Engineering Manager, Simulation Scenario Generation
- Salary
- USD 237,000 - 322,000 / per-year-salary
- Level
- Lead
- Work type
- On-site · Foster City
Not stated in the posting: visa.
Open. First seen 22 October 2026.
About the role
Our Simulation team builds the tools that engineers across the company rely on to validate autonomous vehicle safety and performance - including 3D scenario authoring tools, generative models for realistic traffic and scenario generation, and agentic tooling that automates manual simulation workflows. The team combines traditional software engineering with machine learning engineers, and the simulation coverage they deliver directly determines how many miles, scenarios, and edge cases we can validate before each autonomy release.
We're looking for an Engineering Manager to lead a team of software and ML engineers building the scenario authoring tools, generative models, and agentic tooling that engineering relies on broadly to validate autonomous vehicle safety and performance. You'll own the team's technical direction - including its ongoing shift toward generative AI - while growing and developing the team, and you'll partner cross-functionally to scale our generative scenario creation capabilities as a company-wide capability with executive visibility.
In this role, you will:
- Manage and grow a mixed team of software and machine learning engineers building simulation tools that are used broadly across engineering to validate autonomous vehicle safety and performance.
- Set and drive the team's technical direction, investing in agentic tooling to automate manual simulation workflows and deploying in-house generative models for exploratory vehicle testing.
- Lead high-visibility, cross-functional initiatives to scale the company's generative scenario creation capabilities, partnering with stakeholders across engineering and earning executive sponsorship.
- Own delivery of simulation tooling and services, including scenario authoring tools (e.g., 3D visual editors) used broadly across engineering teams.
- Ensure simulation tooling keeps pace with new Operational Design Domain (ODD) capabilities and upcoming autonomy milestones.
- Recruit, mentor, and develop engineers across both software and ML disciplines, including hiring ML engineers; build a strong team culture and clear growth paths.
- Partner with product, safety, autonomy, and validation stakeholders to prioritize the roadmap, translate business needs into technical execution, and deliver against autonomy milestones.
Qualifications:
- 7+ years of software engineering experience, with demonstrated technical depth in simulation, developer tools, infrastructure, or a related domain.
- 2+ years directly managing software and/or ML engineering teams, including hiring, mentoring, and performance management.
- Experience partnering cross-functionally with leaders and stakeholders across engineering to prioritize and deliver a shared roadmap.
- Strong understanding of simulation, testing, or validation systems for complex, safety-critical software.
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
Bonus Qualifications:
- Experience managing teams that combine traditional software engineering with applied ML or generative AI.
- Familiarity with generative models applied to simulation or testing (e.g., traffic-infilling, scenario creation, synthetic data).
- Experience building or scaling tools used broadly across a large engineering organization, such as visual editors and agentic authoring tools.
- Background in autonomous vehicles, robotics, or another safety-critical, sensor-driven domain.
Track record of leading high-visibility initiatives with executive stakeholders.
What this role asks for
Particular to this role
Generative AI
Rare in Zoox's other 182 open postings.
In most of Zoox's ads
Machine Learning
Named in most of its open postings, whatever the role.
Compared with Zoox's other open jobs.
The team: Software Systems HIRES STEADILY
This role is one of 29 open in Software Systems. 9 were posted in the last 30 days and the oldest in October: a team that hires all year rather than one being built.
WHAT THE TEAM WORKS WITH, ACROSS ITS POSTINGS
Machine Learning (28 of 29), Python (18 of 29), C++ (17 of 29), Embedded Systems (10 of 29), Linux (8 of 29), Bash (7 of 29), PyTorch (7 of 29)
OTHER ROLES ON THIS TEAM
- Software Engineer, ML Training Optimization posted Oct 16
- Senior/Staff Software Engineer, ML Training Optimization posted Oct 16
- Senior / Staff Machine Learning Engineer - 3D Sensor Simulation posted Oct 12
- Machine Learning Engineer - 3D Sensor Simulation posted Oct 12
- Engineering Manager, Robot Data Visualization posted Oct 6
- Engineering Manager, ML Performance Optimization posted Oct 6
- Senior Software Engineer, Continuous Deployment posted Sep 29
- Software Engineer - Embedded Linux Operating Systems posted Sep 29
- Senior Software Engineer, Continuous Integration posted Sep 22
- Engineering Manager, Software Core Connectivity posted Sep 21
- Staff/Senior Staff Software Engineer - Product Security posted Sep 10
- Senior Software Engineer - Robot Software Infrastructure posted Sep 8
- Software Engineer - Robot Software Infrastructure posted Sep 8
- Software Engineer - Pipeline Infrastructure & Integration posted Sep 8
- Senior Software Engineer - Pipeline Infrastructure & Integration posted Sep 8
- Software Engineer - C++ On-Vehicle Data posted Aug 25
- Staff/Senior Staff Software Engineer - Full Stack posted Aug 21
- Staff Software Engineer, HPC posted Aug 10
- Senior Technical Program Manager - Vehicle Platform & Autonomy Integration posted Aug 5
- Software Systems Engineer - Security posted Aug 5
- Senior Software Systems Engineer - Security posted Aug 5
- Senior/Staff Software Engineer - Embedded Linux Operating Systems posted Aug 3
- Senior Software Engineer, Build Infrastructure posted Jul 10
- Senior Software Engineer, Vehicle Deployment posted Jul 8
- Software Engineer, ML Inference Optimization posted May 28
- Engineering Manager, Performance Optimization posted Apr 17
- Senior AI Developer Productivity Engineer posted Feb 10
- Senior/Staff Software Engineer, ML Inference Optimization posted Oct 28
From the team and dates on Zoox's own job board.
See Engineering Manager salaries in the United States →
Similar jobs
- Director of AI Data Operations at Nuro
Shares 2 skills: Generative AI, Machine Learning · Lead level · same country - Technical Product Architect at Qventus
Shares 2 skills: Generative AI, Machine Learning · Lead level · same country - Senior Consulting Director, AI Security, Proactive Services (Unit 42) at Palo Alto Networks
Shares 2 skills: Generative AI, Machine Learning · Lead level · same country - Senior Product Manager 1 at Pushpay
Shares 2 skills: Generative AI, Machine Learning · Lead level · same country - Director, Growth Engineering at Chime Financial, Inc
Shares 2 skills: Generative AI, Machine Learning · Lead level · same country - Wireless Firmware Validation Engineer at Zoox
Also at this company
Is this your posting? Email info@careerholo.com to have it removed.