The posting
Join Toyota Automated Logistics and write the software that makes autonomous vehicles move safely through real warehouses. The PLE team owns product variants, sustaining engineering, and select new product development across our growing portfolio — conveyors, AGVs, and emerging product lines — plus the test infrastructure that validates them. This role sits on the vehicle side: motion control, safety systems, and the onboard software that decides how our AGVs behave.
The PLE Software Developer/Engineer I develops and maintains the onboard software that controls our AGV product lines — from motion and navigation behavior, to the safety systems that protect people working alongside our vehicles, to the interfaces that connect a vehicle to the wider fleet and to fixed automation. This is an entry-level role built for a new graduate: you'll start with well-scoped features, bug fixes, and test development under the mentorship of senior engineers, and grow into ownership of vehicle subsystems as your judgment develops. As PLE’s capacity to support AI robotic vision systems matures, there is a path into perception and vision-guided autonomy work for engineers who want it. Reporting to the Product Line Engineering Systems & Testing Team Lead, you'll partner daily with controls, mechanical, and project engineering.
Job Functions:
Vehicle Control Software Development
- Develop, test, and maintain onboard AGV software — motion control, navigation behavior, vehicle state management, error handling, and diagnostics.
- Implement well-scoped features, enhancements, and defect fixes across AGV product lines and variants, with design review and mentorship from senior engineers.
- Work with onboard controllers and embedded interfaces (CAN, serial, industrial Ethernet) and integrate vehicle software with higher-level PLC and fleet control.
- Contribute to code reviews, version control hygiene, and software documentation as a regular part of the development cycle.
Safety Systems & Compliance
- Support development and maintenance of AGV safety functions — obstacle detection, protective stop behavior, speed and zone enforcement, and E-stop logic.
- Implement and verify safety-related software under the direction of senior engineers, following applicable functional safety and industrial vehicle standards (ANSI/ITSDF B56.5, ISO 3691-4).
- Maintain traceability between safety requirements, implementation, and verification evidence to support product certification and audit.
- Participate in risk assessments, hazard analyses, and design reviews for vehicle safety behavior.
Testing, Validation & Debug
- Write and maintain unit, integration, and regression tests for vehicle software; support automated test development where it saves manual effort.
- Validate software on physical AGVs in the engineering lab and test cells — running scenarios, capturing data, and confirming behavior against requirements.
- Troubleshoot vehicle issues using logs, bus analyzers, and data capture tools; perform root cause analysis and drive fixes through to release.
- Support sustaining and field issue resolution across AGV product lines in partnership with project engineering and service.
Engineering Process & Growth Areas
- Work within the team's Agile cadence — JIRA backlog grooming, sprint commitments, and status transparency.
- Contribute to engineering process and software ownership within PLE, including PLM, design tools, code repositories, and version control practices.
- Grow into AI robotic vision work as the capability develops — perception pipelines, object and obstacle detection, sensor fusion, and vision-guided AGV behavior.
- Take on additional development scope, subsystem ownership, and technical decision-making as skills and product knowledge grow.
Travel Requirements:
- 5% overnight travel (Travel expenses paid by Toyota Automated Logistics)
Required Qualifications and Preferred Skills:
- BS in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, Software Development, or a related technical discipline.
- 0–2 years of professional experience; new and recent graduates are encouraged to apply.
- Proficiency in at least one of C, C++, C#, or Python, with solid fundamentals in data structures, algorithms, and debugging.
- Working knowledge of version control (Git) and collaborative development practices such as branching and code review.
- Willingness to work hands-on with physical hardware in a lab and production environment.
- Strong documentation, communication, and organizational skills.
- Must be eligible to work in the USA long term without sponsorship.
- Employees must follow all information security policies, protect confidential data, complete required training, and report any suspected security incidents to support our information security controls.
About Toyota Automated Logistics:
Toyota Automated Logistics is your global partner for integrated warehouse automation. Our team combines the talents of Bastian Solutions, Vanderlande’s warehousing business and viastore under one brand to deliver scalable systems, intelligent software and life-cycle services.
In addition to exciting work at a growing company, we offer the following benefits:
- Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance
- 401(k) Retirement Plan with a company match
- Vacation / Holiday Pay
- Paid Volunteer time off
- Tuition Reimbursement
- Professional Associations, Conferences and Subscriptions
- Company Meetings & Events
Toyota Automated Logistics does not work with outside recruiting agencies. No solicitation phone calls please.
