Aurora Innovation is hiring a Manager to lead our HIL Platform team, which sits at the critical nexus of software and physical reality. You will accelerate the commercialization of the Aurora Driver on Class 8 truck platforms by building the world's most sophisticated 'flight simulator' for autonomous vehicles, directly ensuring the safety and reliability of 80,000-pound trucks before they hit public roads.
What You'll Do
- Operationalize the Platform as a Product: Transform internal hardware and simulation tools into a reliable, customer-centric service that enables Autonomy engineers to ship code with confidence and speed.
- Drive Strategic Technical Trade-offs: Evaluate complex architectural proposals—such as build-vs-buy on hardware rigs or cloud vs. local simulation—balancing immediate project needs with long-term platform scalability.
- Master Project Lifecycle & Execution: Manage the end-to-end delivery of large-scale infrastructure projects, from initial requirements gathering with cross-functional stakeholders to laboratory deployment and maintenance.
- Mentor and Scale the Team: Foster a high-performance culture by coaching engineers on technical excellence and career growth, while recruiting top-tier talent to meet the evolving demands of our truck programs.
- Bridge Software and Physical Reality: Act as the primary interface between pure software teams and vehicle hardware teams, ensuring the platform accurately reflects the complexities of an autonomous truck.
What We're Looking For
- 10+ years of professional software or systems engineering experience: successfully built and shipped complex technical products or platforms.
- 7+ years of people management experience: a demonstrated ability to lead teams through high-pressure delivery cycles and organizational growth.
- Strategic Decision-Making: Proven ability to analyze technical trade-offs (e.g., performance vs. maintainability) and align engineering roadmaps with overarching business objectives.
- Strong Project Management: Expertise in managing complex, multi-stakeholder projects with a focus on predictable delivery, risk mitigation, and resource allocation.
- Technical Breadth: High proficiency in at least one systems-level language (e.g., C++ or Rust), an automation/scripting language (e.g., Python, Golang) or cloud infrastructure with the ability to lead deep-dive technical reviews across different layers of the stack.
Nice to Have
- Product-Minded Infrastructure: Experience managing 'platform-as-a-product' teams (e.g., DevOps, Developer Tools, or Simulation) where the primary customers are other engineers.
- HIL or Robotics Exposure: Familiarity with Hardware-in-the-Loop testing, robotics middleware (ROS), or hardware-software integration.
- Safety-Critical Systems: Experience working in regulated industries such as aerospace, automotive, or medical devices where safety and reliability are paramount.
- Scaling Internal Labs: Experience managing physical assets or laboratory infrastructure at scale within a high-growth technology environment.
Technical Stack
- C++
- Rust
- Python
- Golang
Team & Environment
You will lead the HIL Platform team.
Benefits & Compensation
- Compensation: $189,000 - $303,000 per year + equity
- Annual bonus
- Equity compensation
- Benefits
Aurora considers candidates without regard to their race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy status, parent or caregiver status, ancestry, political affiliation, veteran and/or military status, physical or mental disability, or any other status protected by federal or state law.
