PhD Research Intern, Mapping Software

Zoox’s internship program provides hands-on experiences with state of the art technology, mentorship from some of the industry's brightest minds, and the opportunity to play a part in our success. Internships at Zoox are reserved for those who demonstrate outstanding academic performance, activities outside their course work, aptitude, curiosity, and a passion for Zoox's mission.

High-definition semantic maps are critical for enabling fully autonomous driving. We are looking for highly motivated individuals who are passionate about machine learning and computer vision. You will be part of our mapping team with a diverse group of researchers and engineers, working together to build core machine perception algorithms to understand the natural environments and build semantic maps in an automated way.

• Design and develop novel algorithms and ML models for 2D/3D perception to target near 100% accuracy for real-world safety-critical application
• Stay up-to-date with the latest state-of-the-art research in computer vision and machine learning. Integrating SOTA Vision Transformer, Vision Language Model in production.  and apply learned knowledge to improve our systems
• Coordinate cross-functional initiatives and collaborate with engineers from Mapping, Perception, and Data Science

• Currently working towards a Ph.D in a relevant engineering program
• Must be returning to school to continue your education upon completing this internship
• Good academic standing
• Able to commit to a 12-week internship beginning in late May or June of 2026
• At least one previous industry internship, co-op, or project completed in a relevant area
• Ability to relocate to the Bay Area, California for the duration of the internship
• Interns at Zoox may not use any proprietary information they are working on as part of their thesis, any published work with their university, or to be distributed to anyone outside of Zoox

• Experience with training and deploying deep learning models
• Experience with 3D computer vision and projective geometry
• Proficiency in Python and/or C++
• Experience with deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch

• Conference or journal publications in Computer Vision, Machine Learning or Robotics related venues (CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, ICRA, RSS, etc.)
• Experience with high-definition (HD) maps
• Experience with object detection, object recognition, semantic segmentation and/or semantic scene understanding
• Experience with 3D reconstruction, SLAM and/or Structure from Motion (SFM)
• Experience with Geographic Information System (GIS)

Compensation:

The monthly salary for this position is $9,500. Compensation will vary based on geographic location. Additional benefits may include medical insurance, and a housing stipend (relocation assistance will be offered based on eligibility).

About Zoox

Zoox is developing the first ground-up, fully autonomous vehicle fleet and the supporting ecosystem required to bring this technology to market. Sitting at the intersection of robotics, machine learning, and design, Zoox aims to provide the next generation of mobility-as-a-service in urban environments. We’re looking for top talent that shares our passion and wants to be part of a fast-moving and highly execution-oriented team.

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Accommodations

If you need an accommodation to participate in the application or interview process please reach out to accommodations@zoox.com or your assigned recruiter.

A Final Note:

You do not need to match every listed expectation to apply for this position. Here at Zoox, we know that diverse perspectives foster the innovation we need to be successful, and we are committed to building a team that encompasses a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and skills.