Staff Software Engineer - GPU System Software, Onboard Execution

The job

LIVE Employer public job feed (private-sector employer) Source: the employer's public careers feed · Data: listed 2026-11-04

Job description

Zoox is building a purpose-built robotaxi from the ground up and running it on public roads today, with riders. Every perception, prediction, and planning decision runs on an onboard compute: a fixed-power, fixed-thermal, safety-critical, real-time system. 

That makes GPU execution one of the most consequential engineering problems in the company. Each new model generation wants more compute. Each new vehicle generation needs to cost less, use less power, and stay safe. Closing that gap is not a kernel-tuning exercise. It takes an end-to-end technical vision for how the whole onboard AI workload is scheduled, shared, isolated, and sized across GPUs, and the authority to drive that vision across ML, autonomy, middleware, and hardware organizations.

You will join Zoox's Software Performance organization, which owns end-to-end performance of the onboard software stack: profiling and observability, GPU compute, and compute platform. You will work closely with Perception, Prediction, Planning, ML Infrastructure, and Hardware teams, and you will be a senior technical voice for onboard compute across the company.

We are looking for the technical leader who sets that vision. You will define how Zoox runs AI on the vehicle, and you will own the strategy for doing more with less compute on every vehicle we build next.

Explore around this job

Field: Technology Sub-niche: Software engineering All jobs at Zoox Jobs in California Jobs in Foster City, CA Foster City city guide California state guide San Mateo County economy

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About the role

This is a — role in the Technology field (Software engineering) at Zoox.

We could not match this job title to one occupation in the official wage statistics, so no pay estimate is shown. Pay is not in the source listing; ask the employer for the range and compare in the 240 job niches.

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How to prepare and behave

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• Read the whole description and match your examples to its requirements; use the same words the posting uses where they are true for you.
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• Arrive early (or log in early for a video call), dress one step above the daily dress code, and test your camera and audio beforehand.
• Answer with short stories: the situation, what you did and the result. Give numbers when you have them and never invent them.
• Be honest about gaps; say what you did to learn and how fast you can close them.
• Ask about the team, the first 90 days, how success is measured and the schedule; do not open with salary and time off.
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• Send a short thank-you message within a day, mentioning one thing you discussed.
• Have code, data work or projects you can show, and be ready to think aloud: many technical interviews test how you reason, not only the answer.

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The city

The job is in Foster City, CA. Below is what the official statistics say about living and working there.

How Foster City compares. Among the 145 largest places in California, Foster City is #131 by population, #140 for rent (#1 = cheapest), #10 for college degrees (#1 = most), #10 for remote work (#1 = most). Its county, San Mateo County, is #2 of 58 counties for average pay ($196,441).

The place in numbers

Foster City has 32,792 residents (ACS 2020–2024), about 0.1% of the population of California. It covers 4 square miles of land, which works out to roughly 8,659 people per square mile. The median age is 39.5, 4% older than the state median (39.5 against 37.9).

Housing

The median gross rent is $3,501 a month (rent plus utilities), 72% above the state median ($3,501 against $2,036). Over a year that is 21.1% of the median household income. US housing guidance treats housing as affordable when it takes 30% of income or less, so the typical household is under that line. The median home value is $1,838,200, which is 9.2 times the median household income ($199,143); a ratio above 5 usually means buying is out of reach without savings or a second income. 50.8% of households own their home, 9% below the state average (50.8% against 55.9%).

Work and pay

The San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metropolitan area has 2,373,920 jobs in the BLS wage survey, and the median pay across all occupations is $74,260 a year, 46% above the national median ($74,260 against $50,980). The biggest occupation groups are office and administrative support (226,320 jobs, median $62,120); management (223,100 jobs, median $176,340); business and financial operations (207,030 jobs, median $112,960). The area is most specialised in computer and mathematical (1.9 times) and life, physical, and social science (1.8 times), where the share of workers is well above the national share. The best-paying groups with at least 5,000 jobs are management ($176,340) and computer and mathematical ($167,770). In 2026M09 the unemployment rate of San Mateo County was 3.9%. 67.2% of residents aged 16 and over are in the labour force. The city lies in San Mateo County; its jobs, pay by industry and GDP are on the county page.

Getting around

Among workers, 51.8% drive alone, 2.9% use public transit, 1.7% walk, 34.2% work from home. 20.6% of workers commute 45 minutes or more, 6% above the state average (20.6% against 19.4%). Remote work is more common than in the state as a whole, which widens the set of employers a resident can work for without moving.

People and education

73.8% of adults aged 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 99% above the state share (73.8% against 37.1%). 49.5% of residents were born outside the United States, 83% above the state share (49.5% against 27.0%). The poverty rate is 4.1%, 66% below the state rate (4.1% against 12.0%).

Climate

The warmest month is Sep, averaging 61°F (16.0°C), and the coolest is Jan at 51°F (10.7°C). About 515 mm (20 inches) of precipitation falls in a year; Dec is the wettest month (115 mm) and Jul the driest (2 mm). These values come from NASA satellite-based climatology on a grid of about 50 km, so they describe the wider area, not a weather station in the city.

Nearby cities to compare

Closest cities in this guide: San Mateo (3 miles, rent 12% lower); Redwood City (4 miles, rent 15% lower); Belmont (4 miles, rent 18% lower); San Carlos (5 miles, rent 18% lower). Rent differences are against Foster City; use the Compare tab to put any two cities side by side.

Full guide to Foster City →California guideAll jobs in Foster City

Official links for Foster City

• Official website of Foster City: fostercity.org
• Census Bureau data profile for Foster City
• Official website of San Mateo County: smcgov.org
• Official state website: ca.gov
• BLS Economy at a Glance: California

These links go to official sources and open in a new window. The first one is the government's or company's own site as listed in Wikidata (property "official website"); check it before relying on it.

Where to live

The job city has no coordinates we can place on the map, so no housing comparison is shown. Use the 250 largest cities table to compare rent and income.

Career paths

We could not match this title to one occupation, so here are the other sub-niches in Technology, where your skills may carry over:

Cybersecurity (760) Data, analytics and AI (3724) Cloud, IT and infrastructure (1161) Product management (935)

Distances

This job has no single city we can place on the map (remote, flexible or unmatched location), so no distance table is shown. Browse all Technology jobs with distances from any of the 20 largest cities.

The employer

Zoox is the employer in this listing. See all its open jobs here →

We do not hold headcount or revenue for this employer. Check its careers site and, if it is listed on a stock exchange, its public filings (SEC EDGAR search).

What it is like to work at a company (culture, schedules, benefits) is not in the source data, so we do not describe it. Read the description and ask the questions under "How to prepare".

Other open jobs at Zoox

Similar jobs

Same sub-niche: Software engineering

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FAQ

What is the Staff Software Engineer - GPU System Software, Onboard Execution job at Zoox?

A private-sector role in technology (software engineering) listed 6 days ago. The full description is on this page and on the employer's page.

Where is this job?

Foster City, CA.

How do I apply?

Use the "View this job and apply on the employer's page" button. AtiveSite does not receive applications.

How much does it pay?

The listing does not publish pay, and we could not match the title to one official occupation.

What is the cost of living there?

Median rent in Foster City is $3,501 a month and median household income $199,143 (ACS 2020–2024).

How old is this listing?

It was posted on 2026-11-04 (6 days ago). Jobs older than 90 days are not shown.

Are there similar jobs?

Yes: browse software engineering jobs in California.

Sources and terms

• Job data: Zoox careers page public feed (listing dated 2026-11-04). The job disappears from this site when it disappears from the source.
• Wages and projections: BLS OEWS (May 2025) and Employment Projections 2025–35.
• City and county figures: Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024, BEA, BLS QCEW and LAUS, NASA POWER climatology; distances from Census Gazetteer coordinates.

AtiveSite is not affiliated with or endorsed by the employer or any government agency, and does not process applications. Verify every detail with the employer before acting.

Sources

• BLS OEWS (wages and employment by occupation, May 2025)
• BLS Employment Projections 2025–35
• BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics
• BLS JOLTS
• BLS State and Metro Area Employment
• Census Bureau American Community Survey (via Census Reporter)
• BEA GDP by state and Regional Price Parities
• IRS 2026 tax adjustments
• U.S. Department of Labor, minimum wage by state
• Tax Foundation state income tax rates 2026
• USAJOBS
• USCIS
• U.S. Department of State, visas
• NASA POWER climatology
• GeoNames / Census Gazetteer (coordinates)