Staff Systems Engineer, Simulation Systems Verification and Validation Lead

The role

You will own the simulation verification and validation strategy for Zoox's autonomy stack, from sensors through full system behavior. You will lead a cross-functional program that shows when and where simulated miles can support safety clearance decisions.

What you will do

• Own the end-to-end simulation V&V strategy across integration levels, from sensors-only to full system behavior, for a safety case for fully autonomous driving on public roads
• Define the data sets, metrics, and comparison methods
• Lead a recurring cross-functional sim validation program: set milestones and cadence, track risks and dependencies, drive decisions to closure
• Partner with statisticians and data scientists on estimators that combine simulated and real-world results into safety performance measures
• Write methodology documents and validation reports; present results, risks, and recommendations to engineering and executive leadership
• Mentor engineers across teams in V&V practice and systems thinking

Required qualifications

• M.S. or higher in Systems, Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, or Robotics Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, Mathematics, or a related field
• 8+ years of experience in verification and validation of safety-critical systems that contain software or autonomy
• A record of leading technical programs across several teams, from an ambiguous problem statement to a delivered result
• Working-level experience validating a simulation or model against real-world data so its results could support a decision, preferably for a closed-loop system with software or a learned controller
• Strong systems thinking: break a system into integration levels, define interfaces and evidence needed at each level, connect component results to system-level claims
• Experience deriving or implementing estimators that fuse simulated and real data (for example control variates, prediction-powered inference, Bayesian hierarchical models, importance sampling, or rare

Nice to have

• Experience with sensor simulation (camera, lidar, radar), neural rendering or generative scene synthesis, or perception evaluation metrics
• Experience evaluating motion planning or behavior in closed-loop simulation at scale
• Familiarity with model credibility and safety standards such as NASA-STD-7009, ASME V&V 10/20/40, ISO 21448 (SOTIF), UL 4600, ISO 26262, or ISO 34502
• Hands-on Python and SQL
• Ph.D. in a relevant field

About the company

Zoox is developing the first ground-up, fully autonomous vehicle fleet and the supporting ecosystem to bring it to market, aiming to provide next-generation mobility-as-a-service in urban environments. The company is looking for a fast-moving, execution-oriented team.