Verification & Validation System Engineer, Assisted Autonomy

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. We are recruiting for a Verification and Validation Systems Engineer who will support the system requirements, implementation, and testing of Kodiak’s assisted autonomy system to ensure the product requirements are met and the autonomous vehicle operates safely. In this role, you will: Define and implement verification and validation methods across multiple test environments, including remote operation centers, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) labs, and on-road vehicle testing for remote operations. Develop and maintain test plans and procedures to evaluate system performance and safety for core remote assistance features as needed for hardware releases, software releases and/or key milestones. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to scope, train, and implement new operational functions aligned with remote feature requirements. Analyze remote assistance features, test evidence, and/or evaluate risk exposures to improve safety case arguments. Expand the remote assistance test suite to address edge cases, a wide range of operational conditions, and existing coverage gaps. Collaborate with remote operators and trainers to align on desired operational use cases, training points, and safety goals when new features are implemented. Analyze test results to identify unexpected behaviors, regressions, and/or failures while also performing root cause triage to isolate system issues and drive resolution. Build tools to automate test execution, data extraction, and results reporting, with a focus on repeatability and efficiency. Support hardware and software releases through V&V test campaigns and release packages with an emphasis on tracking results, evidence reporting, and task completion. Develop and assess safety critical features for unmanned autonomous vehicles Define and enforce safety critical operational procedures for unmanned autonomous vehicles Support commercial, industrial, and/or defense related projects to ensure safe autonomous operations using various platforms in different operational design domains. What you’ll bring: Must be a US person as defined as permanent resident or US citizen A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Robotics, MechE/EE, System Engineering, Computer Science or a related STEM field. Strong experience in verification and validation, systems integration, and/or autonomy testing for complex systems, preferably for autonomous vehicles. Willingness and ability to travel to test/customer sites up to ~25% of the time, depending on needs for key milestones and sprints. Strong organizational and communication skills, with the ability to work cross functionally, prioritize multiple projects, and deliver results in a fast paced development environment. Strong hands-on testing experience at a test facility or in unstructured environments. Bonus Points: Proficiency in Python or C++. Experience developing, implementing, and/or training human-in-the-loop remote assistance tools for autonomous vehicles Experience with requirements and test management tools such as JAMA or similar. Experienced in the Systems Engineering V-Model and its application to V&V workflows. Knowledge of safety critical development standards (e.g. ISO 26262) and familiarity with SOTIF and UL4600. What we offer: Competitive compensation package including equity and annual