Maps & Navigation Algorithms Engineer, Vehicle Controls

Tesla Motors, Inc.
140,000 - 360,000 USD
paid holidays, flex time, 401(k)
United States, California, Palo Alto
Jan 27, 2026
What to Expect As a member of the Vehicle Controls and Navigation Algorithms team, you will work on developing accurate maps of the world's road network, used to power Tesla's navigation engine which is leveraged by all existing customer cars and future Robotaxis. You will experiment with new algorithmic approaches to build maps, improve their quality, and implement these changes in production systems. Ultimately, you will positively impact customer experience by championing improvements across our map building stack in a data-driven, first-principled way that leverages all the data collected from our fleet of millions of vehicles across the world. This role is highly impactful, critical to the experience of millions of Tesla customers on the road today, and future autonomous Robotaxi fleets. What You'll Do Leverage Tesla's unique data sources and your skills to measure map quality and surfaces issues across elements like lane graphs, connectivity, attributes, points of interest, etc. Automate these workflows, improve their precision, and identify other process gaps, ultimately speeding up pace of map improvements Design, prototype, and deploy state-of-the-art machine learning and data-driven algorithms to efficiently up-level our map building process Use your insights to help prioritize improvements across the map building stack Overall, own and champion map quality - a critical part of our Robotaxi and Full Self Driving experience What You'll Bring Strong fundamentals of geo-spatial and topological analytics Understanding of approaches to measure, improve, and validate map and lane graph quality Comfort working with large production scale datasets Strong proficiency in either Python, Go, C++ and libraries for geo-spatial, and graph analysis Experience with GIS and map building/map quality problems at scale preferred Experience with using ML approaches to map problems is a plus Ability to collaborate cross-functionally with software developers to execute on open-ended projects in small, fast-moving teams Ability to clearly communicate actionable analytics and insights to cross functional teams Degree in Statistics, Operations Research, Computer Science, Data Science, or equivalent in experience and evidence of exceptional ability Compensation and Benefits 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 Expected Compensation $140,000 - $360,000/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.