About the role
Who We Are
Gatik is in the business of autonomous freight, and that business is already on the road.
Every day, Gatik’s autonomous trucks move freight for Fortune 50 retailers, grocers and consumer brands across Texas, Arizona, Arkansas and Canada, connecting distribution centers and stores and keeping goods moving. At the heart of it all is the Gatik Driver™, our proprietary Level 4 autonomous driving system, powered by scalable, interpretable AI and engineered to deliver safe, reliable, high-frequency freight operations.
Gatik’s momentum is real. With more than $600 million in contracted revenue and $200 million raised in our August 2026 Series D round, Gatik has taken one of the toughest challenges in autonomous technology and turned it into a proven commercial business.
And the market is paying attention. In 2026, Gatik earned a place on Forbes' America's Best Startup Employers list, Fast Company's World's Most Innovative Companies list and the Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest-growing private companies. The Gatik Driver™ won an Edison Award for Advancements in Autonomous Driving, and Inc. named our Co-founder and Chief Engineer, Apeksha Kumavat, to its Female Founders 500 list.
There's a lot more road ahead, and some of the brightest, most driven minds in autonomous technology are building the next chapter at Gatik. We're taking on hard engineering problems, pushing the limits of what's possible and building on a commercial foundation that's already proven itself in the real world with some of the biggest companies in the world, like PepsiCo and Loblaw. If you're ambitious, love solving problems that matter and want to see your work make a real difference, you'll find plenty to get excited about here.
About the role
As the Staff V&V Systems Lead, you will serve as the master architect of Gatik’s overall Verification & Validation framework. You will oversee the complete V&V lifecycle—orchestrating how requirements flow into testing across SIL, HIL, Closed Course, and Public Road pillars. You will own the Verification Traceability Matrix (VTM), drive driverless release sign-off decisions, and synthesize empirical testing evidence to continuously prove Gatik’s safety cases.
This role is onsite 5 days a week at our Santa Clara, CA office!
What you'll do
Key Responsibilities • End-to-End V&V Strategy: Architect and govern the multi-pillar validation methodology (SIL -> HIL -> Track -> Public Road), ensuring optimal allocation of testing efforts to maximize safety verification efficiency. • Safety Case Evidence Synthesis: Own the empirical evidence layer of Gatik’s safety case (UL 4600 / ISO 26262), proving that system requirements are fully verified and validated. • Requirements Traceability (VTM): Build and enforce direct end-to-end traceability between top-level safety requirements, HAZOP/STPA mitigations, test procedures, and test execution results in Jama/Jira. • Driverless Release Gatekeeping: Serve as a technical sign-off authority for software and fleet updates bound for driverless commercial operations. • Cross-Pillar Governance: Align testing strategies across Simulation, HIL Bench, Track, and Field Deployment teams to ensure zero gaps in edge-case coverage. • Regulatory & Audit Readiness: Prepare comprehensive V&V summary packages and present audit-ready validation evidence to internal safety boards and third-party auditors.
Minimum Qualifications • Education: B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Systems Engineering, Computer Science, Robotics, or Aerospace Engineering. • Experience: 8+ years leading systems verification and validation programs for safety-critical autonomous systems, aerospace, or automotive platforms. • Leadership & Standards: • Mastery of the system V-model development lifecycle and safety standards (ISO 26262, UL 4600, ISO 21448). • Proven track record leading release gate sign-offs for safety-critical commercial products. • Mastery of requirement management platforms (Jama, DOORS) and test execution tools. • Strategic Architecture: Deep understanding of how to balance virtual testing (SIL/HIL) with physical testing (Track/Fleet) to achieve statistical confidence in system safety.
Preferred Qualifications • Direct experience leading the V&V sign-off for a fully commercialized, uncrewed autonomous vehicle system. • Background managing cross-functional technical teams across hardware, software, and field operations.
Salary Range - $180,000- $260,000
More about Gatik
Founded in 2017, Gatik has grown into a commercial force in autonomous freight, operating trucks daily in live customer networks across the United States and Canada. We're headquartered in Santa Clara, California, but our impact is felt on the roads and in the supply chains that keep essential goods moving for some of the biggest companies in North America.
Our trucks do some of the most demanding work in freight, running high-frequency, time-sensitive routes between distribution centers and stores, where reliability matters every single day. For our customers, that means more capacity, better service and products arriving where they need to be, when they need to be there.
Behind it all is AI-first technology built from the ground up for autonomous trucking, capable of navigating highways and surface streets and tackling the complexity of real-world logistics at scale.
Visit Gatik for more company information and Careers at Gatik for more open roles.
Notable News
For the latest company news, visit the Gatik newsroom.
Recent media coverage: • TechCrunch: Self-driving truck startup Gatik raises $200M following PepsiCo deal • Reuters: Gatik secures $200 million in funding as autonomous freight market accelerates • Bloomberg: Driverless Trucks Can Save Lives on America's Roads • PepsiCo website: PepsiCo and Gatik announce multi-year agreement to deploy autonomous freight in North America • Wall Street Journal: Driverless Trucks Are Here - and They’re Delivering Bags of Doritos • CBS News: Pepsi deploys self-driving delivery trucks • Bloomberg: Autonomous Trucking Firm Gatik Inks Contracts Worth $600 Million • Forbes: Hundreds’ Of Gatik Robot Delivery Trucks Headed For U.S. Roads • CNBC-TV18: No more test runs: Gatik says driverless trucks are now a real, money-making business • Forbes: Gatik And Loblaw Announce Largest Commercial Deployment Of AV Trucks
Taking care of our team
At Gatik, we connect people of extraordinary talent and experience to an opportunity to create a more resilient supply chain and contribute to our environment’s sustainability. We are diverse in our backgrounds and perspectives yet united by a bold vision and shared commitment to our values. Our culture emphasizes the importance of collaboration, respect and agility.
We at Gatik strive to create a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone feels they have opportunities to succeed and grow because we know that together we can do great things. We are committed to an inclusive and diverse team. We do not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, marital status or any legally protected status.
E-Verify Notice: By submitting your application, you acknowledge that Gatik participates in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security E-Verify program.
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