Director of Software Engineering, Behaviors and Planning

About the Company

Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Overland AI is transforming land operations for modern defense. The company leverages advanced research in robotics and machine learning to deliver autonomy capabilities for ground vehicles in any terrain.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a team of 7-10 engineers across motion planning, behaviors, and verification
• Drive technical direction for single-vehicle autonomous movement, including local and mid-range planning
• Partner with ML & Perception teams to integrate learned terrain models with classical planning
• Own offline verification systems through simulation, log playback, and automated regression testing
• Support field deployments and translate soldier workflows into engineering priorities

Requirements

• PhD in robotics, computer science, controls, or a related field
• 5+ years of professional experience shipping autonomy software in industry
• 2+ years of experience leading an engineering team
• Deep expertise in motion planning (e.g., MPPI, RRT), behavior architecture, or vehicle control
• Proven experience shipping autonomy software to physical hardware in unstructured environments
• Must be a U.S. Person (ITAR) and eligible for U.S. security clearance

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with off-road or unstructured terrain navigation
• Familiarity with ROS2 or similar robotics middleware
• Background in machine learning for planning or perception-planning integration
• Experience with geospatial planning or GIS data
• Prior work in defense or government contracting

Benefits

• Base salary range of $200,000 – $300,000
• Generous equity compensation
• 401(k) with company match
• Best-in-class healthcare, dental, and vision plans
• Flexible PTO and parental leave