Director of Actions

About the Role:
Motional is seeking a visionary and technically deep Director of Software Engineering to lead our global Planning & Controls team. This team is responsible for designing and delivering critical software that powers decision-making and low-level actuation for our Level 4 autonomous vehicles. In this role, you’ll drive both the technical strategy and execution for real-time path planning, trajectory generation, and control systems — ensuring safe, reliable, and intelligent driving behaviors under real-world constraints.

Team Size: 30–40 Engineers (Global)

You will report directly to senior Autonomy leadership and collaborate closely with Behaviors organization as well as Perception, Simulation, Localization, Systems Engineering, and Safety to build a world-class robotaxi platform.

What You’ll Be Doing:

• Lead a global software organization (30–40 engineers and managers) across Planning and Controls teams responsible for AV motion planning, trajectory generation, and actuation logic.
• Define and execute the technical roadmap aligned with Motional’s product and operational milestones.
• Balance cutting-edge research with robust productization to ensure your team’s software performs safely and reliably in dynamic, complex environments.
• Work tightly with the Behaviors organization to ensure Planning and Controls tightly integrate with upstream prediction and ML-based trajectory generation.
• Develop and track KPIs, performance metrics, and OKRs to continuously evaluate software robustness, operational efficiency, and team output.
• Cultivate a culture of engineering excellence, strong code quality, and deep technical ownership.
• Mentor, develop, and grow a high-performing engineering team across multiple geographies and disciplines.
• Provide strategic input on long-term architectural decisions, technical debt remediation, and investment areas.
• Be a key partner to the senior leadership within the company to help solve challenging problems in a collaborative manner.

What You’ll Bring:

• 10+ years of software engineering experience with at least 5+ years leading teams in robotics, autonomous vehicles, or a related field.
• A track record of shipping production-quality planning and controls software for autonomous systems or highly constrained robotics applications.
• Strong expertise in trajectory planning, behavioral decision making, and motion control algorithms.
• Deep understanding of real-time systems, vehicle dynamics, and robotic control theory.
• Experience managing global, distributed engineering teams in a high-growth, mission-critical environment.
• Proficiency in C++, and a strong background in Linux-based development, software architecture, and scalable infrastructure.
• Experience collaborating with research teams and translating innovation into deployable, testable, and maintainable codebases.
• Excellent communication and leadership skills, with the ability to inspire and align diverse technical contributors.
• Master’s or Ph.D. in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.

Bonus Points:

• Experience with machine learning applied to planning or behavior modeling.
• Prior contributions to open-source autonomy projects or publications in top robotics conferences (e.g., ICRA, RSS, CVPR).
• Familiarity with simulation-driven development, large-scale testing infrastructure, and AV safety frameworks.

Why Join Us?

• Lead one of the most critical teams powering Motional’s next-generation AV platform.
• Join a mission-driven organization focused on transforming mobility through autonomy.
• Collaborate with world-class researchers, engineers, and product leaders in a fast-paced, supportive environment.
• Enjoy competitive compensation, equity, and benefits as part of a rapidly scaling organization with global reach.
• Make real-world impact by helping to launch commercial AV services in cities around the world.

 

The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors including but not limited to specific skills, experience and expertise, role location, certifications, licenses, and business needs. The estimated compensation range listed in this job posting reflects base salary only. This role may include additional forms of compensation such as a bonus or company equity. The recruiter assigned to this role can share more information about the specific compensation and benefit details associated with this role during the hiring process. 

Candidates for certain positions are eligible to participate in Motional’s benefits program. Motional’s benefits include but are not limited to medical, dental, vision, 401k with a company match, health saving accounts, life insurance, pet insurance, and more.

Salary Range$236,000—$320,000 USD

Motional is a driverless technology company making autonomous vehicles a safe, reliable, and accessible reality. We’re driven by something more.

Our journey is always people first.

We aren't just developing driverless cars; we're creating safer roadways, more equitable transportation options, and making our communities better places to live, work, and connect. Our team is made up of engineers, researchers, innovators, dreamers and doers, who are creating a technology with the potential to transform the way we move.

Higher purpose, greater impact.

We’re creating first-of-its-kind technology that will transform transportation. To do so successfully, we must design for everyone in our cities and on our roads. We believe in building a great place to work through a progressive, global culture that is diverse, inclusive, and ensures people feel valued at every level of the organization. Diversity helps us to see the world differently; it’s not only good for our business, it’s the right thing to do.  

Scale up, not starting up.

Our team is behind some of the industry's largest leaps forward, including the first fully-autonomous cross-country drive in the U.S, the launch of the world's first robotaxi pilot, and operation of the world's longest-standing public robotaxi fleet. We’re driven to scale; we’re moving towards commercialization of our technology, and we need team members who are ready to embrace change and challenges.

Formed as a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv, Motional is fundamentally changing how people move through their lives. Headquartered in Boston, Motional has operations in the U.S and Asia. For more information, visit  www.Motional.com and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.

 

Motional AD Inc. is an EOE. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. To comply with Federal Law, we participate in E-Verify. All newly-hired employees are queried through this electronic system established by the DHS and the SSA to verify their identity and employment eligibility.