---
title: 'Algorithm Engineer, Autonomy Planning & Prediction at Bot Auto'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/algorithm-engineer-autonomy-planning-prediction-bot-auto-houston-qt5gkcyz1nb3'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-04'
---

# Algorithm Engineer, Autonomy Planning & Prediction at Bot Auto

- **Company:** Bot Auto
- **Location:** Houston, TX / San Francisco Bay Area
- **Posted:** 2026-07-27
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-04
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/botauto/jobs/5371942008

## Job description

Company Introduction

At Bot Auto, we are revolutionizing the transportation of goods with our cutting-edge autonomous trucks, enhancing the quality of life for communities around the globe. With the agility of a startup and the wisdom of seasoned experts, our team has achieved numerous world-firsts and unparalleled innovations. United by a shared vision, we create groundbreaking solutions that propel the future of transportation. Join us and transform your ideas into reality.

## About The Role

You will design and ship the algorithms that decide how our trucks move. This spans classical motion planning and behavior, a growing learning-based prediction and planning pipeline, and the online mapping and map-building layer that planning depends on. You will work end to end — from problem framing and algorithm design through implementation, on-vehicle validation, and the cases that come back from the road. This is a hands-on engineering role for someone who wants their work driving real freight on public highways.

## What You'll Do

- Develop and improve motion planning and behavior algorithms for highway and surface-street driving.
- Build the learning-based pipeline for prediction and planning: data curation, model design and training, and integration on-vehicle.
- Advance online mapping and map-building, and the real-time map signals that planning consumes.
- Turn road and simulation cases into root-cause analysis, algorithmic fixes, and regression coverage that prevents recurrence.
- Collaborate across perception, control, simulation, and operations to take features from design through validated release.

Required Qualifications

- B.S. or M.S. in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, Applied Math, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
- 2+ years building production algorithms in robotics, autonomous vehicles, or a comparable real-time system.
- Strong C++ and Python; comfortable owning performance-sensitive code that runs on-vehicle.
- Solid foundation in at least one of: motion planning and optimization, prediction/behavior modeling, or mapping.
- A track record of shipping algorithms that ran on real hardware or in production, not only in research or simulation.

## Preferred Qualifications

- Experience with learning-based components in a planning or prediction stack (sequence/trajectory models, imitation or reinforcement learning, model training and deployment pipelines, GPU inference in a real-time loop).
- Experience with online/HD mapping, reference-line or lane-graph generation.
- Familiarity with the planning–perception interface: uncertainty representation, occlusion reasoning, safety and liability evaluation, and agent modeling.
- Experience operating in a safety-critical or heavily validated software environment.
- Background in autonomous trucking or highway-speed autonomy.

## About Bot Auto

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Bot Auto is a Houston, Texas-based autonomous trucking company developing Level 4 (L4) self-driving technology to operate a fleet of autonomous trucks and offer Transportation as a Service (TaaS) to major shippers and 3PLs.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Seed Stage)
- **Headquarters**: Houston, Texas, United States
- **Founded**: 2023
- **Founders**: Dr. Xiaodi Hou (CEO)

## Core Business
- **Primary Industry**: Freight and Package Transportation / Autonomous Trucking
- **Target Customers**: B2B — Enterprise shippers and third-party logistics providers (3PLs) seeking dedicated autonomous trucking capacity.
- **Mission Statement**: To make a lasting positive impact on humanity by revolutionizing the transportation industry with autonomous trucks, reducing environmental impact, and improving the quality of life for communities worldwide. [bot.auto](https://bot.auto/about)

## Products & Services
- **Autonomous Trucking Fleet (TaaS)**: Bot Auto operates a fleet of L4 autonomous trucks on Texas roads, providing a "Transportation as a Service" model. They target real shippers who need goods moved immediately, as well as transportation brokers looking for a dedicated carrier partner. [bot.auto](https://bot.auto/)
- **Cost Per Mile (CPM) Framework**: A publicly available benchmarking standard developed in partnership with Boston Consulting Group to measure operational efficiency for autonomous trucking companies, helping stakeholders make data-driven decisions. [bot.auto](https://bot.auto/)

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available.
- **Key Metric — Total Funding**: **$20.0M** in a single Seed round closed on September 26, 2024, backed by 9 investors. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/bot-auto)
- **Notable Customers**: J.B. Hunt, Ryan Transportation, Steves & Sons. [bot.auto](https://bot.auto/)
- **Growth Signals**: Employs 68 people with a 39.3% year-over-year headcount increase (+24 people); active job postings are up 60% year-over-year; the company has successfully deployed self-driving vehicles in Texas. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/bot-auto)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Leadership & Talent**: Founded by Dr. Xiaodi Hou, a recognized industry leader in autonomy. The engineering team is heavily staffed from top talent pools, including 23 former employees of TuSimple, along with engineers from NVIDIA, Waymo, Lucid Motors, and Motional. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/bot-auto)
- **Safety-First Foundation**: The company explicitly states "Safety isn't a feature — It's our foundation," positioning safety and operational rigor as the core differentiator. [bot.auto](https://bot.auto/)
- **Operational Focus**: Bot Auto employs a pure TaaS model with real shippers, proving commercial viability today rather than waiting for hypothetical future demand. Their CPM Framework provides transparency into the economics of autonomous trucking.
- **Customer Backing**: Already hauling freight for major names like J.B. Hunt, indicating trust and validation from established industry players.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scaling Commercial Operations**: Expanding fleet operations and autonomous capacity for shippers and 3PLs.
- **Technology Execution**: Continuing to deploy and refine L4 autonomous driving technology, with all development and engineering centered in Houston, Texas.
- **Talent Acquisition**: Aggressively hiring across engineering (software, machine learning, autonomy), operations (fleet maintenance, dispatch), and business functions (internships for MBA/Business roles). [Greenhouse](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/botauto)

## Why Work Here
- **Real Impact**: Bot Auto's autonomous trucks are actively operating on Texas roads today, offering engineers the chance to work on deployed technology that is "actually driving today." [bot.auto](https://bot.auto/career)
- **Culture of Excellence**: The team is described as "the best of the best" — industry leaders who know how to execute AI transformation, with a supportive environment encouraging continuous learning. [bot.auto](https://bot.auto/career)
- **Work Arrangement**: Multiple roles are listed as "Houston, TX preferred, open to remote," offering flexibility. The company is headquartered in Houston (15310 Park Row Blvd) with a presence in the San Francisco Bay Area and Canada. [Greenhouse](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/botauto)
- **Growth Trajectory**: With 39% annual headcount growth, a 60% increase in job postings, and a mission-driven focus on transforming transportation, the company offers significant career development opportunities.
- **Notable Perks**: The team benefits from hands-on work with cutting-edge computing, direct impact on product commercialization, and a mission with concrete economic and societal benefits.

## Sources
1. [bot.auto](https://bot.auto/)
2. [bot.auto/about](https://bot.auto/about)
3. [bot.auto/career](https://bot.auto/career)
4. [Greenhouse - Bot Auto Jobs](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/botauto)
5. [LinkedIn - Bot Auto Company Page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/bot-auto)

## Other roles at Bot Auto

- [Senior Functional Safety Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-functional-safety-engineer-bot-auto-houston-c2kr45m4344m) — Houston, TX
- [Inventory & Procurement Coordinator](https://feeny.ai/job/inventory-procurement-coordinator-bot-auto-brookshire-qawv91acfpp9) — Brookshire, TX
- [Technical Recruiter](https://feeny.ai/job/technical-recruiter-bot-auto-san-francisco-tgnran4yktqy) — San Francisco, CA
- [GPU Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/gpu-engineer-bot-auto-houston-56xpxvrhb6c9) — Houston, TX / San Francisco Bay Area
- [Local Driver CDL](https://feeny.ai/job/local-driver-cdl-bot-auto-dallas-de11dvtb9tkt) — Dallas, TX
- [Local Driver CDL](https://feeny.ai/job/local-driver-cdl-bot-auto-hutchins-3j1bnq2ged43) — Hutchins, TX
- [Senior Software Engineer, Developer Platform](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-software-engineer-developer-platform-bot-auto-houston-cz7pradks1n4) — Houston, TX / San Francisco Bay Area
- [Senior Algorithm Engineer, Deep Learning & Vision](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-algorithm-engineer-deep-learning-vision-bot-auto-houston-1r5932qxg9x8) — Houston, TX / San Francisco Bay Area
- [Algorithm Engineer, Deep Learning & Vision (New Grad)](https://feeny.ai/job/algorithm-engineer-deep-learning-vision-new-grad-bot-auto-houston-1wwtj3281y4a) — Houston, TX / San Francisco Bay Area
- [Software Engineer, Autonomous Driving Platforms](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-autonomous-driving-platforms-bot-auto-houston-0khgp25jsvaz) — Houston, TX / San Francisco Bay Area