Senior V&V Engineer – Closed Course & Proving Grounds

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 Before autonomous trucks operate on public roads without a driver, their performance must be physically validated in controlled, repeatable environments. The Senior V&V Engineer – Closed Course will lead the design, orchestration, and execution of rigorous physical test scenarios on proving grounds. You will push Gatik’s commercial vehicles to their operational and physical limits using robotic targets, weather simulation setups, and controlled fault-injection techniques to validate system safety requirements. This role is onsite 5 days a week at our Santa Clara, CA office! What you'll do Key Responsibilities - Track Test Execution: Plan and execute closed-course test programs for new software features, hardware platforms, and safety-critical fallback maneuvers on commercial trucks. Own the process end to end. - Robotic Equipment & Soft Targets: Setup and operate state-of-the-art proving ground equipment. - Ensuring Testing Coverage: Ensure that V&V plans are developed and executed, providing triaging feedback to relevant stakeholders and tracking issues to conclusion. - Data Collection & Log Analysis: Analyze high-precision vehicle dynamics data, IMU outputs, CAN logs, and autonomy telemetry using Python/MATLAB to evaluate dynamic performance. - Test Site Safety Protocols: Enforce strict track safety procedures, risk assessments, and emergency intervention protocols for all track personnel and test drivers. Minimum Qualifications - Education: B.S. in Automotive Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, or Systems Engineering. - Experience: 5+ years executing vehicle-level closed-course testing on proving grounds for AVs, ADAS, or automotive OEMs. - Practical Skills: - Direct experience operating soft-target robotic platforms. - Proficiency in automotive data acquisition tools (CANoe, CANape, Dewesoft, Wireshark). - Strong Python scripting capabilities for log parsing and test metrics generation. - Safety Rigor: Demonstrated adherence to proving ground safety regulations and risk mitigation practices. Preferred Qualifications - Experience testing commercial trucks or heavy machinery. - Knowledge of ISO 26262 track validation and UNECE / NCAP active safety test protocols. 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.