Full-Time
Director of Autonomy Behaviors
Updated on 8/23/2026
May Mobility
201-500 employees
Autonomous vehicle mobility solutions for cities
Compensation Overview
$238k - $298k/yr
Ann Arbor, MI, USA
In Person
Minimal travel required (1%-10%).
Bachelor's, Master's, PhD
 Engineering Management (1) |
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- Deep technical knowledge and demonstrated success in delivering innovative solutions in planning, autonomous decision making, reinforcement learning, or computational prediction.
- Strong attention to detail and the ability to understand, track, and efficiently mitigate technical, integration, and personnel risks.
- Ability to turn uncertain concepts and problems into effective, executable plans to resolve them.
- Ability to get the best out of others, set goals and expectations, communicate clearly and honestly, and discuss difficult topics.
- Ability to clearly and concisely communicate technical concepts, including root cause analysis, technical challenges and solutions, and data-backed results.
- Ability to work with peers in related technical areas to jointly solve larger system issues.
- Ability to deliver under tight schedules.
- A bachelor's degree in engineering in a highly technical field, such as robotics, computer science, computer engineering, aerospace engineering, or physics, or equivalent experience.
- Demonstrated ability to solve complex autonomy problems as a principal investigator, staff or principal engineer, or director or equivalent.
- At least 7 years of software-focused engineering experience solving challenging robotics problems in mission-critical software or robotic systems.
- Experience leading a team of 10 or more engineers, including setting goals, leading by example, and handling challenging situations and failures.
- Previous experience as an individual contributor successfully developing and deploying innovative solutions in the autonomous vehicle or related space.
- Champion May Mobility’s mission, vision, values, and company priorities as a technical thought leader, and develop and execute the autonomy strategy with executives and engineering leaders.
- Work cross-functionally with Autonomy, Vehicle Engineering, Software, Data and Infrastructure, and Operations leaders to solve and deploy solutions to autonomy challenges.
- Deliver advances to Multi-Policy Decision Making technology, including data-driven policies, faster and more accurate simulations, learned reward functions, expressive policies, compatible and stable control algorithms, and other technology needed to advance the core technology.
- Ensure core Multi-Policy Decision Making technologies operate efficiently and effectively in commercial deployments, including triaging and resolving related issues.
- Maintain an understanding of planning, automated decision making, and machine learning research fields, including reinforcement learning.
- Develop and maintain key performance indicators to track autonomy performance.
- Construct and execute a roadmap to solve key challenges, and synchronize it with roadmaps from other autonomy functions.
- Interview, hire, and manage a diverse team of engineers and scientists.
- Oversee escalation of critical issues and opportunities within the autonomy team’s leadership, and drive recommendations to maximize team effectiveness against company priorities and strategy.
- A PhD or master's degree in a relevant, highly technical field, such as robotics, computer science, computer engineering, aerospace engineering, or physics.
- At least 5 years of management experience.
- Experience developing or using Multi-Policy Decision Making.
- Deep understanding of autonomous vehicle challenges and the state of the art in autonomy.
May Mobility builds autonomous mobility solutions by partnering with cities and businesses to offer self-driving passenger transportation and related services. Its system relies on on-board, real-time simulations that let the vehicle anticipate and safely respond to a wide range of road scenarios, enabling safe navigation in urban environments. Unlike many competitors that rely on external testing or staged environments, May Mobility emphasizes safety by continuously simulating potential situations on board to prevent risky maneuvers. The company differentiates itself through its city-focused partnerships and its emphasis on improving urban mobility, safety, and environmental impact. Its goal is to make cities more accessible and visually appealing by transforming how people move, using autonomous vehicles as a practical, scalable mobility solution.
Company Size
201-500
Company Stage
Late Stage VC
Total Funding
$392.6M
Headquarters
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Founded
2017
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- June 25, 2026 CaoCao partnership opens Europe and robotaxi commercialization pathways.
- May 20, 2026 architecture rollout supports driverless deployments and lowers compute and hardware costs.
- July 2026 leadership additions and 550,000+ rides strengthen partner confidence and fundraising leverage.
What critics are saying
- Uber Arlington launch in 2026 turns fatal after one safety incident or regulator pause.
- Ecarx and cross-border OEM dependence exposes May Mobility to supply and geopolitics by 2028.
- Autonomy as a service commoditizes; Waymo and Zoox compress margins, crushing standalone demand.
What makes May Mobility unique
- May 20, 2026 fifth-gen stack fuses deep learning, world models, and reasoning.
- May Mobility’s MPDM simulates hundreds of futures every 200 milliseconds for safety.
- July 6, 2026 hiring of Balajee Kannan deepens autonomy execution leadership.
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Benefits
Health, vision, & dental
Unlimited paid vacations & generous holidays
Paid parental leave
Stock options
Daily catered lunches & snacks
Flexible schedule
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↓ -1%1 year growth
↓ -2%2 year growth
↓ -1%May Mobility appoints Balajee Kannan as senior Vice President of Autonomy core engineering. Autonomous vehicle industry leader joins May Mobility to strengthen technical leadership and accelerate the company's next phase of global scale. ANN ARBOR, MI, UNITED STATES, July 6, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ - May Mobility Inc., a leading autonomous vehicle (AV) technology company, today announced the appointment of Balajee Kannan as senior vice president of autonomy core engineering, effective June 29, 2026. In this role, Kannan will help May Mobility advance its core autonomy capabilities, scale its autonomous vehicle deployments and execute on its commercial ride-hail strategy. Kannan brings more than 25 years of experience in robotics and autonomous systems. Most recently, he served as Vice President of Autonomy at Motional, where he led the autonomy, mapping, sensors and systems teams responsible for developing and scaling a global Level 4 autonomous driving program. He has also held senior engineering and leadership roles at Argo AI, Amazon, and GE, and holds multiple robotics patents. Earlier in his career, he co-founded a company focused on autonomous maritime systems. "I've spent more than 25 years in robotics and autonomy, and believe this industry is now at a critical inflection point where breakthrough technology is meeting real-world scale," said Kannan. "May Mobility stands out for its bold vision and passionate individuals dedicated to the mission, and I'm excited to help shape the next generation of autonomous systems alongside this team." In his new role, Kannan will oversee autonomy performance, integration, machine learning modeling, perception, behavior, mapping and localization. He will work closely with his counterpart, Jacob Crossman, senior vice president of autonomy engineering, who leads efforts to commercialize and scale the technology through vehicle platform engineering, software release management and autonomy safety testing and validation. Alongside CEO and founder Dr. Edwin Olson, they form May Mobility's technical leadership team responsible for defining strategy and driving execution as the company scales its autonomous services globally. "Balajee is one of the most accomplished autonomy leaders in the industry, with a proven track record of turning breakthrough technologies into reliable, deployed systems," said Olson. "His technical expertise and leadership will be instrumental in preparing our autonomy system to scale to new markets globally." These developments come amid accelerating momentum for May Mobility, including new and expanding partnerships across the ride-hail and automotive ecosystems, as well as the continued rollout of next-generation autonomy systems designed to support future driverless deployments. To date, May Mobility has completed more than 550,000 commercial rides and driven over 1.1 million autonomous miles in the U.S. and Japan, including driverless deployments across multiple U.S. markets, as it advances toward broader commercial adoption of autonomous transportation. Kannan joins following the recent appointments of Thomas Fennimore as chief financial officer and Matthew Wood as vice president of autonomy verification & validation, further strengthening May Mobility's executive leadership team. Kannan and Crossman will lead a bolstered autonomy team, driving greater technological development as the company scales through strategic partnerships, expands into priority markets globally and enters its next phase of commercial growth. Legal Disclaimer: EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
CaoCao and May Mobility announce strategic partnership to pioneer Robotaxi expansion in Europe. HANGZHOU, China, June 25, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - Recently, CaoCao and May Mobility, a global autonomous vehicle technology company, entered into a strategic partnership to jointly explore the large-scale commercialization of Robotaxi services in international markets. Under the agreement, the two companies will conduct joint feasibility studies and commercial exploration of Robotaxi deployment, and advance pilot programs in key markets including Europe. The partnership will also deepen collaboration in market expansion, operational model innovation, and commercialization pathways, with the objective of progressing from pilot validation toward scalable deployment. CaoCao will leverage its strengths in ride-hailing operations, fleet management, vehicle support and maintenance, and large-scale commercial operations, serving as the fleet owner and operator of Robotaxi services. May's autonomy as a service offering will power the fleet at scale. The in-situ autonomous driving system reasons through unfamiliar road environments, allowing it to adapt efficiently into new international markets. Notably, on June 18, CaoCao officially announced its full-scale AI transformation and unveiled its RoboX strategy. As the most important commercialization platform for Geely Holding Group's RoboX initiative, CaoCao will build an intelligent mobility ecosystem spanning Robotaxi, Robovan, and other use cases, centered on three core pillars: intelligent purpose-built vehicles, intelligent driving technology, and intelligent operations. This strategic partnership with May Mobility will further advance the overseas implementation of CaoCao's RoboX strategy and accelerate the development of a global Robotaxi operations network. As a global leader in autonomous driving technology, May Mobility developed a proprietary autonomy architecture which integrates deep learning, world models, and real-time reasoning to enable autonomous vehicles to navigate complex and dynamic road environments. The company has established partnerships with leading industry players and currently operates autonomous mobility services in the United States and Japan. Robotaxis are becoming an important area of innovation within the global smart mobility industry. This partnership combines the core strengths of both parties in autonomous driving technology and mobility operations, and will help accelerate the deployment of autonomous mobility services in more cities worldwide. Company: Caocao Inc. Contact Person: Jing Liu Email: [email protected] City: Hangzhou Country: China Website: http://caocao.com.cn aoCao and May Mobility entered into a strategic partnership to jointly explore the large-scale commercialization of Robotaxi services in international markets. Legal Disclaimer: EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. Beijing Free Press do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
May Mobility has launched its fifth-generation autonomous vehicle system, combining deep learning with a reasoning engine to handle complex driving scenarios. The technology uses a world model that simulates hundreds of "what if" scenarios every 200 milliseconds, predicting up to 10 seconds into the future. The system differs from traditional AV approaches by reasoning through novel situations rather than relying solely on training data. A multi-policy reasoning engine evaluates multiple driving strategies simultaneously, selecting the safest option whilst rejecting actions that fail safety parameters. May Mobility claims its approach requires smaller models and lower-cost hardware than conventional systems. The company has delivered over 525,000 commercial rides and 1.1 million autonomous miles, including driverless deployments across three US states. The technology will roll out to May Mobility's upcoming deployment on Uber's platform in Arlington, Texas.
Ecarx Holdings, backed by Chinese billionaire Li Shufu, has signed a deal worth approximately $750 million to supply robotaxis to US startup May Mobility. Under the agreement, Ecarx will deliver thousands of self-driving vehicles and design the computing platforms and sensor suites for the fleet. The partnership aims to halve the all-in cost of May Mobility's autonomous vehicles by 2028. The deal marks a significant cross-border collaboration in the autonomous vehicle sector between a Chinese-backed technology provider and an American mobility startup.
Mitsubishi UFJ Bank and Japan's public-private fund JICT have invested in May Mobility, a US autonomous-driving startup. The investment reflects Japan's push to expand driverless transport services as the country faces labour shortages and an ageing population. May Mobility operates autonomous vehicle services in the United States. The funding aims to support Japan's efforts to address transportation challenges through self-driving technology.