Senior / Staff Software Engineer, ML-based Controls

Waabi
Remote US & Canada · Toronto, ON · San Francisco, CA · Pittsburgh, PA · Phoenix, AZ · Dallas, TXFull-time$241,000–$320,000Posted Sep 3, 2026

About the role

You Will…

Design and develop data-driven and machine-learned approaches to vehicle control problems, bringing modern ML to a domain traditionally solved with classical methods.

Develop learned models of vehicle behavior and dynamics, and integrate them into the closed-loop simulation.

Apply machine learning to improve how the controller adapts across vehicles and operating conditions.

Be part of a team of multidisciplinary Engineers and Research Scientists using an AI-first approach to enable safe self-driving at scale.

Own problems end to end, from conceptualization and offline experimentation through simulation and on-vehicle validation.

Build the data pipelines, evaluation metrics, and tooling needed to measure whether a learned approach outperforms the classical baseline.

Participate and share ideas in technical and architecture discussions, helping define how learning and classical control coexist in a safety-critical stack.

Qualifications:

MS/PhD or Bachelors degree with a minimum of 4 years of industry experience in Robotics, Controls, Mechanical/Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and/or similar technical field(s) of study.

Demonstrated depth in control theory and dynamic systems (e.g., MPC, optimal control, state estimation, system identification, kinematic and dynamic vehicle modeling).

Hands-on experience applying machine learning to a physical system, with real hardware in the loop rather than simulation alone.

Production-quality coding skill in Python and C++, and experience with deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch.

Solid problem solving skills using linear algebra, optimization, statistics & probability.

Ability to rapidly prototype and test new algorithms, and to design the experiments that prove whether they work.

Open-minded and collaborative team player with the willingness to help others.

Passionate about self-driving technologies, solving hard problems, and creating innovative solutions.

\n

\n

The US yearly salary range for this role is: $241,000 - $320,000 USD in addition to competitive perks & benefits. Waabi US Inc.’s yearly salary ranges are determined based on several factors in accordance with the Company’s compensation practices. Note: The Company provides additional compensation for employees in this role, including equity incentive awards and an annual performance bonus.

Responsibilities

  • Design and develop data-driven and machine-learned approaches to vehicle control problems
  • Develop learned models of vehicle behavior and dynamics
  • Integrate models into closed-loop simulation
  • Apply machine learning to improve controller adaptation
  • Own problems end to end from conceptualization to validation
  • Build data pipelines, evaluation metrics, and tooling

Qualifications

  • MS/PhD or Bachelor's degree with a minimum of 4 years of industry experience
  • Depth in control theory and dynamic systems
  • Hands-on experience applying machine learning to physical systems
  • Production-quality coding skill in Python and C++
  • Experience with deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch
  • Solid problem-solving skills using linear algebra, optimization, statistics & probability

Benefits

  • Competitive perks & benefits
  • Equity incentive awards
  • Annual performance bonus

Skills mentioned

PythonC++Machine LearningDeep LearningPyTorchRoboticsSystems EngineeringData PipelinesModel EvaluationSoftware Testing

About Waabi

Waabi is pioneering Physical AI – starting with autonomous trucks. Press: press@waabi.ai Business: partnership@waabi.ai

Truck Transportation51-200 employeesToronto

H-1B sponsorship history

Historical employer filing data was found for Waabi. The employer record includes 27 historical certified applications. This is employer-level history, not a guarantee that this role currently offers sponsorship.