Motion Planning Engineer (PhD, Intern)

About The Role

We are seeking a motivated PhD graduate with a strong research background in motion planning, robotics, or autonomous systems. In this role, you will apply your expertise in algorithm design and system integration to help develop next-generation planning capabilities for autonomous vehicles.

Responsibilities

• Implement novel solutions for Behavioral Planning, enabling high-level decision-making for lane changes, merges, yields, and multi-agent interactions.
• Design and optimize motion planning algorithms that integrate geometry-based path reasoning and context-aware speed reasoning into smooth, safe trajectories.
• Develop and improve core geometry and velocity planning systems to ensure feasibility, compliance, and comfort across diverse driving scenarios.
• Model complex driving environments and agent behaviors to create a robust world representation for planning under uncertainty.
• Formulate cost functions and optimization frameworks that balance safety, comfort, and efficiency in trajectory selection.
• Analyze, test, and debug system performance through simulation and real-world data, conducting root-cause investigations and proposing enhancements.
• Collaborate with researchers and engineers across Perception, Prediction, and Control to ensure an integrated, reliable autonomy stack.

Qualifications

• Recently completed or soon-to-complete PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
• Research or Internship experience in one or more of the following: Motion planning algorithms (optimization, sampling, graph/search-based methods), Behavioral planning and decision-making under uncertainty, Trajectory optimization and control, Multi-agent interaction modeling.
• Proven research ability demonstrated by publications in top-tier conferences (e.g., RSS, ICRA, IROS, CVPR, NeurIPS, CoRL).
• Hands-on experience in C++ for implementing complex, real-time algorithms.
• Excellent analytical and communication skills, with a collaborative mindset.

Internship Information

This role offers a clear pathway, with top-performing interns receiving the opportunity to convert to a full-time engineer upon successful completion of the program. The hourly rate for the Intern position in the selected city is $46. Interns will also be eligible for Intern benefits.