Demo

Senior Software Engineer, Rendering and Sensor Simulation

Aurora Innovation
San Francisco, CA Full Time
POSTED ON 12/30/2025
AVAILABLE BEFORE 2/12/2026

Who we are

Aurora's mission is to deliver the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly.

The Aurora Driver will create a new era in mobility and logistics, one that will bring a safer, more efficient, and more accessible future to everyone.

At Aurora, you will tackle massively complex problems alongside other passionate, intelligent individuals, growing as an expert while expanding your knowledge. For the latest news from Aurora, visit aurora.tech or follow us on LinkedIn.


Aurora hires talented people with diverse backgrounds who are ready to help build a transportation ecosystem that will make our roads safer, get crucial goods where they need to go, and make mobility more efficient and accessible for all. We're searching for a Senior Software Engineer, Rendering and Sensor Simulation.

The Role:

Aurora is seeking a highly skilled and experienced Senior Software Engineer to join our team and contribute to the development of Alba, our cutting-edge in-house sensor simulation software. In this role, you will be instrumental in developing, optimizing and maintaining Alba, ensuring its high performance and accuracy in simulating real-world sensor data for autonomous driving systems. This is an exciting opportunity to work on a critical component of our self-driving technology, directly impacting the safety and reliability of our autonomous vehicles.

In this role, you will

  • Develop, optimize, and maintain core components of Alba, Aurora's sensor simulation software.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate Alba with other autonomous driving systems and ensure seamless data flow.
  • Identify and address performance bottlenecks, continuously improving the speed and scalability of the simulation system.
  • Contribute to the architectural design and evolution of the sensor simulation platform.

Required Qualifications

  • Strong proficiency in C with a deep understanding of software engineering principles.
  • Strong theoretical and practical knowledge of physically based rendering and production rendering systems.
  • Experience in performance engineering using manual code instrumentation and profiling tools (e.g. Intel Vtune)
  • Extensive experience in writing and optimizing high-performance code, particularly for computationally intensive applications.
  • Proven track record of optimizing existing codebases using techniques such as multi-threading, vectorization, and leveraging performance libraries (e.g. ISPC).

Desirable Qualifications

  • Experience with Digital Content Creation (DCC) tools such as Houdini.
  • Familiarity with Universal Scene Description (OpenUSD).
  • Experience with GPU programming, in particular Optix and CUDA.
  • Experience with third-party graphics libraries (e.g., Embree, OIIO).
  • Knowledge of network distributed programming.
  • Proficiency in Python.

The base salary range for this position is $189,000 - $303,000 per year. Aurora's pay ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, the successful candidate's starting pay will be determined based on factors including job-related skills, experience, qualifications, relevant education or training, and market conditions. These ranges may be modified in the future. The successful candidate will also be eligible for an annual bonus, equity compensation, and benefits.

#LI-KW1

#Mid-Senior

Working at Aurora

At Aurora, we bring together extraordinarily talented and experienced people united by the strength of our values. We operate with integrity, set outrageous goals, and build a culture where we win together — all without any jerks. Our Careers page provides insight into what it is like to work at Aurora, and you can find all the latest updates in our Newsroom.

Commitment to inclusion

Aurora considers candidates without regard to their race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy status, parent or caregiver status, ancestry, political affiliation, veteran and/or military status, physical or mental disability, or any other status protected by federal or state law. Aurora considers qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law. We are also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at careersiteaccommodations@aurora.tech.

For California applicants, information collected and processed as part of your application and any job applications you choose to submit is subject to Aurora's California Employment Privacy Policy.

Salary : $189,000 - $303,000

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