Full-Time
Senior Software Engineer
Posted on 8/4/2025
Toyota Research Institute
201-500 employees
Advancing mobility through safety, automation, robotics
Compensation Overview
$180k - $258.8k/yr
Mountain View, CA, USA
Hybrid
 Software Engineering (2) |
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- Bachelor or master degree in Computer Science, Robotics, or a related field.
- 10+ years of relevant software development experience, ideally in robotics, automotive, embedded systems, or distributed platforms.
- Strong proficiency in modern C++ (C++14/17/20) and Python.
- Familiarity with Linux systems programming (e.g., sockets, filesystems, threading) and real-time systems.
- Experience building ML platforms, data pipelines, or distributed software systems and supporting machine learning training or inference pipelines.
- Familiarity with ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow), model deployment tools (TensorRT, ONNX, TorchScript) and inference runtimes.
- Familiarity with Linux-based development environments and production debugging.
- Experience integrating and debugging complex software systems, ideally in robotic or automated driving platforms.
- Proven ability to work hands-on and cross-functionally to solve real-world deployment issues.
- Design, implement, and maintain robust software in C++ and Python, that supports ML training, evaluation, and inference workflows.
- Build and maintain ML tooling for dataset handling, experiment tracking, metrics computation, and offline/online analysis.
- Enable model export and edge inference prototyping, including model packaging, runtime integration, and performance validation on embedded compute platforms.
- Build diagnostics, monitoring, logging, and introspection tools that provide visibility into runtime end-to-end machine learning model behavior and help accelerate iteration.
- Collaborate with ML researchers to translate experimental models into repeatable, production-ready pipelines.
- Support CI and automation for training, evaluation, and inference workflows.
- Partner with cross-functional teams to support software deployment and versioning, ensuring consistent behavior across environments.
- Apply rigorous engineering best practices, including code review, documentation, and testing, to deliver robust and maintainable systems.
- Experience in automated driving, robotics, or simulation-based system testing.
- Hands-on experience with embedded systems development, including work on platforms such as NVIDIA Jetson Orin, Qualcomm Snapdragon Ride, or similar automotive-grade Systems on Chips.
- Familiarity with container orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes), or orchestration tools for testing and deployment.
- Experience working with distributed compute systems, large-scale data logging, or introspection frameworks.
- Understanding of automotive software practices and standards (e.g., ISO 26262, safety-critical development).
- Prior experience in fast-paced R&D environments bridging research and production.
- Please include links to any relevant open-source contributions or technical project write-ups with your application.
Toyota Research Institute conducts research in automated driving, robotics, and materials science to improve vehicle safety and sustainability. The company develops software and hardware systems that use machine learning to predict human behavior and assist drivers, while also discovering new materials for zero-emission energy. Unlike many research labs, it bridges the gap between academic discovery and real-world automotive manufacturing by licensing its findings directly for use in Toyota’s global product line. Its goal is to enhance human capability and safety through technology that makes transportation more accessible and environmentally friendly.
Company Size
201-500
Company Stage
Seed
Total Funding
$100M
Headquarters
Los Altos, California
Founded
2016
Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- TRI partners with Boston Dynamics for advanced humanoid robots.
- TRI secures 1,200 patents in materials and electrification research.
- TRI collaborates with Stanford and MIT for AI robotics breakthroughs.
What critics are saying
- Hyundai outpaces Boston Dynamics-Toyota humanoids in deployment speed.
- Tesla FSD v12.5 captures market share over TRI's ADAS focus.
- OpenAI poaches TRI researchers crippling large behavior models.
What makes Toyota Research Institute unique
- TRI develops human-centered AI amplifying capabilities in aging society.
- TRI pioneers large behavior models teaching robots human interactions.
- TRI's Arene platform enables safety-first agile automated driving updates.
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Your Connections
People at Toyota Research Institute who can refer or advise you
Benefits
Highly competitive benefits package
Robust programs to support the wellbeing, happiness, and health of our people and their families.
401(k) plan including matching and annual profit sharing along with total vacation and holidays totaling 38 days per year.
Subsidized commuter benefits and generous employee and vehicle allowances
2 paid days per year to participate in volunteer activities.
Maternity Leave program with 10 paid weeks plus baby bonding leave and Milk Stork for traveling moms
Baby Bonding Leave–an additional 16 paid weeks–to all new parents, including those who choose to adopt.
Back-up child and adult / elder care programs to help everyone thrive
WellBeats Virtual Fitness Trainer.
Company News
Russ Tedrake to unveil stealth AI startup at Robotics Summit. Artificial intelligence has been dominating conversations at every technology event for the past few years, and the robotics industry continues to look for ways to apply the technology to robots. At the Robotics Summit & Expo, Russ Tedrake, a professor at MIT and former senior vice president of large behavior models (LBMs) at the Toyota Research Institute, will unveil his new stealth AI startup focused on deploying LBMs for robotics. Drawing on his deep experience in robotics and AI, Tedrake will share his vision for how physical AI can unlock more capable, adaptable robots across industries. The keynote, "Building Large Behavior Models for Industry," will examine the motivations behind the technology, early breakthroughs, and the potential impact of LBMs on next-generation robots. More about Russ Tedrake. Tedrake is the Toyota Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Mechanical Engineering at MIT, the director of the Center for Robotics at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (MIT CSAIL), and the leader of Team MIT's entry in the DARPA Robotics Challenge. His research is focused on finding elegant control solutions for interesting - under-actuated, stochastic, or difficult-to-model - dynamical systems that he can build and experiment with. Tedrake is particularly interested in finding connections between mechanics, especially non-smooth mechanics, and machine learning or optimization theory, which enable robust control design for complex mechanical systems. Tedrake is a recipient of the 2021 Jamieson Teaching Award, the NSF CAREER Award, the MIT Jerome Saltzer Award for undergraduate teaching, the DARPA Young Faculty Award in Mathematics, and the 2012 Ruth and Joel Spira Teaching Award. He has also been named a Microsoft Research New Faculty Fellow. Registration is now open for the Robotics Summit & Expo, the world's leading technical event for commercial robotics developers. The event is produced by The Robot Report and parent company WTWH Media. The show will have more than 50 sessions in tracks on artificial intelligence, design and development, enabling technologies, healthcare, and logistics. The Engineering Theater on the show floor will also feature presentations by industry experts. The Robotics Summit will also feature a number of networking opportunities. These include a Mix & Mingle Networking Reception after the first day of the show, the ticketed RBR50 Awards Dinner, and a Women in Robotics Breakfast. The Robotics Summit & Expo is co-located with DeviceTalks Boston, which focuses on medical devices.
Toyota unveils its Fluorite gaming engine. Toyota, through its subsidiary Toyota Connected North America, has announced the creation of its own game engine called Fluorite. Eurogamer reports this with reference to Automaton and Game*Spark. Fluorite is tightly integrated with Google's Flutter framework and uses the Dart programming language to implement logic and user interface. The main task of the development is to ensure high performance even on low-power or specialized equipment, including processing 3D graphics and interactive interfaces in the car cabin. Features of the Toyota Fluorite game engine. Among the key features of the engine is the Entity Component System core, written in C++ and optimized for work on devices with limited resources. Fluorite also offers a system of trigger touch zones defined at the model level. This allows artists to work in Blender and more precisely place interactive areas, simplifying the creation of three-dimensional interfaces. Another important feature is support for 3D rendering of game consoles, implemented on the basis of the Filament library from Google. This solution allows to improve the quality of graphics on car displays. In addition, the engine supports the Hot Reload function with Flutter, which allows you to update scenes and interface elements without restarting the system. According to Game*Spark, Toyota initially considered the possibility of using existing game engines, but faced high licensing costs and resource requirements. This led to the creation of its own solution. Toyota is positioning Fluorite as a fully open source engine. Although the company has no plans to enter the video game market, the tool will be available to independent developers who can use it in their own projects. Don't miss interesting news
Toyota releases Fluorite: A new tool for 3D graphics. * Web Desk - * Published February 10, 2026 Toyota Connected North America has launched a new game engine named Fluorite. The company designed this tool specifically to run high-quality 3D graphics on hardware that is typically less powerful than modern smartphones. While Toyota developed the engine for vehicle dashboards, it is releasing the project as a fully open-source platform. Engine Made for Cars and Embedded Devices Fluorite runs well on less powerful hardware. Toyota said it chose this path because most existing engines like Unity and Unreal require too much processing power and cost too much in licensing fees. Technology and Tools Fluorite is written in C++ and works with Google's Flutter toolkit. Developers use the Dart language to write applications and interfaces. The engine also supports modern graphics standards such as Vulkan, which helps with efficient rendering on weak systems. Fluorite includes tools to speed development. A hot reload feature lets programmers see changes fast. Artists can define interactive areas inside 3D models using familiar tools like Blender. Open Source and Future Uses Toyota is releasing Fluorite as open-source software. While its first goal is interactive vehicle displays and cockpits, independent developers can also use it for other projects on low-power devices.
Waltham robot maker Boston Dynamics is partnering with the Toyota Research Institute in Cambridge to develop advanced humanoid robots - two-legged people-shaped machines that can safely work side-by-side with humans.
RBR50 Spotlight: TRI builds large behavior models to teach robots. By The Robot Report Staff | August 8, 2024Listen to this articleOrganization: Toyota Research Institute. Country: U.S