Senior Staff System Architect
Aurora Innovation
Listing collected from Aurora Innovation's career site. NextChapter is independent of Aurora Innovation.
Mountain View, CA · Posted August 20, 2026
Just laid off? Start here: a plan for the first weeks
See every open role at Aurora Innovation
More in California job market · Technology & Software · Engineering jobs
More roles at Aurora Innovation
- Senior Staff Product and Program Manager · Mountain View, CA
- Central Development Operations Lead · Pittsburgh, PA
- Senior Systems Engineer, Hardware Systems · Dallas, TX
- Staff Software Engineer, Online Maps · Mountain View, CA
- Head of People Technology · Mountain View, CA
- Staff Application Security Engineer · Mountain View, CA
Similar jobs
- Solutions Architect, Executive Briefing Center · Nvidia · Santa Clara, CA
- Sr Solution Architect, Workday Financials · Workday · Pleasanton, CA
- Software Engineer III, Cloud - Falcon Asset Manager Platform (Hybrid) · CrowdStrike Holdings · Sunnyvale, CA
- Sr Software Engineer, Cloud - Vulnerability Management (Hybrid) · CrowdStrike Holdings · Sunnyvale, CA
- Senior Reliability Design Engineer (Teradyne, San Jose, CA) · Teradyne · San Jose, CA
- Sr Solutions Engineer · Pacific Life · Newport Beach, CA
Where Mountain View, CA ranks
Where Mountain View, CA placed in our monthly rankings, month by month. Each month stays online at its own address.
November 2026
- #1Best cities for AI-skill jobs45% · of 100
- #1Best cities for AI-skill jobs in the West Coast45% · of 71
- #1Best cities for mid-career professionals in the West Coast68% · of 71
- #1Best all-round cities for mid-career professionals in the West Coast85 / 100 · of 39
- #1Best all-round cities for AI careers in the West Coast96 / 100 · of 39
- #2Best cities for finance pay after cost of living$161k · of 35
Rankings about engineering jobs
- Best cities for software and engineering jobs #1 San Francisco (3,412 openings)
- Best cities for engineering pay after cost of living #1 San Mateo ($216k)
- Most requested AI skills in engineering jobs #1 AI tools in daily work (6.1%)
- AI tools named most often in engineering jobs #1 Claude (1.7%)
- Employers with the most engineering jobs #1 Amazon (2,992 roles)
How AI is used in this kind of work
Among computer occupations, all other, AI is already used for a large share of the tasks. Measured exposure for computer occupations, all other: 31% (high).
Share of this job’s tasks that AI is already used for at work, from real usage. It is not a forecast of job loss, and a low number means no use seen yet. Source: Anthropic Economic Index.
Skills this job asks for
Say which you have and which you want to build. We use it to match you to jobs like this one.
About the job
Who we are
Aurora’s mission is to deliver the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly.
The Aurora Driver https://aurora.tech will create a new era in mobility and logistics, one that will bring a safer, more efficient, and more accessible future to everyone.
At Aurora, you will tackle massively complex problems alongside other passionate, intelligent individuals, growing as an expert while expanding your knowledge. For the latest news from Aurora, visit aurora.tech http://aurora.tech or follow us on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/auroradriver.
What we are looking for
Aurora hires talented people with diverse backgrounds who are ready to help build a transportation ecosystem that will make our roads safer, get crucial goods where they need to go, and make mobility more efficient and accessible for all.
In this role you will
- Define and maintain the overall system architecture for complex hardware/software integrated products.
- Translate product and market requirements into system-level specifications, functional decomposition, and architecture artifacts.
- Conduct trade‑off analyses incorporating performance, security, reliability, power, thermal, and cost considerations.
- Select and recommend technologies for processors, memory, storage, networking, management controllers, and other core system elements.
- Establish and enforce system interface standards and interoperability guidelines.
- Lead architecture reviews and manage cross-domain technical risks.
- Support engineering teams during design, validation and manufacturing readiness.
- Mentor engineering staff in system-level thinking, architecture methods, and technical decision-making processes.
Required qualifications
- This role requires a bachelor's or master's degree with a focus in electrical or computer engineering
- 12+ years experience with proven ability to lead cross-functional technical initiatives and resolve integration challenges
- Expertise in system architecture, understanding of signal and power integrity, high speed signaling
- Lead hardware/software co-design efforts to maximize performance per watt and overall system efficiency
- Expertise in multiple relevant domains: compute architecture, networking, power and thermal management, system security.
- Familiarity with industry standards such as PCIe, Ethernet, GMSL, NVMe, CAN, I²C, SPI, and emerging protocols
- Experienced in producing architectural documentation, designing diagrams, compiling requirements matrices, and providing technical justifications.
- Excellent communication skills for interacting with technical & non-technical stakeholders
Desirable qualifications
- Experience with driverless automotive systems, Lidar system architecture, and/or network design
- Deep understanding of AI/ML accelerators and energy efficient compute design
- Background in performance modeling, cost optimization & workload driven architecture
- Knowledge of automotive requirements, safety framework (ISO26262) and qualification processes
- FPGA/ASIC Design experience
For roles based in Mountain View, CA: The salary range for this position is $197,000 - $285,000 per year.
Aurora’s pay ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, the successful candidate’s starting base pay will be determined based on factors including job-related skills, experience, qualifications, relevant education or training, and market conditions. These ranges may be modified in the future. The successful candidate will also be eligible for an annual bonus, equity compensation, and benefits.
Working at Aurora
At Aurora, we bring together extraordinarily talented and experienced people united by the strength of our values. We operate with integrity, set outrageous goals, and build a culture where we win together — all without any jerks.
We believe in-person work increases collaboration, empathy, and our ability to lead effectively. As a result, Aurorans are expected to work from the office at least 3 days per week, with some roles requiring more frequent in-office presence, up to 5 days per week, based on operational needs.
Our Careers page https://aurora.tech/careers provides insight into what it is like to work at Aurora, and you can find all the latest updates in our Newsroom https://aurora.tech/newsroom.
Our commitment to safety
At the core of everything we do is our commitment to safety. Building best-in-class self-driving technology will take time, and we believe that each employee at Aurora has a role in contributing to safety, every step of the way. Aurora expects commitment to our safety policies from every employee, and seeks candidates who take an active responsibility, can contribute to building an atmosphere of trust, and invest in the organization’s long-term success by prioritizing working safely, no matter what.
Our commitment to inclusion
Aurora considers candidates without regard to their race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy status, parent or caregiver status, ancestry, political affiliation, veteran and/or military status, physical or mental disability, or any other status protected by federal or state law. Aurora considers qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law. We are also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at careersiteaccommodations@aurora.tech.
For California applicants, information collected and processed as part of your application and any job applications you choose to submit is subject to Aurora’s California Employment Privacy Policy.