Kodiak

Software Engineer, Routing

$145,000 – $190,000 per year

TLDR

Own a coast-to-coast routing engine for driverless operation, advancing motion planning and route policy tooling.

Kodiak Robotics, Inc. was founded in 2018 and has become a leader in autonomous ground transportation committed to a safer and more efficient future for all. The company has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) powered technology stack purpose-built for commercial trucking and the public sector. The company delivers freight daily for its customers across the southern United States using its autonomous technology. In 2024, Kodiak became the first known company to publicly announce delivering a driverless semi-truck to a customer. Kodiak is also leveraging its commercial self-driving software to develop, test and deploy autonomous capabilities for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Kodiak is recruiting a Software Engineer to own Kodiak’s routing engine, which traverses our coast-to-coast highway map. The role builds deep motion planning experience, focused on a core aspect of the motion planning stack.

This is an opportunity to collaborate and grow with world-class robotics engineers on Kodiak’s Motion Planning team. Senior and Staff engineers will mentor and help scope progressively larger projects and career development opportunities.

The role offers exposure to cutting-edge routing algorithms and unsolved problems, as well as collaboration with Planning, Perception, and Infrastructure colleagues.

In this role, you will:

Implement routing for driverless operation on public roads
Contribute to the architecture and long-term roadmap for motion planning
Integrate onboard and offboard driving logic
Create visualizations and tooling for route policy introspection
Automate and expedite map updates
Solve deep technical problems involving route generation, mapping, real-time and cloud computing, and more!

What you’ll bring:

2+ year of experience developing production-level robotics software
Strong facility with modern C++
Expertise in motion planning, graph theory, and related domains
Facility with complex autonomous systems
Excitement to solve ambiguous, real-world challenges

Bonus points if you have:

Deployed software on driverless autonomous vehicles
Improved system performance (latency, throughput, reliability) in production environments
Built on simulation frameworks
Based decisions on data analysis

What we offer:

Competitive compensation package including equity and annual bonuses
Excellent Medical, Dental, and Vision plans through Kaiser Permanente, Cigna, and MetLife (including a medical plan with infertility benefits)
MetLife Legal Services, Identity & Fraud Protection, Hospital Indemnity Insurance, Accident Insurance, & Critical Illness Insurance
Flexible PTO, 10 paid holidays, and generous parental leave policies
Our office is centrally located in Mountain View, CA
Office perks: dog-friendly, free catered lunch, a fully stocked kitchen, and free EV charging
Long Term Disability, Short Term Disability, Life Insurance
Wellbeing Benefits - Headspace through Cigna, Calm through Kaiser, One Medical, Gympass, Spring Health through Cigna, Rula (mental health navigation)
Fidelity 401(k)
Commuter, FSA, Dependent Care FSA, HSA
Various incentive programs (referral bonuses, patent bonuses, etc.)

The pay range listed below reflects the base salary in our SF/Silicon Valley location, across several internal levels. Actual starting pay will be based on job-related factors including: work location, experience, relevant training, education, skill level and performance during interview. Total compensation at Kodiak includes base pay, equity, bonus and a competitive benefits package

California Pay Range

$145,000—$190,000 USD

At Kodiak, we strive to build a diverse community working towards our common company goals in a safe and collaborative environment where harassment of any kind is strictly prohibited. Kodiak is committed to equal opportunity employment regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, or veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

In alignment with its business operations, Kodiak adheres to all relevant statutes, regulations, and administrative prerequisites. Accordingly, roles that carry more sensitive requirements may be limited to candidates that can satisfy additional scrutiny and eligibility for such positions may hinge on verification of a candidate’s residence, U.S. person status, and/or citizenship status. Should the position require, and Kodiak determines that a candidate’s residence, U.S. person status, and/or citizenship status necessitate an export license, bar the candidate from the position, or otherwise fall under national security-related restrictions, Kodiak will consider the candidate for alternative positions unaffected by such restrictions, under terms and conditions set forth at Kodiak’s sole discretion, or, as an alternative, opt not to proceed with the candidate’s application. If applicable, Kodiak may provide visa sponsorship for eligible candidates.

We use a third-party AI tool (Endorsed) to assist in the initial screening of applications. As part of the evaluation process, we provide Endorsed with job requirements and candidate-submitted applications. Final hiring decisions are made by our human recruitment team, and no automated system makes the ultimate decision regarding hiring. Certain features of the platform may qualify it as an Automated Employment Decision Tool (AEDT) under applicable regulations. We began using Endorsed on January 1, 2026. You can review the independent bias audit report covering our use of Endorsed [here](https://endorsed.com/local-law-144). By submitting your application, you acknowledge that your application may be processed by AI systems as part of the screening and selection process. If you have any questions or would like to request a separate review of your application, please contact careers@kodiak.ai with "Separate Review Request" in the email subject line.

Benefits

Equity Compensation

Competitive compensation package including equity and annual bonuses

Free Meals & Snacks

Office perks: dog-friendly, free catered lunch, a fully stocked kitchen, and free EV charging

Health Insurance

Excellent Medical, Dental, and Vision plans through Kaiser Permanente, Cigna, and MetLife (including a medical plan with infertility benefits)

Incentive programs

Various incentive programs (referral bonuses, patent bonuses, etc.)

Paid Time Off

Flexible PTO, 10 paid holidays, and generous parental leave policies

Wellness Stipend

Wellbeing Benefits - Headspace through Cigna, Calm through Kaiser, One Medical, Gympass, Spring Health through Cigna, Rula (mental health navigation)

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Kodiak

Kodiak builds autonomous ground transportation solutions, focusing on an AI-powered technology stack tailored for commercial trucking and the public sector. The company delivers freight daily across the southern United States and is pioneering driverless capabilities, including applications for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Founded: Founded 2018
Employees: 201-500 employees
Industry: computer software
Funding stage: Public
Stock ticker: Publicly traded (KDK)
Total raised: $590M raised
Last funding: Raised May 2026

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Software Engineer