About the role
We are looking for a Senior or Staff Software Engineer with a strong background in Visual Odometry (VO) and Localization to join our autonomy team. This role is critical to building precise, real-time vehicle localization systems using camera-based perception for autonomous driving applications. The ideal candidate has hands-on experience deploying VO systems in real-world environments, particularly in the autonomous vehicle (AV) domain, and brings solid C++ engineering skills to architect robust, high-performance software solutions.
This role is onsite 5 days per week at our Santa Clara, CA office.
What you'll do
Design and develop real-time Visual Odometry pipelines using monocular, stereo, or RGB-D camera inputs.
Implement robust camera-based localization algorithms, including visual-inertial odometry (VIO), feature tracking, motion estimation, and scale recovery.
Integrate VO systems with IMU, GPS, and other sensor data to enhance pose estimation accuracy and stability.
Collaborate with the mapping, perception, and control teams to integrate localization with the AV software stack.
Develop and optimize production-quality code in modern C++ for real-time performance on embedded compute platforms.
Analyze system performance in diverse environmental conditions and drive improvements for reliability, accuracy, and robustness.
Participate in code reviews, mentor team members, and contribute to architectural decisions.
Stay up to date with the latest research in SLAM, VIO, and VO, and help transition promising techniques into production
What we're looking for
Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
5+ years of experience in robotics, computer vision, or autonomy; 3+ years specifically in Visual Odometry or VIO.
Experience working on Autonomous Vehicle platforms (e.g., development, testing, or deployment of AV systems).
Expert proficiency in C++ (C++14/17/20) and modern software engineering best practices.
Solid understanding of epipolar geometry, camera calibration, bundle adjustment, and optimization techniques.
Hands-on experience with open-source VO/SLAM libraries such as ORB-SLAM, VINS-Fusion, OpenVINS, or similar.
Experience working with ROS/ROS2, Linux development environments, and version control systems.
Bonus Qualifications
Experience integrating visual odometry with Lidar, GPS, or map-based localization.
Knowledge of GPU acceleration techniques (CUDA/OpenCV/OpenGL) for computer vision pipelines.
Familiarity with real-world deployment constraints such as environmental variability, sensor degradation, and compute limitations.
Experience in sensor calibration, time synchronization, and data preprocessing pipelines.
Contributions to relevant open-source projects or publications in VO, VIO, or SLAM.
Salary Range - $170,000- $260,000
More about Gatik
Founded in 2017, Gatik has grown into a commercial force in autonomous freight, operating trucks daily in live customer networks across the United States and Canada. We're headquartered in Santa Clara, California, but our impact is felt on the roads and in the supply chains that keep essential goods moving for some of the biggest companies in North America.
Our trucks do some of the most demanding work in freight, running high-frequency, time-sensitive routes between distribution centers and stores, where reliability matters every single day. For our customers, that means more capacity, better service and products arriving where they need to be, when they need to be there.
Behind it all is AI-first technology built from the ground up for autonomous trucking, capable of navigating highways and surface streets and tackling the complexity of real-world logistics at scale.
Visit Gatik for more company information and Careers at Gatik for more open roles.
Notable News
For the latest company news, visit the Gatik newsroom.
Recent media coverage
TechCrunch: Self-driving truck startup Gatik raises $200M following PepsiCo deal
Reuters: Gatik secures $200 million in funding as autonomous freight market accelerates
Bloomberg: Driverless Trucks Can Save Lives on America's Roads
PepsiCo website: PepsiCo and Gatik announce multi-year agreement to deploy autonomous freight in North America
Wall Street Journal: Driverless Trucks Are Here - and They’re Delivering Bags of Doritos
CBS News: Pepsi deploys self-driving delivery trucks
Bloomberg: Autonomous Trucking Firm Gatik Inks Contracts Worth $600 Million
Forbes: Hundreds’ Of Gatik Robot Delivery Trucks Headed For U.S. Roads
CNBC-TV18: No more test runs: Gatik says driverless trucks are now a real, money-making business
Forbes: Gatik And Loblaw Announce Largest Commercial Deployment Of AV Trucks
Taking care of our team
At Gatik, we connect people of extraordinary talent and experience to an opportunity to create a more resilient supply chain and contribute to our environment’s sustainability. We are diverse in our backgrounds and perspectives yet united by a bold vision and shared commitment to our values. Our culture emphasizes the importance of collaboration, respect and agility.
We at Gatik strive to create a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone feels they have opportunities to succeed and grow because we know that together we can do great things. We are committed to an inclusive and diverse team. We do not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, marital status or any legally protected status.
E-Verify Notice: By submitting your application, you acknowledge that Gatik participates in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security E-Verify program.
