Senior Autonomy Development Engineer – SOTIF

Caterpillar Inc.

Senior SOTIF Engineer managing safety of AI-enabled systems at Caterpillar. Leading SOTIF activities and collaborating across engineering and safety teams.

Posted 5/8/2026full-timeMossville • Arizona, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Texas • 🇺🇸 United StatesSenior💰 $112,710 - $183,140 per yearWebsite

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Lead the definition and execution of SOTIF activities for AI-enabled, autonomous, and safety-related control systems across development and operation phases.
Develop and maintain the SOTIF lifecycle aligned with ISO 6135 (EMM equivalent of ISO 21448) and integrated with functional safety, systems engineering, and AI safety activities.
Identify hazards, functional insufficiencies, triggering conditions, and reasonably foreseeable misuse at vehicle, system, and element levels.
Define Operational Design Domains (ODDs), behaviors, scenarios, and boundary conditions, including insufficiencies, limitations, and degradations.
Drive scenario-based safety analysis, including known and unknown scenario discovery, coverage assessment, and risk-based prioritization.
Specify and evaluate SOTIF mitigation measures, including functional modifications, restrictions, monitoring strategies, and handover mechanisms.
Define verification and validation strategies combining simulation, structured testing, data-driven analysis, and in-field monitoring.
Develop quantitative and qualitative safety metrics, including scenario coverage, criticality, discovery rates, and residual risk arguments.
Contribute to the creation of safety cases, assurance arguments, and technical construction files supporting product release decisions.
Support in-service monitoring, incident analysis, and continuous assurance through data collection, observers, and runtime safety mechanisms.
Collaborate with AI, autonomy, and platform teams to ensure tool credibility, data quality, and traceability of evidence across the lifecycle.
Participate in internal and external standardization efforts and ensure alignment with evolving safety and AI standards.

Requirements

What you’ll need

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Robotics, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field from an accredited institution.
Working knowledge in automotive, machine, or industrial embedded network communication software development fields.
Capable of developing and executing a data acquisition plan for detect radar and camera sensors.
Familiarization with core robotics principles.
Strong understanding of software engineering principles.
Familiarity with Agile methodologies and iterative development practices.
Ability to write clean, maintainable, and scalable code across the full stack.
Skilled in debugging, testing, and deploying software in production environments.
Skilled at programming in C++.
Proficient in object-oriented design and software architecture.
Knowledgeable in real-time systems and embedded programming.
Comfortable working with version control tools like Git.

Benefits

Comp & perks

Medical, dental, and vision benefits*
Paid time off plan (Vacation, Holidays, Volunteer, etc.)*
401(k) savings plans*
Health Savings Account (HSA)*
Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)*
Health Lifestyle Programs*
Employee Assistance Program*
Voluntary Benefits and Employee Discounts*
Career Development*
Incentive bonus*
Disability benefits
Life Insurance
Parental leave
Adoption benefits
Tuition Reimbursement

ATS Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

SOTIFISO 6135functional safetysystems engineeringAI safetyscenario-based safety analysisverification and validation strategiessafety metricsC++embedded programming

Soft Skills

collaborationcommunicationproblem-solvinganalytical thinkingattention to detailadaptabilitycritical thinkingproject managementteamworkleadership