Director, Autonomy Behavior

About the role

The Director of Autonomy will lead the vision, strategy, and technical roadmap of the Autonomy Behavior team at May Mobility. This role is pivotal in advancing May’s unique, innovative Multi-Policy Decision Making (MPDM) technology, which enables scalable autonomy capabilities more efficiently than competitors. You will sit at the intersection of cutting-edge autonomous driving technology, transformative mobility, and products that reshape urban transportation. This position reports to the Vice President of Autonomy.

Responsibilities

• Champion May Mobility’s mission, vision, and values while developing and executing autonomy strategy with fellow executives and engineering leaders.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Vehicle Engineering, Software, Data and Infrastructure, and Operations leaders to solve and deploy autonomy solutions.
• Drive innovative and robust advances in May’s MPDM technology, including faster execution, accurate simulations, effective reward functions, expressive policies, and stable control algorithms.
• Ensure MPDM technologies operate efficiently in commercial deployments, including triage and resolution of related issues.
• Maintain expertise in related research fields such as planning, automated decision-making, and machine learning techniques like reinforcement learning.
• Develop and track key performance indicators (KPIs) for autonomy performance.
• Identify gaps and challenges in autonomy technology, construct and execute a roadmap to address them, and synchronize with other autonomy leaders.
• Set and achieve monthly, quarterly, and yearly milestones for iterative performance improvements.
• Lead complex technical projects, providing technical guidance and ensuring successful execution.
• Set hiring targets, interview, hire, and manage a diverse team of perception engineers and scientists.
• Oversee escalation of critical issues, driving clear recommendations to align team efforts with company priorities.

Skills

• Deep technical expertise in planning, autonomous decision-making, reinforcement learning, or computational prediction.
• Strong attention to detail with the ability to mitigate technical, integration, and personnel risks.
• Ability to thrive in uncertain environments and turn ambiguous concepts into executable plans.
• Proven leadership in setting goals, communicating clearly, and addressing difficult topics.
• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts, root cause analysis, and data-backed results concisely.
• Collaborative problem-solving with peers in related technical areas.
• Proven ability to deliver under tight schedules.

Qualifications

• PhD or master’s degree in a relevant technical field (e.g., robotics, computer science, computer engineering, aerospace engineering, physics).
• Demonstrated ability to solve complex autonomy problems as a principal investigator, staff/principal engineer, or director (or equivalent).
• 7+ years of software-focused engineering experience in mission-critical robotics or autonomous systems.
• Experience leading a team of 10+ engineers, including goal-setting and handling challenging situations.
• Previous experience as an individual contributor developing and deploying innovative solutions in autonomous vehicles or related fields.
• Desirable: 5+ years of management experience, experience with MPDM, and deep understanding of autonomous vehicle challenges and state-of-the-art solutions.

Physical Requirements

• Standard office conditions, including prolonged sitting, standing, and computer use.
• Minimal travel required (1%-10%).