Sensing and Perception System Safety Engineer

Zoox
Foster City, CA
Hybrid

Who this role is best for

Strong fit for systems engineers with cross-domain expertise who lead safety-critical analyses in automotive and robotics. The role emphasizes collaboration across multiple engineering teams and requires experience with ISO 26262 and SOTIF standards.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with 3+ years of safety engineering experience in automotive or aerospace domains
    — “3+ years of hands-on systems, safety, or related engineering experience with a focus on analysis of safety critical high-integrity systems in Automotive, ADAS, Autonomous vehicles, Aerospace or Robotics industries
  • Individuals familiar with sensor redundancy and fail-operational design in autonomous systems
    — “Experience as a Design or Systems Engineer for complex or mission-critical systems with high levels of fail-operational redundancy especially in domain of sensing and perception
  • Professionals who can synthesize hardware and software safety requirements using ISO standards
    — “Collaborate with perception, hardware, software, firmware and other systems engineering teams to design safety mechanisms by leveraging ISO 26262 (e.g HARAs, Functional Safety Concepts, etc.) and SOTIF (ISO 21448) standards
  • Engineers with a background in AI/ML systems and their integration challenges
    — “Understanding of modern perception stack, ML/AI systems and their requirements, and integration challenges

Things to consider

  • Compensation is based on geographic location and internal leveling with no fixed range provided
    — “Compensation will vary based on geographic location and level.
  • The role requires working with multiple engineering domains and cross-functional teams
    — “Lead cross-functional technical projects across Software, Hardware, Operations, Data Science, V&V teams

How to stand out

  • Highlight experience in defining safety metrics for sensor fusion and ML systems
    — “Define safety requirements for sensing (e.g. camera, lidar, radar) and perception (sensor fusion, ML models) subsystems
  • Showcase use of AI/LLM tools to automate safety analysis processes
    — “Leverage AI/LLM tools to accelerate analysis and automate repetitive processes
  • Emphasize your ability to articulate safety concepts to non-technical stakeholders
    — “Effective communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
  • Demonstrate experience with requirements management tools like Polarion or DOORS
    — “Experience with requirements management tools such as Polarion (preferred), DOORS or Jama
Pace · SteadyCollaboration · MediumAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · Team

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

Skills & requirements

Required

Python

About the role

Original posting from Zoox via Lever

Zoox is on an ambitious journey to develop a full-stack autonomous mobility solution for cities and deploy such a robotaxi solution safely and reliably. The System Design and Mission Assurance (SDMA) team plays a foundational role in the company's success, responsible for constructing the safety case and fail-operational design for our autonomous driving robots before public road deployment. We are seeking a System Safety Engineer to perform safety analyses of complex hardware and software systems, specifically Sensing and Perception Systems. You will work across hardware and software domains to develop comprehensive system safety requirements and metrics that ensure safe, fail operational and reliable sensing capabilities for our autonomous vehicle platform.

In this role, you will::

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Define safety requirements for sensing (e.g. camera, lidar, radar) and perception (sensor fusion, ML models) subsystems

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Lead cross-functional technical projects across Software, Hardware, Operations, Data Science, V&V teams to ensure we have the appropriate data and solutions to support our safety arguments 

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Collaborate with perception, hardware, software, firmware and other systems engineering teams to design safety mechanisms by leveraging ISO 26262 (e.g HARAs, Functional Safety Concepts, etc.) and SOTIF (ISO 21448) standards

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Work with partner teams to develop safe, fail operational, and cost-optimized, next-generation sensing architectures and guide the selection of next-generation sensors

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Analyze field and simulation data to root cause issues, identify next steps or validate assumptions

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Leverage AI/LLM tools to accelerate analysis and automate repetitive processes, improving team efficiency

Qualifications:

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BS or MS in a related technical field, such as Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Robotics, Mechatronics, etc.

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Experience as a Design or Systems Engineer for complex or mission-critical systems with high levels of fail-operational redundancy especially in domain of sensing and perception

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3+ years of hands-on systems, safety, or related engineering experience with a focus on analysis of safety critical high-integrity systems in Automotive, ADAS, Autonomous vehicles, Aerospace or Robotics industries

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Effective communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Bonus Qualifications:

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Experience with sensing hardware, physics, limitations and tradeoffs especially in safety-critical applications and fail operational systems

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Experience in the application of ISO 26262 (Functional Safety) and ISO 21448 (SOTIF) to L2+ ADAS and autonomous vehicles; Experience with hazard analysis, functional decomposition, validation, and verification

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Experience with Python and/or Databricks for data mining, analysis and visualization

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Strong analytical skills in performance metrics definition and system-level trade-off analysis

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Understanding of modern perception stack, ML/AI systems and their requirements, and integration challenges

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Experience using requirements management tools such as Polarion (preferred), DOORS or Jama

Compensation:

Base Salary Range

There are three major components to compensation for this position: salary, Amazon Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), and Zoox Stock Appreciation Rights. A sign-on bonus may be offered as part of the compensation package. The listed range applies only to the base salary. Compensation will vary based on geographic location and level. Leveling, as well as positioning within a level, is determined by a range of factors, including, but not limited to, a candidate's relevant years of experience, domain knowledge, and interview performance. The salary range listed in this posting is representative of the range of levels Zoox is considering for this position.

Zoox also offers a comprehensive package of benefits, including paid time off (e.g. sick leave, vacation, bereavement), unpaid time off, Zoox Stock Appreciation Rights, Amazon RSUs, health insurance, long-term care insurance, long-term and short-term disability insurance, and life insurance.

About Zoox

Zoox is developing the first ground-up, fully autonomous vehicle fleet and the supporting ecosystem required to bring this technology to market. Sitting at the intersection of robotics, machine learning, and design, Zoox aims to provide the next generation of mobility-as-a-service in urban environments. We’re looking for top talent that shares our passion and wants to be part of a fast-moving and highly execution-oriented team.

Follow us on LinkedIn

Accommodations

If you need an accommodation to participate in the application or interview process please reach out to accommodations@zoox.com or your assigned recruiter.

A Final Note:

You do not need to match every listed expectation to apply for this position. Here at Zoox, we know that diverse perspectives foster the innovation we need to be successful, and we are committed to building a team that encompasses a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and skills.

Source: Zoox careers (Lever)

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