Remote Optical Engineer Jobs in Commerce, MI (NOW HIRING)

About the Company
At Torc, we have always believed that autonomous vehicle technology will transform how we travel, move freight, and do business. A leader in autonomous driving since 2007, Torc has spent over a decade commercializing our solutions with experienced partners. Now a part of the Daimler family, we are focused solely on developing software for automated trucks to transform how the world moves freight. Join us and catapult your career with the company that helped pioneer autonomous technology, and the first AV software company with the vision to partner directly with a truck manufacturer.
Meet The Team:
At Torc, our simulation teams are building the foundation for AV 3.0 driver-out development and certification. This team serves as the critical technical interface between simulation/modeling and autonomy consumers. By ensuring model fidelity, coverage, and usability, the team plays a vital role in evaluating and advancing autonomous driving software. We support massive-scale, parallel execution for scaled verification and validation (V&V) and high-throughput reinforcement learning (RL) training. Ultimately, we provide the framework and tooling that serves Autonomy, Safety, and Release with shared artifacts, common metrics, and deterministic reproducibility.
What You'll Do:

• Develop and own vehicle dynamics models, including high-fidelity truck models that accurately represent longitudinal, lateral, and transient behavior for use in simulation and autonomy validation.
• Design, develop, and maintain high-fidelity simulation platforms used to validate autonomous driving software in closed-loop evaluation pipelines at scale.
• Partner with autonomy engineering teams to capture and implement vehicle model requirements that support planning, controls, and system-level V&V activities.
• Own model capability communication, known limitations, and release notes to enable effective autonomy validation.
• Ensure vehicle model updates do not regress autonomy V&V system performance by using automated regression frameworks.
• Execute full software development lifecycle activities primarily in C++ within a Linux development environment and ROS/ROS2 tooling, applying Lean-Agile methodologies.
• Perform root cause analysis on issues identified during simulation runs and hardware-in-the-loop testing.
• Participate in designing test plans for data acquisition and telemetry that support field data collection for vehicle model refinement.
• Support system-level test plans and verification strategies.
• Communicate progress, design decisions, and blockers clearly at daily stand-ups and design reviews.
• Build and maintain collaborative relationships with OEM partners and simulation tool vendors to evaluate, integrate, and co-develop simulation capabilities.

What You'll Need to Succeed:

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field plus 6+ years of relevant experience; or Master's Degree in the above fields plus 3+ years of relevant experience; or PhD in the above fields plus 1+ years of relevant experience.
• Proficiency in C++ (primary), Python for tooling and ML integrations, ROS/ROS2, CMake, and Linux.
• Physics-based modeling of ground vehicles, including longitudinal/lateral dynamics, tire models, and powertrain.
• Working knowledge of AV autonomy stack architecture-planning, controls, and system integration-to collaborate effectively with autonomy engineering teams and ensure vehicle models meet V&V requirements.
• Ability to translate vehicle model capabilities and limitations to autonomy engineering teams, and to capture their requirements to inform model fidelity improvement initiatives.
• Experience with unit, integration, and regression testing, as well as automated validation pipelines and simulation-based performance benchmarking.
• Expected to drive consensus across simulation, autonomy, controls, and product engineering & safety teams.
• Ability to own and maintain key technical systems across multiple repositories and contribute to cross-org architectural decisions.
• Must operate as an advanced-level professional with wide latitude for independent judgment and minimal supervision.
• Willingness to mentor and guide engineers within the group and contribute to technical direction within the simulation and autonomy domains.

Bonus Points!

• Experience with high-fidelity truck & trailer or heavy-vehicle models.
• Experience building or extending closed-loop autonomous vehicle simulation environments.
• Familiarity with scenario-based validation and sim-to-real correlation activities.
• Familiarity with how learned models (neural networks) consume simulation and vehicle model outputs in autonomy V&V workflows.

Perks of Being a Full-time Torc'r
Torc cares about our team members and we strive to provide benefits and resources to support their health, work/life balance, and future. Our culture is collaborative, energetic, and team focused. Torc offers:

• A competitive compensation package that includes a bonus component and stock options
• 100% paid medical, dental, and vision premiums for full-time employees
• 401K plan with a 6% employer match
• Flexibility in schedule and generous paid vacation (available immediately after start date)
• AD+D and Life Insurance

At Torc, we're committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. We celebrate the uniqueness of our Torc'rs and do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, veteran status, or disabilities.
Even if you don't meet 100% of the qualifications listed for this opportunity, we encourage you to apply.
Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several geographic markets. Pay is based on a number of factors and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Torc's total compensation package will also include our corporate bonus and stock option plan. Dependent on the position offered, sign-on payments, relocation, and other forms of compensation may be provided as part of a total compensation package, in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits.
Job ID: R-102814
Hiring Range for Job Opening
US Pay Range
$160,800-$193,000 USD