Principal Software Engineer, Vehicle Dynamics Simulation - AV at NVIDIA USA

Compensation · Listed in posting

$248,000 – $391,000/yr

Location: Santa Clara, California
Type: Full-time
Level: staff+
Posted: Aug 29, 2026

Description

NVIDIA is hiring a Principal Vehicle Dynamics Simulation Engineer to lead the technical vision, architecture, and roadmap for a production vehicle dynamics simulation framework. The role develops C++ interfaces for simplified, replay-based, and high-fidelity multibody models; creates model-selection, parameter-identification, adaptation, and validation workflows; translates trajectory and control commands into motion and diagnostic outputs; and partners with planning, controls, safety, reliability, synthetic-data, and product teams. The position requires a bachelor’s degree in a relevant engineering or computer science field, 15+ years of relevant industry experience, deep vehicle-dynamics and multibody-simulation knowledge, and strong C++ and Python skills. The base salary range is 248,000 USD to 391,000 USD, with equity and benefits, and applications were accepted until September 2, 2026.

Required Skills

C++
Python
Vehicle dynamics
Multibody simulation
Parameter identification
Validation
Project Chrono
gRPC
CUDA

Additional Information

Minimum Education: Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
Required Previous Experiences: 15+ years of relevant industry experience.
Building modular, testable production systems for simulation, computer-aided engineering, robotics, autonomous vehicles, automotive controls, or physics-based software.
Calibrating and validating simulation models using measured logs, test-track data, controlled maneuvers, or simulation benchmarks.
Preferred Qualifications: Experience with Project Chrono, Chrono::Vehicle, CARLA, CarSim, CarMaker, Simulink and Simscape, ADAMS, Simbody, BeamNG, Unreal Engine, and PhysX.
Integrating multibody and parameterized model families across vehicle architectures, payloads, tire and road conditions, parking behavior, or OEM and supplier workflows.
Familiarity with Protocol Buffers, gRPC, API and ABI compatibility, Bazel, CMake, containerized simulation, continuous integration, CUDA, validation dashboards, or high-performance numerical computing.