
Work EnvironmentLeadership roles in R&D teams, cross-department collaborationHands-on engineering in labs or development teams
Industry UsageCommon in tech and automotive companies for strategic rolesCommon in engineering teams focused on system development

The main difference is that the Director Autonomous Driving Engineer focuses on leadership, strategy, and project oversight, while the Senior Autonomous Driving Engineer is primarily involved in technical development and implementation. Both roles require relevant technical credentials, but the director position emphasizes management and strategic planning within autonomous driving projects.

How does a Director of Autonomous Driving Engineering typically collaborate with cross-functional teams within an organization?

As a Director of Autonomous Driving Engineering, you'll regularly collaborate with cross-functional teams such as hardware engineers, data scientists, product managers, safety and compliance experts, and user experience designers. Your role involves aligning the technical roadmap with business goals, ensuring seamless integration of software and hardware, and facilitating effective communication between departments. This collaborative approach is crucial for addressing complex challenges, maintaining project momentum, and ensuring the autonomous driving system meets safety, regulatory, and performance standards.

What does a Director Autonomous Driving Engineer do?

A Director Autonomous Driving Engineer leads and manages teams responsible for developing self-driving vehicle technologies. This role oversees the technical strategy, project execution, and integration of hardware and software for autonomous systems. Directors in this position collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, ensure safety and regulatory compliance, and drive innovation to advance autonomous vehicle capabilities. They also mentor engineers, set technical standards, and work with stakeholders to align product goals with business objectives.
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Director Autonomous Driving Engineer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Director Autonomous Driving Engineer job openings in the United States as of June 2026, with employment types broken down into 43% Full Time, 55% Part Time, and 2% Contract. Highlights an 86% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 11% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $194,709 per year, or $93.6 per hour.
Senior Software Engineer - Autonomous Driving Simulation

Senior Software Engineer - Autonomous Driving Simulation

Nvidia Corporation

Santa Clara, CA • On-site

$143K - $189K/yr

Full-time

Posted 18 days ago

Job description

NVIDIA is seeking a highly motivated Software Engineer to join our Autonomous Vehicle (AV) Simulation team. In this role, you will help build and scale realistic virtual environments that accelerate the training, testing, and validation of NVIDIA's autonomous driving software stack.
Our mission is to enable large-scale simulation and debugging of AV algorithms across millions of scenarios per day, spanning diverse traffic patterns, road conditions, weather environments, and edge cases. Achieving this requires deep performance optimization and systems-level analysis across the entire software stack - from AV algorithms and AI models to system software, infrastructure, and production-scale simulation workflows.
What you'll be doing:
  • Develop scalable simulation platforms and workflows for autonomous driving validation and training.
  • Work onReal2Sim and Sim2Realdomain adaptation technologies to transform real-world driving incidents into diverse simulation scenarios - and bridge the gap between simulated and real-world behavior.
  • Contribute across a multidisciplinary stack involving: System software and distributed infrastructure, neural graphics & rendering, generative AI & synthetic data generation, computer vision & deep learning, and real-to-synthetic domain adaptation.
  • Optimize large-scale simulation workflows for performance, scalability, reliability, and production deployment.
  • Collaborate closely with researchers, infrastructure engineers, and product teams across NVIDIA.
  • Drive technology transfer into production products and contribute to open-source initiatives where applicable.

What we need to see:
  • BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, or a related field (or equivalent experience).
  • 5+ years of relevant autonomous vehicles industry experience.
  • Strong programming skills in Python, C/C++, PyTorch, and Linux/bash scripting.
  • Experience with modern software engineering and infrastructure tools such as Docker, Bazel, Jenkins, CI/CD pipelines, and distributed systems tooling.
  • Strong background in computer vision, deep learning, simulation systems, or related domains.
  • Excellent analytical and mathematical problem-solving skills.
  • Ability to independently drive complex projects from concept to production.
  • Strong communication, collaboration, and teamwork skills.
  • Experience in machine learning, large-scale systems, analytics, statistics, or applied mathematics.

Ways to stand out from the crowd:
  • First-author publications at top-tier conferences such as NeurIPS, CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, or ICML.
  • Experience in autonomous driving, robotics simulation, neural rendering, synthetic data generation, or generative AI.
  • Proven research or engineering excellence through internships, open-source contributions, code competitions, or impactful production systems.
  • Experience optimizing high-performance or large-scale distributed workloads.

Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and the pay of employees in similar positions. The base salary range is 152,000 USD - 241,500 USD for Level 3, and 184,000 USD - 287,500 USD for Level 4.
You will also be eligible for equity and benefits.
Applications for this job will be accepted at least until June 15, 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.
Nvidia logo

About Nvidia

Sourced by ZipRecruiter

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.

Industry

Computer and electronic product manufacturing

Company size

10,000+ Employees

Headquarters location

Santa Clara, CA, US

Year founded

1993

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