AV Senior Engineer: Vehicle Dynamics Control

Why Aidoptation?

At Aidoptation, we develop autonomous driving software for high-speed (120kph) driving. Our EdgeDrive stack is built on deterministic, rule-based control and designed to avoid safety-critical situations before they arise. We hold the first authorisation to test Level 4 autonomy on public highways up to the speed limit. As a startup, we move fast and stay close to the technology, so your work ends up on real vehicles on real roads. Because of our roots in autonomous racing we build with precision and robustness.

What You Will Do

You will own the development of lateral and longitudinal control for high-speed automated driving, building the systems that convert planned motion into safe, smooth, and dynamically stable vehicle behavior. This includes trajectory tracking, stability control, and safety-critical maneuvers, with responsibility for designing control architectures that perform reliably under real-world actuation and vehicle constraints. You will work across feedforward and feedback methods, MPC-style control, gain scheduling, and constraint handling, and define the metrics and safety envelopes used to evaluate controller quality.

You will also build and maintain the integration layer between planning and the vehicle, ensuring trajectories are translated into robust steering, brake, and powertrain commands with proper handling of rate limits, actuator dynamics, and diagnostics. A key part of the role is establishing repeatable tuning, validation, and regression workflows across simulation, HIL, and vehicle testing, so improvements can be measured and released with confidence. Working closely with planning, localization, and systems teams, you will help mature the stack into a production-ready control capability for high-speed highway ADAS, validated across platforms and conditions and ready to support partner integration, customer programs, and real-world deployment.

Requirements

Must-Haves

• MSc in Control, Mechanical, Automotive, Robotics, or similar, with 5+ years of equivalent industry experience, or a PhD with 3+ years of equivalent industry experience.
• Strong fundamentals in vehicle dynamics, tire modeling, stability, and control theory.
• Hands-on experience shipping control software in C++ and/or MATLAB/Simulink, with disciplined testing and calibration.
• Experience with simulation and validation workflows (SIL/HIL) and real-vehicle testing.
• Comfortable operating in Linux environments; experience with ROS 2 is a strong plus.
• Driving license valid in the EU.
• Startup mentality: hands-on, proactive, and ready to take ownership across domains.
• Fluent English (Dutch is a plus)
• Applicants must already have the right to work in the EU. Visa sponsorship is not available.

Nice-to-Haves

• Experience with MPC toolchains, real-time optimization, or embedded targets.

• Knowledge of functional safety processes (ISO 26262) and SOTIF (ISO 21448).

• Experience with high-performance vehicles, motorsport, or limit-handling test programs.

• Familiarity with CAN/CAN-FD, Automotive Ethernet, and time synchronization (PTP/NTP).