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# Staff Software Engineer, Motion Planning

- **Company:** AeroVect
- **Location:** Amsterdam, Netherlands
- **Experience:** Expert
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** Systems Engineering, C++ (Programming Language), Code Review, Computer Programming, Linux, Middleware, Python (Programming Language), MISRA C (C Programming Language), Motion Planning, Software Engineering, Information Technology
- **Published:** October 23, 2026
- **Apply:** https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=608da806e256c76d

## About the Role

* Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Math, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, Physics, or a related field.
 * Extensive hands-on experience designing and implementing planning modules for autonomous systems shipped to production or deployed in real-world operations.
 * Strong programming skills in C++ (preferred) or Python, and experience with Linux-based operating systems.
 * Demonstrated ability to take ambiguous technical problems and drive them to well-architected solutions independently.
 * Excellent communication skills, proactiveness, and a strong sense of ownership.

We Prefer:

 * MS or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Robotics, or a related field.
 * Mastery of Modern C++ (14 and beyond) and safety-critical coding practices (e.g., MISRA, ISO 26262).
 * 5+ years of industry experience in planning for robotic ground vehicles.
 * In-depth understanding of DDS frameworks like ROS/ROS2 or other networking middleware.
 * Experience in startup environments, demonstrating adaptability to rapidly changing priorities.

## Description

We are looking for an experienced Staff Software Engineer who can design and build best-in-class planning systems for autonomous driving in structured, low-speed environments.

In this role, you'll be the technical backbone of the planning stack - owning the design and implementation of production-grade mission planning, behavior planning, and motion planning software. You'll work across the full planning pipeline to achieve category-defining vehicle autonomy for the airside, tackling hard problems in trajectory optimization, decision-making under uncertainty, and real-time constraint optimization.

This opportunity offers a deeply technical engineer the chance to shape a market-defining enterprise product that combines autonomous vehicle technology with a robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) business model. This role reports to our Planning Tech Lead and works closely with the autonomy engineering team.

You Will:

 * Design, implement, and iterate on the mission planner, behavior planner, and motion planner for autonomous ground support equipment operating in airport airside environments.
 * Drive key technical decisions across the planning stack - selecting algorithms, defining interfaces, and establishing the architecture that the team builds on.
 * Prototype and evaluate new planning approaches (e.g., optimization-based methods, search-based planners, learning-augmented pipelines) and bring the best ideas to production.
 * Collaborate cross-functionally with perception, controls, localization, and systems engineering teams to deliver an integrated autonomous driving system.
 * Establish and promote best practices in software development, functional safety, and systems engineering as they apply to the planning domain.
 * Mentor other engineers through technical guidance, code review, and design discussions.