Sr Staff Vehicle Engineer

Job description

About the Role Uber is launching AV Labs to accelerate the autonomous technology ecosystem. We're building out a high-velocity team of multi-disciplinary experts to turn real-world operations into high-quality data for our autonomous partners. This team is focused on the hardest problem in AV today: unlocking real-world, long-tail driving data. Autonomy is now a data race—and Uber has an edge: We collect rare, real-world driving data at a scale and capital efficiency no one else can match.

As a Senior Staff Vehicle Engineer, you will bring deep automotive industry expertise to be the cornerstone of our fleet. Thinking like an OEM, you will represent our autonomous partners in technical discussions with vehicle manufacturers. As a functional safety expert, you will translate complex safety concepts into rigorous vehicle specifications, ensuring the vehicle form meets collective Operational Design Domain (ODD) demands and provides the exact interfaces for safe, seamless system interaction.

What the Candidate Will Do Multi-Partner Alignment & OEM Leadership: Leverage deep OEM experience to act as the primary technical advocate for our AV partners. You will be responsible for aligning and synthesizing the varied technical needs of multiple partners into one single, unified set of vehicle requirements to deliver to the OEM.

Functional Safety Translation

Act as the domain expert for functional safety (e.g., ISO 26262), translating complex safety concepts into highly detailed, actionable vehicle hardware requirements for our OEM partners.

Interface & Architecture Definition

Define the exact mechanical, electrical, and software interfaces required for autonomous systems, and lead architectural decisions for vehicle sensor suites and compute platforms.

User Experience

Work closely with product, design, and operations teams to define and technically specify the overall user experience, translating broader rider needs into integrated vehicle requirements.

Basic Qualifications

8+ years of experience in automotive engineering, hardware systems design, or robotics hardware development, with a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a related engineering field. Deep, direct experience working within or extensively with automotive OEMs, possessing an "OEM mindset" and a proven ability to navigate their culture, development cycles, and technical negotiation processes. Expertise in automotive functional safety standards (e.g., ISO 26262) with a proven ability to translate safety requirements into detailed engineering specifications.

Strong hardware systems engineering skills and a deep understanding of vehicle electrical architectures, with no strict requirement for hands-on software development proficiency.

Preferred Qualifications

Extensive professional experience integrating autonomous vehicle hardware (sensors, compute) onto modern vehicle platforms. Deep understanding of functional safety analysis methodologies (HARA, FMEA, FTA, SOTIF) and how they drive vehicle-level requirements. Proven track record of designing for harsh environmental conditions and ensuring long-term reliability in fleet operations. Hands-on experience with automotive networking protocols (CAN, Automotive Ethernet, LIN) and power management systems.

Responsibilities

For Sunnyvale, CA-based roles

The base salary range for this role is USD $241,000 per year - USD $268,000 per year. You will be eligible to participate in Uber's bonus program, and may be offered an equity award & other types of comp. All full-time employees are eligible to participate in a 401(k) plan. You will also be eligible for various benefits.