Software Engineer, Generalist, Simulation

What to Expect

Full autonomy is of critical importance to Tesla's mission. As a member of TeslaSI’s Simulation team, you will be in a unique position to accelerate the pace at which Autopilot improves over time.

The main ways in which the simulation team realizes this is through building tools that enable TeslaSI developers to perform virtual test drives instead of real ones, testing all Autopilot software releases for regressive behavior and generating synthetic data sets for neural network training.

The foundation on which we build these elements is our simulation environment. We develop photorealistic worlds for our virtual car to drive in, enabling our developers to iterate faster and rely less on real-world testing. We strive for perfect correlation to real-world vehicle behavior and work with TeslaSI Software Engineers to improve both Autopilot and the simulator over time.

Our group is a cross-disciplinary team with people from various backgrounds and fields of expertise, like CS generalists, mechanical engineers, game developers, and computer graphics artists. As a member on this team, you will be challenged to learn about all these different disciplines and use your own expertise to further improve the scope and usability of our tools.

As a Simulation Engineer, you will contribute to the development of TeslaSI simulation by enabling and supporting the creation of photo realistic 3D scenes that can accurately model the driving experience in a wide range of locales and conditions.

What You'll Do* Contribute to the development of a modular, scalable simulation platform

• Work with all members of the TeslaSI team to understand the simulation requirements and develop tools to meet those needs
• Enhance the realism and performance of our in-house GPU ray tracer
• Implement algorithms enabling real-time rendering of realistic scenes with complex lighting environments
• Improve existing tools and features that enable the reproduction in Autopilot behavior in simulation

What You'll Bring* Extensive knowledge of light transport, appearance models, and color science

• Experience researching, developing, and optimizing state of the art ray tracing techniques such as next even estimation (NEE), reservoir importance sampling (RIS), and multiple importance sampling (MIS)
• Knowledge of modern graphics APIs and shader languages
• Experience working with training frameworks and understanding of modern machine learning concepts
• Experience with optimization across CPU and GPU
• Confidence with modern C++
• Experience with modern physically based rendering engines
• Excellent mathematics skills, including proficiency with linear algebra, calculus, and probability
• Deep understanding of tradeoffs in engine performance, scalability, and maintainability

Experience with supporting tools, such as exporters, terrain editors, and GPU debuggers

*

Benefits

Along with competitive pay, as a full-time Tesla employee, you are eligible for the following benefits at day 1 of hire:

• Medical plans > plan options with $0 payroll deduction
• Family-building, fertility, adoption and surrogacy benefits
• Dental (including orthodontic coverage) and vision plans, both have options with a $0 paycheck contribution
• Company Paid (Health Savings Accounts) HSA Contribution when enrolled in the High-Deductible medical plan with HSA
• Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
• 401(k) with employer match, Employee Stock Purchase Plans, and other financial benefits
• Company paid Basic Life, AD&D
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance (90 day waiting period)
• Employee Assistance Program
• Sick and Vacation time (Flex time for salary positions, Accrued hours for Hourly positions), and Paid Holidays
• Back-up childcare and parenting support resources
• Voluntary benefits to include: critical illness, hospital indemnity, accident insurance, theft & legal services, and pet insurance
• Weight Loss and Tobacco Cessation Programs
• Tesla Babies program
• Commuter benefits
• Employee discounts and perks program
• Earned Wage Access: Real-time pay access paid daily, subject to eligibility and schedule (applicable for below Sr. Managers levels)

Expected Compensation

$118,000 - $390,000/annual salary + cash and stock awards + benefits

Pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position may also include other elements dependent on the position offered. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.

Tesla is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action employer committed to diversity in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, gender identity or any other factor protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.

Tesla is also committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. Please let your recruiter know if you need an accommodation at any point during the interview process.