aimlroles

Senior/Staff Software Engineer - ML/AI Applications

Zoox zoox.com Open · verified Oct 22, 2026
Hybrid Foster City Full-time Senior AI Engineering

At a glance

Senior AI Engineering role at Zoox. Foster City · full-time · $215,000–$294,000 base.

SalaryStated by Zoox
$215,000 – $294,000
Base salary for this role, in USD per year, as published in the posting.
RoleAI Engineering
SenioritySenior
LocationFoster City
WorkplaceHybrid
EmploymentFull-time
Base pay$215,000–$294,000
PostedMay 5, 2026 · 5mo ago
Role brief

aimlroles summary, based on the employer's posting.

What you'll do

  • Lead integration of the agent runtime with internal and external clients, backend services, APIs, and cloud operations
  • Turn architecture and security needs into tool interfaces, testable milestones, and repeatable releases
  • Trace complex failures through logs, distributed traces, metrics, gateways, and session-token behavior, then document fixes
  • Set and review contracts, access allowlists, registry settings, environment plans, and interface assumptions
  • Prepare production releases by checking images, secrets and configuration, smoke tests, and branch and tag discipline

What you bring

  • At least seven years in software engineering, with strength in integration, platform, or backend work
  • A computer science degree or a related field, at bachelor’s or master’s level
  • Production Python skills, including asynchronous I/O and automated tests, plus experience in a large monorepo with CI delivery
  • Hands-on HTTP integration and Kubernetes service delivery, including REST or JSON-RPC, TLS, and deployment troubleshooting
  • Experience connecting authentication systems, including bearer tokens, JWT validation, OAuth2/OIDC, or enterprise SSO, with least-privilege access

Who this fits

This is a senior technical lead role centered on platform and service integration, including coordination with backend, agent, security, SRE/platform, and program teams. The role is based in Foster City and listed as hybrid.

From the employer

As a Technical Lead on Zoox's internal agentic platform, you will own end-to-end integration of a tool-centric agent runtime with external and internal agent clients, line of business backends, scheduled and interactive agent workloads, and cloud operations (Kubernetes, observability, secrets management). You will translate architecture and security intent into stable tool contracts, testable integration milestones, and repeatable releases, and you will be the primary engineer when issues sit at the boundary between product surfaces, platform services, and upstream systems.

This role is platform and service integration for an agentic framework that mediates tools (discovery, invocation, policy, and telemetry). Success is measured by reliable tool call paths over HTTP, correct authentication and scoping, environment parity from dev through production, and clear ownership across partner engineering, security, and infrastructure teams.

In this role, you will:

  • Own and lead integration strategy and execution across hosted services, shared libraries, standardized tool protocols (e.g., JSON-RPC over HTTP), REST APIs, and diverse callers (vendor agents, consoles, automation workers).

  • Drive cross-functional delivery with backend API teams, partner agent owners, security, SRE/platform, and program management, ensuring formal sign-off where required.

  • Debug and root-cause complex failures using structured logs, distributed traces, metrics, and gateway/session-token behavior, documenting durable mitigations and runbooks.

  • Define and review all integration artifacts (contracts, allowlists, registry config, environment matrices, and interface assumptions) that upstream and downstream teams implement against.

  • Contribute to release gating by ensuring container image promotion, configuration/secrets posture, smoke path execution for high-traffic flows, and disciplined branching/tagging for production intent

Qualifications:

  • BS or MS in Computer Science or a related field with 7+ years of software engineering experience, strong in integration, platform, or backend roles.

  • Strong Python (production services, async I/O, automated testing) and comfort in a large monorepo with CI-driven delivery.

  • Deep experience with HTTP integration (REST/JSON-RPC, TLS, debugging under load) and shipping services on Kubernetes (deployments, health checks, troubleshooting).

  • Auth integration experience: bearer tokens, JWT validation, OAuth2/OIDC or enterprise SSO concepts, and least-privilege scoping

Bonus Qualifications

  • Exposure to Model Context Protocol (MCP) or similar agent tool-calling and orchestration models used in industry or internal platforms.

  • Observability-led integration habits: metrics, traces, structured logging, and basic SLO or dashboard thinking for integration health.

  • Background in security-sensitive integrations (data minimization, external partner access, review cycles with security or compliance).

About ZooxZoox is developing the first ground-up, fully autonomous vehicle fleet and the supporting ecosystem required to bring this technology to market. Sitting at the intersection of robotics, machine learning, and design, Zoox aims to provide the next generation of mobility-as-a-service in urban environments. We’re looking for top talent that shares our passion and wants to be part of a fast-moving and highly execution-oriented team.
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AccommodationsIf you need an accommodation to participate in the application or interview process please reach out to accommodations@zoox.com or your assigned recruiter.
A Final Note:You do not need to match every listed expectation to apply for this position. Here at Zoox, we know that diverse perspectives foster the innovation we need to be successful, and we are committed to building a team that encompasses a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and skills.