Job Description

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Who we are

Gatik, the leader in autonomous middle-mile logistics, is revolutionizing the B2B supply chain with its autonomous transportation-as-a-service (ATaaS) solution and prioritizing safe, consistent deliveries while streamlining freight movement by reducing congestion. The company focuses on short-haul, B2B logistics for Fortune 500 retailers and in 2021 launched the world's first fully driverless commercial transportation service with Walmart. Gatik's Class 3-7 autonomous trucks are commercially deployed across major markets, including Texas, Arkansas, and Ontario, Canada, driving innovation in freight transportation.



The company's proprietary Level 4 autonomous technology, Gatik Carrier(TM), is custom-built to transport freight safely and efficiently between pick-up and drop-off locations on the middle mile. With robust capabilities in both highway and urban environments, Gatik Carrier(TM) serves as an all-encompassing solution that integrates advanced software and hardware powering the fleet, facilitating effortless integration into customers' logistics operations.


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About the role

We're currently looking for research scientists with specialized skills in Autonomous Driving, especially w.r.t. end-to-end Autonomy Stack. You will play a vital role in developing ML models that accurately map and perceive the environment, predict the behavior of surrounding agents, and plan and select optimal trajectories for our AVs. In this pivotal role, you'll be instrumental in designing and refining the ML algorithms that enable our trucks to safely navigate and operate in complex, dynamic environments. You will collaborate with a team of experts in AI, robotics, and software engineering to push the boundaries of what's possible in autonomous trucking.


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What you'll do

Develop novel end-to-end algorithms for Autonomy Stack Conduct research on foundation models for driving Develop robust, interpretable, and explainable Autonomous Driving models Push forward the cutting-edge AI large/foundation model-related methods for use in the Autonomy Stack for any subset of Mapping, Perception, Planning and Selection Test ML models in simulation to ensure robust performance and generalization Analyze model performance and identify areas for improvement, iterating on design and implementation to enhance quality and reliability Participate in the AI Research team activities targeting internal education and external scientific image Work closely with the Production teams to push your idea into the deployment Propose new ideas and build on top of state-of-the-art knowledge
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What we're looking for

You have a Ph.D. in one or more of the following areas: Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics, or a related field You have at least 1-3 years of hands-on experience in one or more of the following areas: Autonomous Driving (preferable), Robotics, or Deep Learning in general You have at least 1-3 years of research experience in one or more of the following areas: Foundation Modeling (preferable), Perception / Behavior, Computer Vision, Statistics, Probability theory Deep knowledge of Autonomous Driving including + Differentiable E2E Autonomous Driving modeling
+ Visual Language Model (VLM) / Multimodal Large Language Model (MLLM)-based approach
+ Foundation model interpretability: end2end vs modular approach
+ Sensor simulation specifics
+ Transformer-based Pipeline
Experience with sensor and behavior simulation environments for autonomous vehicles, such as CARLA, Waymax, or similar platforms Strong foundation in data structures, algorithm design, and complexity analysis Expertise in programming languages and tools critical for high-performance computing in Python/C++ and machine learning including Deep Learning frameworks like TensorFlow/PyTorch Demonstrated ability to publish research findings in any of the top-tier technical journals and conferences (ICRA, CoRL, IROS, ICLR, ICML, NeurIPS, AAAI, IJCAI, CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, etc.) You are passionate about Autonomous Driving!
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More about Gatik

Founded in 2017 by experts in autonomous vehicle technology, Gatik has rapidly expanded its presence to Mountain View, Dallas-Fort Worth, Arkansas, and Toronto. As the first and only company to achieve fully driverless middle-mile commercial deliveries, Gatik holds a unique and defensible position in the AV industry, with a clear trajectory toward sustainable growth and profitability.



We have delivered complete, proprietary AV technology - an integration of software and hardware - to enable earlier successes for our clients in constrained Level 4 autonomy. By choosing the middle mile - with defined point-to-point delivery, we have simplified some of the more complex AV challenges, enabling us to achieve full autonomy ahead of competitors. Given extensive knowledge of Gatik's well-defined, fixed route ODDs and hybrid architecture, we are able to hyper-optimize our models with exponentially less data, establish gate-keeping mechanisms to maintain explainability, and ensure continued safety of the system for unmanned operations.



Visit us at Gatik for more company information and Careers at Gatik for more open roles.


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Notable News

Forbes: Forget robotaxis. Upstart Gatik sees middle-mile deliveries as the path to profitable AVs Tech Brew: Gatik AI exec unpacks the regulations that could shape the AV industry Business Wire: Gatik Paves the Way for Safe Driverless Operations ('Freight-Only') at Scale with Industry-First Third-Party Safety Assessment Framework Auto Futures: Autonomous Trucking Group Gatik Secures Investment From NIPPON EXPRESS HOLDINGS Automotive News: Gatik foresees hundreds of self-driving trucks on road soon, and that's just the beginning Forbes: Isuzu And Gatik Go All In To Scale Up Driverless Freight Services Bloomberg: Autonomous Vehicle Startup Takes Off by Picking Off Easier Routes Reuters: Driverless vehicles on limited routes bump along despite US robotaxi scrutiny
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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.