Senior V&V Engineer – Public Road & Fleet Testing

Who We Are Gatik is in the business of autonomous freight, and that business is already on the road. Every day, Gatik’s autonomous trucks move freight for Fortune 50 retailers, grocers and consumer brands across Texas, Arizona, Arkansas and Canada, connecting distribution centers and stores and keeping goods moving. At the heart of it all is the Gatik Driver™, our proprietary Level 4 autonomous driving system, powered by scalable, interpretable AI and engineered to deliver safe, reliable, high-frequency freight operations. Gatik’s momentum is real. With more than $600 million in contracted revenue and $200 million raised in our August 2026 Series D round, Gatik has taken one of the toughest challenges in autonomous technology and turned it into a proven commercial business. And the market is paying attention. In 2026, Gatik earned a place on Forbes' America's Best Startup Employers list, Fast Company's World's Most Innovative Companies list and the Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest-growing private companies. The Gatik Driver™ won an Edison Award for Advancements in Autonomous Driving, and Inc. named our Co-founder and Chief Engineer, Apeksha Kumavat, to its Female Founders 500 list. There's a lot more road ahead, and some of the brightest, most driven minds in autonomous technology are building the next chapter at Gatik. We're taking on hard engineering problems, pushing the limits of what's possible and building on a commercial foundation that's already proven itself in the real world with some of the biggest companies in the world, like PepsiCo and Loblaw. If you're ambitious, love solving problems that matter and want to see your work make a real difference, you'll find plenty to get excited about here. About the role The Senior V&V Engineer – Public Road & Fleet Testing bridges system development and driverless commercial deployment. This role is responsible for validating system behavior across Gatik’s active B2B customer routes, assessing map release quality, tracking real-world safety metrics, and proving that autonomous trucks meet strict driverless deployment gates. You will analyze fleet data, investigate operational events, and ensure the autonomous fleet safely executes daily middle-mile freight deliveries. This role is onsite 5 days a week at our Santa Clara, CA office! What you'll do Key Responsibilities - Public Road Validation Strategy: Define and execute on-road structured testing and shadow fleet evaluation programs for new software builds across commercial customer corridors. - Route & Map Validation: Validate map updates, route configurations across customer ODDs prior to driverless sign-off. - Disengagement & Anomaly Investigation: Perform deep-dive root-cause analysis on events, dynamic anomalies, near-misses, and unexpected vehicle behaviors using log visualization tools (Foxglove, Grafana, SQL, Python). - SPI & KPI Verification: Track Safety Performance Indicators (SPIs) and performance metrics to quantify system readiness for fully driverless operation. - Field Deployment Support: Serve as the primary V&V technical owner for vehicle commissioning, operational readiness, and customer route expansion. - Feedback Loop to Engineering: Translate on-road findings into structured bug reports, regression scenarios for SIL/HIL, and action items for autonomy algorithm teams. Minimum Qualifications - Education: B.S. or M.S. in Systems Engineering, Computer Science, Automotive Engineering, or Data Analytics. - Experience: 5+ years in field validation, fleet testing, or systems engineering for autonomous vehicles or large-scale robotic fleets. - Data Analysis Mastery: - Advanced proficiency in Python, SQL, and data visualization/log analysis platforms (Jupyter, Grafana, Foxglove, MCAP). - Demonstrated experience analyzing sensor logs (LiDAR, Radar, Camera, CAN) to triage autonomy failures. - Domain Expertise: Deep understanding of Operational Design Domains (ODDs), route mapping validation, and fleet-wide safety monitoring. Preferred Qualifications - Experience deploying L4 driverless commercial operations in freight, trucking, or ride-hailing. - Expertise in statistical fleet reliability modeling. - Strong cross-functional leadership skills working directly with Operations, Safety, and Engineering teams. Salary Range - $160,000- $260,000 More about Gatik Founded in 2017, Gatik has grown into a commercial force in autonomous freight, operating trucks daily in live customer networks across the United States and Canada. We're headquartered in Santa Clara, California, but our impact is felt on the roads and in the supply chains that keep essential goods moving for some of the biggest companies in North America. Our trucks do some of the most demanding work in freight, running high-frequency, time-sensitive routes between distribution centers and stores, where reliability matters every single day. For our customers, that means more capacity, better service and products arriving where they need to be, when they need to be there. Behind it all is AI-first technology built from the ground up for autonomous trucking, capable of navigating highways and surface streets and tackling the complexity of real-world logistics at scale. Visit Gatik for more company information and Careers at Gatik for more open roles. Notable News For the latest company news, visit the Gatik newsroom. Recent media coverage: - TechCrunch: Self-driving truck startup Gatik raises $200M following PepsiCo deal - Reuters: Gatik secures $200 million in funding as autonomous freight market accelerates - Bloomberg: Driverless Trucks Can Save Lives on America's Roads - PepsiCo website: PepsiCo and Gatik announce multi-year agreement to deploy autonomous freight in North America - Wall Street Journal: Driverless Trucks Are Here - and They’re Delivering Bags of Doritos - CBS News: Pepsi deploys self-driving delivery trucks - Bloomberg: Autonomous Trucking Firm Gatik Inks Contracts Worth $600 Million - Forbes: Hundreds’ Of Gatik Robot Delivery Trucks Headed For U.S. Roads - CNBC-TV18: No more test runs: Gatik says driverless trucks are now a real, money-making business - Forbes: Gatik And Loblaw Announce Largest Commercial Deployment Of AV Trucks 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. E-Verify Notice: By submitting your application, you acknowledge that Gatik participates in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security E-Verify program.