Senior Autonomy Release Engineer II

May Mobility is transforming cities through autonomous technology to create a safer, greener, more accessible world. Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, May develops and deploys autonomous vehicles (AVs) powered by our innovative Multi-Policy Decision Making (MPDM) technology that literally reimagines the way AVs think.

Our vehicles do more than just drive themselves - they provide value to communities, bridge public transit gaps and move people where they need to go safely, easily and with a lot more fun. We’re building the world’s best autonomy system to reimagine transit by minimizing congestion, expanding access and encouraging better land use in order to foster more green, vibrant and livable spaces. Since our founding in 2017, we’ve given more than 500,000 autonomous rides to real people around the globe. And we’re just getting started. We’re hiring people who share our passion for building the future, today, solving real-world problems and seeing the impact of their work. Join us.

May’s Autonomous Release Engineers are front line problem solvers that get things done. They have the initiative, experience, and technical skill to be able to solve problems delegated to them without oversight. Confidence backed by knowledge and experience is a must.

This role sits at the intersection of:

Release execution & CI/CD

Autonomy system integration & debugging

Validation, simulation, and safety gating

You will ensure not only that software is releasable, but that it is safe, well-understood, and performs reliably in real-world conditions.

As a Senior Autonomous Release Engineer you will lead the solution of challenging and complex problems facing vehicle autonomy. You will lead the design of future May autonomy systems and track down and solve the system’s most difficult issues.

Autonomous Release Engineers are responsible for the integrated functioning of the autonomy system. Release Engineers interact with sensor hardware, middleware, autonomy software stack, networking, health monitoring, compute platforms and electronic systems. Release Engineers drive forward architectural design and hardware/software design through collaboration across other engineering groups. Additionally, Release Engineers create instrumentation to prove that the autonomy system is functioning correctly. You will be a go to person for understanding how new features will fit in, how the system might fail, how to best evolve the system to be more effective or efficient, and how to keep the system working.

This is a hands-on, systems-oriented role requiring strong technical judgment. You are expected to actively challenge release readiness when necessary and act as a safeguard for system quality, not just execute process. You will play a key role in scaling release cadence without compromising safety, partnering closely with autonomy, infrastructure, engineering, validation, and operations teams. You will set an example of initiative, data-driven decision making, design, and trouble-shooting. This position reports to the Sr. Manager, Autonomy Technical Release..

Essential Responsibilities

Release ownership and release execution end-to-end across:

Major autonomy releases

Incremental/performance releases

Hotfix/safety patches

Manage branching strategy, versioning, and release cut processes

Drive release readiness and go/no-go decisions

Partner cross-functionally with Autonomy, Infra, Validation, and Fleet Ops

Act as a system owner for release readiness Investigate and resolve complex issues arising from:

Software/hardware interactions

Distributed systems behavior

On-vehicle vs simulation discrepancies

Develop deep understanding of:

Sensor stack, middleware, autonomy stack

Compute platforms, networking, configurations

Be the go-to for:

“Why does this fail in the real world?”

“What changed between releases?”

Enforce stage-gated release framework:

Feature Complete → Code Freeze → Validation → Release Candidate

Integrate validation signals:

Simulation corpus results

Regression testing

Vehicle testing (HIL / on-road)

Ensure safety-critical issues are identified, tracked, and gated

Take initiative to find and permanently solve challenging system level issues caused by the interplay between different software and hardware components.

Collaborate and lead system-wide improvements when working with other teams without having direct ownership or management responsibility.

Assess and develop approaches that scale and improve performance in a variety of ways (e.g. CPU performance, memory usage, disk usage, network usage).

Assess and improve system robustness to systematic stochastic and transient issues that impact autonomous vehicle performance.

Support other autonomy engineers in designing and integrating their components with the full May system.

Qualifications and Experience

Candidates most successful in this role typically hold the following qualifications or comparable knowledge or experience:

Required

7+ years in autonomous systems, release engineering, and DevOps

Strong Python and scripting skills

Working knowledge or familiarity with C/C++

Experience working across full product lifecycle

Proven ability to debug complex system-level issues

Strong communication skills across technical domains

Desirable

10+ years of experience in autonomous robotic systems, DevOps and release engineering

Experience with autonomous cars, trucks, or similar vehicles.

A masters or PhD degree in Robotics, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering or an applied engineering field.

Previous experience in a startup or high performance research and development group with an emphasis on delivery

Experience with AV or robotics systems

Familiarity with:

Simulation frameworks

HIL / vehicle testing

Safety-critical systems (ISO 26262, SOTIF)

Physical Requirements

Standard office working conditions which includes but is not limited to:

Prolonged sitting

Prolonged standing

Prolonged computer use

Travel required? - No: 0%

Benefits and Perks

Comprehensive healthcare suite including medical, dental, vision, life, and disability plans. Domestic partners who have been residing together at least one year are also eligible to participate.

Health Savings and Flexible Spending Healthcare and Dependent Care Accounts available.

Rich retirement benefits, including an immediately vested employer safe harbor match.

Generous paid parental leave as well as a phased return to work.

Flexible vacation policy in addition to paid company holidays.

Total Wellness Program providing numerous resources for overall wellbeing

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and/or people of color are less likely to apply to a job unless they meet every qualification. At May Mobility, we’re committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workforce, so if you’re excited about this role but your previous experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification, we encourage you to apply anyway! You may be the perfect candidate for this or another role at May.

Want to learn more about our culture & benefits? Check out our website!

Note to Recruitment Agencies: May Mobility does not accept unsolicited agency resumes. Furthermore, May Mobility does not pay placement fees for candidates submitted by any agency other than its approved partners.

Salary Range

$176,000 - $253,000 USD

May Mobility uses automated tools to support — but not replace — human judgment in our recruiting process, to find out more please click here