---
title: 'Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) Team Lead at Waabi'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/hardware-in-the-loop-hil-team-lead-waabi-pittsburgh-36jhb2942yj2'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-10'
---

# Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) Team Lead at Waabi

- **Company:** Waabi
- **Location:** Pittsburgh, PA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-08-25
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-10
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/waabi/0d9df53e-5b8a-4d32-8668-9f5c06bf7069

## Job description

Waabi, founded by AI visionary Raquel Urtasun, is the leader in Physical AI. With a world-class team, we're unlocking the next era of autonomous transportation with technology that's powering commercial autonomous trucks and robotaxis. Waabi is backed by and partners with world leaders in AI, automotive, logistics, and deep tech.

With offices in Toronto, San Francisco, Dallas, and Pittsburgh, Waabi is growing quickly and looking for diverse, innovative and collaborative candidates who want to impact the world in a positive way. To learn more visit: www.waabi.ai

You will... Lead Waabi's HIL program, owning the strategy, architecture, roadmap, and execution across Hardware and Software organizations. Define and deliver a tiered HIL architecture — from lightweight component-level benches (single ECU under test) through embedded-system benches to full-system integration benches — scaled across multiple vehicle platforms and OEM programs. Verification of critical electrical, timing, and fault-handling requirements from full-vehicle testing onto HIL benches, ensuring only mature software reaches the vehicle. Own safety-critical fault injection on real hardware: power loss, autonomy disconnect, redundant power failover, and other destructive or high-risk scenarios verified in a safe environment before track deployment. Validate real-time constraints (e.g., control loop update intervals) using hardware timestamping and instrumented measurement (oscilloscopes, high-speed DAQ). Integrate HIL testing into CI and the firmware/software release process, including automated smoke testing and test modality tracking. Partner closely with Embedded Systems, Systems & Safety, Autonomy, V&V, and Infrastructure teams to define requirements coverage and unblock development. Plan bench capacity, hardware resources (ECUs, actuators, harnessing), and headcount as the program scales; hire and grow the HIL team. Establish documentation, processes, and success metrics for the program (fault-injection coverage, release validation time, timing compliance).

Qualifications: Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent industry experience. 7+ years of experience in HIL, embedded systems test, or V&V for safety-critical systems, with demonstrated experience building HIL programs or labs from early stages. Hands-on experience architecting and building custom HIL platforms as well as using OTS systems. Deep knowledge of automotive interfaces and debugging: CAN, automotive Ethernet, and related protocols. Strong understanding of simulation vs. stimulation approaches — plant modeling and vehicle dynamics simulation as well as message-level injection for logical state testing. Proficiency in Python and test automation frameworks; experience integrating hardware test into CI pipelines. Demonstrated technical leadership: leading engineers, driving cross-functional projects with high ambiguity, and communicating across hardware and software organizations. Excellent technical writing skills for effective communication and documentation. Passionate about self-driving technologies, solving hard problems, and creating innovative solutions.

Bonus: Experience with functional safety standards (ISO 26262) and real-time safety-critical systems. Experience with heterogeneous compute platforms (e.g., NVIDIA DRIVE-class SoCs, safety MCUs) in HIL environments. Experience with fault-injection hardware, load boxes, and breakout/harness design for bench systems. Prior experience in autonomous vehicles, trucking, or other complex vehicle programs spanning multiple platforms.

Perks/Benefits: Waabi provides a competitive benefits package that includes: Competitive compensation and equity awards. Health and wellness benefits encompassing Medical, Dental, and Vision coverage Paid parental, medical and family care leave. Generous PTO Policy. Retirement savings plans including 401(k) or RRSP options. Health savings account contribution options. Daily drinks, snacks, and catered meals (when in office). Regularly scheduled team building activities and social events both on-site, off-site & virtually. Additional benefits are offered and tailored to specific country locations. As we grow, this list continues to evolve!

Waabi is a technology start-up building technologies to transform the way the world moves. Join our talented team to be a part of the future and to make an impact!

Waabi is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating a supportive, inclusive, and accessible workplace for all our employees. We seek applicants of all backgrounds and identities, across race, color, ethnicity, national origin or ancestry, age, citizenship, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military or veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or parental status, caregiver status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law. We make workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process please let our recruiting team know.

## About Waabi

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Waabi is pioneering Physical AI for autonomous vehicles, starting with self-driving trucks and expanding into robotaxis, using a breakthrough interpretable AI model and the industry's most realistic neural simulator.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series C, $1B total funding)
- **Headquarters**: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- **Founded**: 2021
- **Founders**: Raquel Urtasun

## Core Business
- **Primary industries**: Autonomous vehicle technology, truck transportation, logistics, robotaxi services
- **Target customers**: B2B – trucking fleets, logistics providers, and eventually ride-hailing operators; enterprise partnerships with OEMs and transportation companies
- **Mission**: To empower humanity to build a better tomorrow by fundamentally rethinking how autonomous vehicles are developed, deployed, and scaled – safely and efficiently.

## Products & Services
- **Waabi Driver**: An end-to-end, interpretable and verifiable AI system that enables self-driving capabilities for trucks and, soon, robotaxis. The system is designed to be scalable and safe by leveraging a next-generation neural simulator (Waabi World) for validation before deployment on public roads.
- **Waabi World**: The industry’s most realistic neural simulator, used for testing and training the Waabi Driver in millions of scenarios, dramatically reducing the time and resources needed to bring autonomous vehicles to market.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private company)
- **Key Metrics**: Annual Revenue: $11.2M (est., from private data providers); Total Funding: ~$1B across four rounds; Headcount: 271 employees (+51% YoY)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Khosla Ventures (lead in Series B & C), Uber, Volvo Group Venture Capital, Radical Ventures, NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture arm)
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - Raised $750M Series C in January 2026 (led by Khosla Ventures)
  - Expanding from autonomous trucks into robotaxi market (hired Ryan Wallace as GM of Robotaxi in Sept 2026)
  - 52 active job postings (+62% YoY job posting growth)
  - Talent influx from Cruise, Aurora, Uber, Waymo, TuSimple, NVIDIA

## Competitive Advantages
- **Interpretable & verifiable AI**: Unlike black-box systems, Waabi’s end-to-end model is designed to be transparent and auditable, increasing trust and regulatory viability.
- **Neural simulator (Waabi World)**: Enables massive-scale virtual testing that accelerates development while maintaining safety – a key moat over rivals that rely on costly real-world miles.
- **Founder-led**: Raquel Urtasun is a world-renowned AI researcher (former Uber ATG chief scientist) with deep expertise in computer vision and autonomous systems.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale the Waabi Driver** for commercial trucking operations and simultaneously **enter the robotaxi market**.
- **Deepen OEM and strategic partnerships** (e.g., with Volvo and Uber) to integrate technology into production vehicles.
- **Continue aggressive hiring** of AI researchers, software engineers, systems engineers, and policy experts across North America.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Values safety, efficiency, data-driven decision-making, and a "virtuous cycle of innovation." Emphasis on real-world impact and personal growth.
- **Remote/Hybrid**: Offers remote flexibility with 5 offices across North America (Toronto, San Francisco, Dallas, Phoenix, Pittsburgh). Many roles are hybrid or remote.
- **Engineering culture**: Technical stack includes Python, PyTorch, TensorFlow, CUDA, ROS, Linux, Kubernetes, and proprietary simulation tools. 43% of employees are in technical roles, 15% in research.
- **Perks**: Not explicitly listed, but strong employer rating (4.6/5 on third-party reviews) and high compensation (e.g., Staff Software Developer median ~$151K USD, Systems Engineer ~$124K).
- **Growth opportunities**: 51% YoY headcount growth, many leadership hires; career progression from intern to director roles is common.

## Sources
1. [waabi.ai/careers](https://www.waabi.ai/careers)
2. [waabi.ai/company](https://waabi.ai/company)
3. [jobs.lever.co/waabi](https://jobs.lever.co/waabi)
4. [linkedin.com/company/waabi](https://www.linkedin.com/company/waabi)
5. [cbinsights.com/company/waabi](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/waabi)

## Other roles at Waabi

- [Vehicle Reliability Engineer - Night Shift](https://feeny.ai/job/vehicle-reliability-engineer-night-shift-waabi-dallas-3e8r7gae8dfc) — Dallas, TX
- [Senior Product Designer, Autonomy Data & Tooling](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-product-designer-autonomy-data-tooling-waabi-toronto-rm8emj4m9qcv) — Toronto, Canada
- [Staff Planner SW Quality Architect](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-planner-sw-quality-architect-waabi-us-rtftjrfsqkj1) — US &, Canada
- [Staff Systems Engineer - Operational Readiness and Field Safety](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-systems-engineer-operational-readiness-and-field-safety-waabi-united-ww24dedpeqtv) — United States
- [Applied AI Security Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/applied-ai-security-engineer-waabi-united-states-yqfqwngpexaz) — United States
- [Test & Evaluation Operator](https://feeny.ai/job/test-evaluation-operator-waabi-phoenix-7cts9eejextc) — Phoenix, AZ
- [Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) Software/Firmware Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/hardware-in-the-loop-hil-software-firmware-engineer-waabi-pittsburgh-n3m7g0gzdfb4) — Pittsburgh, PA
- [Bringup Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/bringup-engineer-waabi-pittsburgh-0p9szxz048d8) — Pittsburgh, PA
- [Shift Supervisor - Day Shift](https://feeny.ai/job/shift-supervisor-day-shift-waabi-dallas-yvd80qd56k96) — Dallas, TX
- [Dispatcher - Day Shift](https://feeny.ai/job/dispatcher-day-shift-waabi-dallas-53fyzs74ykkg) — Dallas, TX