Senior Software Engineer, Controls (Simulation)

Kodiak Robotics, Inc. was founded in 2018 and has become a leader in autonomous ground transportation committed to a safer and more efficient future for all. The company has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) powered technology stack purpose-built for commercial trucking and the public sector. The company delivers freight daily for its customers across the southern United States using its autonomous technology. In 2024, Kodiak became the first known company to publicly announce delivering a driverless semi-truck to a customer. Kodiak is also leveraging its commercial self-driving software to develop, test and deploy autonomous capabilities for the U.S. Department of Defense. In 2025, Kodiak listed publicly on the NASDAQ.

Kodiak is recruiting an experienced Software Engineer who is passionate about motion control and simulation to join our Controls team. The role offers the opportunity to work on both vehicle modeling and control theory, including deep mathematical modeling.

This is an opportunity to model linear and nonlinear vehicle dynamics, in order to establish high fidelity between simulation results and on-road data. Kodiak operates multiple vehicle platforms in a wide range of operating domains, which surface many interesting modeling and simulation problems.

This role combines both mathematical innovation and software engineering expertise to expand the frontier in autonomy simulation.

In this role, you will:

• Simulate articulated truck motion in response to steering, accelerator, and brake inputs
• Model vehicular motion, including the interaction between coupled tractor and trailers
• Incorporate environmental effects, such as incline, road bank, rolling resistance, and wind
• Characterize non-linear effects, such as gear shifting and electronic stability control
• Analyze simulation fidelity by comparing simulated and real-world performance
• Evaluate controller performance across multi-dimensional assessments
• Build a safety case for driverless operation

What you'll bring:

• 4+ years controls development experience for automotive robots
• Strong C++ programming skill
• Interest in theoretical and empirical vehicle modeling
• Facility with mechanical physics
• Enthusiasm for increasing the scope and fidelity of vehicular simulation
• A focus on vehicle safety

Bonus points if you have:

• Simulated automotive robots, especially controls and the robotic platform
• Experience with driverless autonomous vehicles
• Strength in statistical analysis and evaluation
• Familiarity with automotive safety cases, processes, and standards

What we offer:

• Competitive compensation package including equity and annual bonuses
• Excellent Medical, Dental, and Vision plans through Kaiser Permanente, Cigna, and MetLife (including a medical plan with infertility benefits)
• MetLife Legal Services, Identity & Fraud Protection, Hospital Indemnity Insurance, Accident Insurance, & Critical Illness Insurance
• Flexible PTO, 10 paid holidays, and generous parental leave policies
• Our office is centrally located in Mountain View, CA
• Office perks: dog-friendly, free catered lunch, a fully stocked kitchen, and free EV charging
• Long Term Disability, Short Term Disability, Life Insurance
• Wellbeing Benefits - Headspace through Cigna, Calm through Kaiser, One Medical, Gympass, Spring Health through Cigna, Rula (mental health navigation) 
• Fidelity 401(k)
• Commuter, FSA, Dependent Care FSA, HSA
• Various incentive programs (referral bonuses, patent bonuses, etc.)