Ph.D. with 3+ years or Master's with 5+ years of industry experience in robotics, autonomous systems, or behavior planning.
Experience in behavior planning using behavior trees, finite state machines, or rule-based planners.
Proficient in C++ with insight into performance and memory management in production systems.
Understanding of motion planning and prediction, with a background in real-time, safety-critical systems.
Familiarity with diffusion models and Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models is a strong plus.
Excellent debugging and collaborative communication skills.
Responsibilities
Design, implement, and maintain the core behavior planning system for autonomous vehicles.
Develop and enhance behavior tree architectures for decision-making logic.
Collaborate with motion planning, prediction, and control teams for seamless execution.
Build and optimize C++ software infrastructure for behavior planning and testing.
Evaluate planner performance and identify improvement strategies in diverse environments.
Participate in design reviews and system integration across the autonomy stack.
Provide technical leadership and mentorship to junior team members.
Full Job Description
About the role
We're seeking Senior or Staff Engineers to help build the core behavior planning system for autonomous vehicles, enabling safe and intelligent decision-making. The role involves designing behavior tree architectures, developing robust C++ infrastructure, collaborating across autonomy teams, evaluating planner performance, and providing technical leadership within the team.
This role is onsite 5 days a week at our Santa Clara, CA office!
What you'll do
Design, implement, and maintain the core behavior planning system for autonomous vehicles, enabling intelligent, interpretable, and safe decision-making in complex real-world scenarios.
Develop and extend behavior tree architectures for hierarchical decision logic, including support for mission planning, tactical maneuvers, and contingency handling.
Collaborate closely with the motion planning, prediction, and control teams to ensure seamless transitions from high-level decisions to executable trajectories.
Build and optimize C++-based software infrastructure for behavior planning, including tools for simulation, debugging, visualization, and closed-loop testing.
Evaluate planner performance in diverse real-world and simulated environments; identify failure modes and develop strategies to improve robustness and generalization.
Participate in design reviews and system integration across the full autonomy stack.
Provide technical leadership, mentorship, and architectural guidance for junior team members.
What we're looking for
Ph.D. with 3+ years or Master's with 5+ years of industry experience in robotics, autonomous systems, or behavior planning.
Proven experience in behavior planning, including use of behavior trees, finite state machines, or rule-based planners in autonomous driving or robotics applications.
Strong proficiency in C++ with a deep understanding of performance, memory management, and software architecture in production systems.
Solid understanding of motion planning and prediction interfaces, with experience building real-time, safety-critical systems.
Knowledge of diffusion models and/or Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models is a strong plus.
Strong debugging, system thinking, and collaborative communication skills.
Salary Range - $180,000- $260,000
About Gatik AI
Gatik AI is a technology company that develops autonomous vehicles for business to business short-haul logistics. The company was founded in 2017 by Gautam Narang and Arjun Narang. Gatik AI's vehicles are designed to operate on fixed routes between distribution centers, warehouses, and retail locations. The company's mission is to deliver goods safely, efficiently, and on time, while reducing road congestion and carbon emissions. Gatik AI has partnerships with Walmart and Loblaw Companies Limited, two of the largest retailers in North America. The company is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, with offices in Palo Alto, California.
