Senior/Staff Controls Engineer, Core Development

Mountain ViewOnsiteFull TimeStaffPosted 24 days ago

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Required skills

L4 autonomous driving
production controls software
ISO 26262
vehicle dynamics
controls theory
control strategy development
embedded C++
math
physics
kinematics

Nice to have

MS or Ph.D
ML for Controls
GenAI-assisted engineering
Claude Code
Gemini
Cursor

Role summary

Nuro is seeking a Senior/Staff Controls Engineer to design and deploy production controls software for L4 autonomous driving vehicles. This role involves developing robust control systems, integrating with vehicle platforms, and exploring ML for vehicle dynamics. The ideal candidate will have an MS or Ph.D. in a related field, 5+ years of industry experience with 3+ years in automated driving controls, and deep knowledge of vehicle dynamics and controls theory. Proficiency in embedded C++ and experience with GenAI-assisted workflows are preferred. This is a hybrid role with a competitive salary and benefits package.

Who We Are

Nuro believes self-driving vehicles are the most immediate and profound opportunity for AI to drive positive change in the physical world. Safer streets, more time for what matters, and easier access to the world around us, that’s why we’re building a universal autonomy platform: self-driving for all roads and all rides.

Founded in 2016, Nuro is a physical AI company developing Level 4 autonomous driving technology for a wide range of vehicles, use cases, and markets. Powered by the Nuro Driver™, our universal autonomy platform enables the global mobility ecosystem to deploy autonomy at scale, from robotaxis and logistics fleets to personal vehicles.

With years of real-world deployment experience and a flexible, partner-led business model, Nuro is working toward a future where millions of autonomous vehicles powered by our technology help make everyday life safer, easier, and more connected.

Nuro has raised over $2B in capital from Uber, NVIDIA, Google, Softbank, Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, and other leading investors.

About the Role

Controller is the critical link between Nuro Driver's upstream autonomy stack and physical vehicle platform — translating planned trajectories into safe, precise, real-world motions. As a Senior/Staff Controls Engineer, you'll design and deploy production controls software that powers L4 autonomous driving across an expanding operational design domain, from parking lots to highways, in all weather and road conditions. You'll work alongside world-class engineers across autonomy, hardware, and systems to solve problems that don't have textbook answers and see your work running on real vehicles globally.

About the Work

Develop robust, reliable and optimized production-level control software following safety standards (ISO 26262).

Develop seamless interactions between planner and controller and advanced control strategies for expanded ODD including parking lot maneuvers through highway driving under various weather conditions and road surfaces.

Integrate controls stack with new vehicle platforms.

Explore Machine Learning for vehicle dynamics and controls to improve vehicle performance, drivability and reduced time for new vehicle platform bringups.

Collaborate closely with engineers across hardware, base software, upstream autonomy, vehicle testing and system teams.

About You

MS or Ph.D. (preferred) in mechanical, mechatronics, electrical, aerospace, robotics, or a closely related field.

5+ years of industry experience, including 3+ years focusing on developing and deploying L2+ or higher level automated driving controls software at scale.

Deep knowledge of vehicle dynamics, controls theory, and control strategy development and testing.

Implementation experience with classical and modern controls methods and/or ML for Controls.

Strong embedded C (preferred) or C++ programming skills.

Strong foundation in math (geometry, calculus, probability) and physics (kinematics, dynamics), and analytical skills.

Comfortable working with GenAI-assisted engineering workflows (e.g. Claude Code, Gemini, Cursor).

Proven ability to collaborate within and across teams.

Deep knowledge in vehicle dynamics, controls theories, control strategy development and testing.

Effective oral and written communication skills.

Passionate about solving real-world challenging autonomous driving problems.

Self-starter with strong drive, accountability, and the ability to adapt quickly to new problems

At Nuro, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package. For this position, the reasonably expected pay range is between $193,930 and $352,290 for the level at which this job has been scoped. Your base pay will depend on several factors, including your experience, qualifications, education, location, and skills. In the event that you are considered for a different level, a higher or lower pay range would apply. This position is also eligible for an annual performance bonus, equity, and a competitive benefits package.

At Nuro, we celebrate differences and are committed to a diverse workplace that fosters inclusion and psychological safety for all employees. Nuro is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and expressly prohibits any form of workplace discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristics. #li-dnp

Sample Nuro interview questions

1
Build a service discovery mechanism for distributed systems.
system designmedium
2
Maximum Depth of an N-ary Tree Find the maximum depth of an N-ary tree. Input: root = [1,null,2,null,3,null,4] Output: 4 Explanation: The tree is essentially a straight line, requiring a traversal that reaches a maximum depth of 4 layers.
codingmedium
3
Merge Overlapping Intervals Merge overlapping intervals in an array. Input: intervals = [[1,4],[4,5]] Output: [[1,5]] Explanation: The intervals touch exactly at the 4 mark, so they are successfully merged into a single continuous interval.
codingmedium
4
Lowest Common Ancestor on an N-ary Tree Find the lowest common ancestor on an N-ary tree. Input: root = [1,null,2,3,4], p = 2, q = 3 Output: 1 Explanation: Both nodes 2 and 3 are direct children of the root node 1, making 1 the lowest common ancestor.
codingmedium
5
Split Array into Consecutive Subsequences Split an array into consecutive subsequences. Input: nums = [1,2,3,4,4,5] Output: FALSE Explanation: The numbers can form [1,2,3,4], but the remaining leftover group [4,5] is too short to form a valid sequence of length 3.
codingmedium

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