Path Planning Engineer

Path Planning Engineer About the roleForterra is a fast-growing company at the early stages of growth. We hire talented people with diverse backgrounds who are ready to help build a technology ecosystem that supports our defense and commercial partners.

This role is focused on bridging planning algorithms with real-world vehicle systems, ensuring that autonomy performs reliably under real-time, on-vehicle constraints. You will be part of a team tackling planning problems across diverse domains such as complex, unstructured off-road terrain, coordinated formation control, and semi-structured environments like logistics yards. Platforms range from small robotic vehicles to full-scale trucks.

In addition to algorithm development, this role requires deep involvement in on-vehicle integration, system bring-up, debugging, and performance validation in field environments. Members of our Behavior Generation team must be resourceful, hands-on, and capable of owning problems end-to-end—from design through deployment on physical systems.

What you'll do

• Develop real-time (deterministic, randomized, and optimization-based) path and motion planning algorithms for various vehicle types (Ackermann, skid-steered, wheeled, tracked) using C++ in a Linux environment
• Integrate planning algorithms with on-vehicle systems, including perception, localization, controls, and platform interfaces
• Deploy, test, and debug autonomy software directly on vehicles, addressing real-time constraints, system latency, and hardware limitations
• Design and implement messaging for synchronization, logging and debugging across distributed systems
• Own end-to-end validation: simulation ? HIL ? on-vehicle testing, ensuring consistency and performance across environments
• Diagnose and resolve issues observed in field testing, including edge cases arising from sensing, actuation, and environment variability
• Work closely with cross-functional teams (Perception, Controls, Platform, Systems Engineering) to ensure robust and reliable vehicle behavior
• Travel up to 20% to support on-site vehicle integration and testing Qualifications
• BS, MS, or PhD in Robotics, Applied Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field
• Strong background in path planning, motion planning, or related autonomy domains
• Strong programming skills in C++
• Solid software engineering fundamentals: system design, unit/integration testing, debugging
• Experience deploying or integrating software on physical robotic or automotive platforms
• Ability to deliver production-quality software in a continuously integrated environment
• Demonstrates clean, maintainable code and documentation practices
• Strong problem-solving skills with a proactive, hands-on approach Preferred Qualifications
• Prior experience with unmanned ground vehicles operating in outdoor environments
• Experience with on-vehicle debugging, telemetry analysis, and real-time system profiling
• Familiarity with robotics middleware (e.g., ROS/ROS2 or similar frameworks)
• Experience working across perception-planning-controls interfaces
• Expertise with GPU or ML toolkits such as CUDA, PyTorch, TensorFlow, and/or TensorRT US Salary Range $150,000—$180,000 The salary range for this role is an estimate and is based on a wide variety of compensation factors.

The salary offered to candidates will vary based on a variety of factors including (but not limited to) relevant work experience, education, specialized training, critical expertise, training, and more. Equity in Forterra is included in most of our full-time, high-demand roles and is tfore considered part of Forterra's overall compensation package. In addition to base salary and equity, Forterra offers competitive benefits for full-time employees including:

Premium Healthcare Benefits:

Three plan options, including an HSA-eligible plan, with Forterra covering 80% of the plan premium for you and your dependents.

• Basic Life/AD&D, short and long-term disability insurance plans 100% covered by Forterra, plus the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your dependents.
• Extremely generous company holiday calendar including a winter break in December.
• Competitive paid time off (PTO) offering 20 days accrued per year.
• A minimum of 7 weeks fully paid parental leave for birth/adoption.
• A $9k annual tuition reimbursement or professional development stipend.
• Fully stocked beverage refrigerators with all the Celsius your little heart desires.
• 401(k) retirement savings plan, including traditional, Roth 401(k), and after-tax deferral with company match up to 4%.

Your recruiter will be able to share more information about our salary and benefits offering during the hiring process. Forterra is an equal-opportunity employer, providing and promoting equal employment opportunity in accordance with local, state, and federal laws. Forterrans are unique, talented individuals who are united through a shared passion to deliver autonomous systems that enable national resilience and a robust supply chain. All qualified applications will receive equal consideration for employment.

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