We are recruiting for a Head of ADAS & AD Software to join our Autonomous, Connected Mobility and AI team in Woking. As the Head of ADAS & AD Software, you will own the end-to-end (E2E) autonomous driving software stack, and lead the development, integration, validation, and optimisation of ADAS/AD software stacks into McLaren Automotive embedded vehicle compute platforms.
This role will define the real-time behaviour, safety envelope, and learning loop of the AI models that power our next-generation autonomous features across multiple global markets. You will be responsible for translating high-level autonomy objectives into scalable, safe, and high-performance in-vehicle AI execution.
As a Head of ADAS & AD Software you’ll:
- Lead the development of McLaren’s end-to-end multimodal foundation AI stack for autonomy
- Define and optimize real-time AI inference pipelines for efficient, low-latency edge execution on embedded compute
- Architect stack modularity at the motion interface to support portability, explainability, and safety validation
- Integrate runtime behaviour modulation, confidence tracking, and safety-bound enforcement into the driving policy
- Collaborate with Cloud and Connectivity teams to implement continuous learning feedback loops, model update ingestion, and OTA deployment compatibility
- Oversee simulation and validation stack coverage (SIL, HIL, VIL) with clear traceability across model behaviour, safety case, and vehicle programs
- Ensure compliance with functional safety, cybersecurity, and regulatory frameworks.
- Proven track record of ADAS/AD software engineering, spatial AI, and embedded system development.
- Deep expertise in real-time sensor fusion, multi-modal E2E stack, and motion planning for autonomous driving.
- Experience integrating in-house and external AV software stacks into production vehicle platforms.
- Extensive experience in software optimization for low-latency AI execution.
- Strong track record in HIL/SIL validation, synthetic data modeling, and real-world autonomous driving test environments.
- Knowledge of functional safety, cybersecurity, and AI fairness/compliance standards.
We offer a wide – ranging benefits package, which includes:
- Structured career development framework
- 25 days’ holiday, plus bank holiday. Annual buy & sell up to five days
- Enhanced company pension scheme
- Discretionary annual bonus award
- Private medical insurance and health cash plan
- Life assurance benefit
- Ability to apply for a sabbatical of up to one year after only two years’ service
- Benefits you can adapt to your lifestyle, such as discounted shopping
- Generous parental leave policies
- A range of wellbeing initiatives, such as employee assistance programme and free financial & mortgage advice
No restraints. No limitations. We don’t simply push boundaries. We completely rethink them. McLaren Automotive exists to create breath-taking performance road cars.
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