We are looking for a hands-on Senior Vehicle Controls Engineer to own the systems that convert a planned trajectory into safe, stable, and comfortable steering, braking, and acceleration commands on a real vehicle.
Requirements
- Proven experience designing, implementing, tuning, and testing vehicle-control systems on real physical vehicles
- Experience with lateral and/or longitudinal control for cars, autonomous vehicles, mobile machinery, or similar wheeled vehicles
- Strong understanding of feedback control, stability, dynamic systems, and vehicle dynamics
- Experience with steering, throttle, braking, or drive-by-wire systems
- Experience with CAN bus, vehicle signals, and actuator command interfaces
- Ability to develop production-quality real-time control software in C++, C, or another suitable real-time language
- Experience with Python, MATLAB, or equivalent for modeling, system identification, log analysis, and controller evaluation
- Strong debugging and real-world testing skills
- Ability to work directly with vehicle hardware and participate in track or road testing
- Ability to demonstrate at least one control system taken from design through physical deployment, including tuning, validation, performance measurement, and safety mechanisms
Nice-to-have skills:
- Passenger-car ADAS or autonomous-driving development
- Electronic power steering, brake-by-wire, throttle control, ESC, or vehicle motion-control systems
- Model Predictive Control (MPC), optimal control, robust control, or nonlinear control
- State estimation, observers, sensor fusion, or tyre-force estimation
- Embedded Linux, RTOS, or safety-critical real-time systems
- Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) or vehicle-in-the-loop testing
- Functional safety, including ISO 26262 or SOTIF
- Experience with Openpilot, Autoware, Apollo, ROS, MATLAB/Simulink, CarSim, IPG CarMaker, dSPACE, or similar platforms
Similar Jobs
What you need to know about the Chicago Tech Scene
Key Facts About Chicago Tech
- Number of Tech Workers: 245,800; 5.2% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
- Major Tech Employers: McDonald’s, John Deere, Boeing, Morningstar
- Key Industries: Artificial intelligence, biotechnology, fintech, software, logistics technology
- Funding Landscape: $2.5 billion in venture capital funding in 2024 (Pitchbook)
- Notable Investors: Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Arch Venture Partners, MATH Venture Partners, Jump Capital, Hyde Park Venture Partners
- Research Centers and Universities: Northwestern University, University of Chicago, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Illinois Institute of Technology, Argonne National Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
