Kakao Mobility is launching recruitment of R&D talent to internalise E2E autonomous driving technology. Kakao Mobility said on Thursday it has added a “Physical AI” tab to its hiring page and will recruit four core R&D roles for autonomous driving systems.

The positions cover four core areas of autonomous driving, from hardware and electrical and electronic equipment to software including AI and SLAM. The roles are an autonomous driving AI engineer to complete an E2E integrated AI brain through a VLA (Vision-Language-Action) model and machine learning operations, an autonomous driving SLAM engineer in charge of advancing precise positioning algorithms, an autonomous driving hardware engineer responsible for sensor packaging and control system design, and an autonomous driving E/E engineer to control in-vehicle data flows through ultra-high-speed communications network design. The company is targeting candidates with at least 5 years of experience and will run the hiring as an always-open recruitment process with no limits on scale or duration. The intensive recruitment period runs through March 29.

Kakao Mobility is currently advancing E2E autonomous driving core technologies based on complex urban driving data from areas including Pangyo and Gangnam. It is developing technologies including an “AI Planner,” a decision-making system for autonomous vehicles, and an “AI data pipeline” for training and verifying autonomous driving AI. The company plans to secure additional specialist staff through the hiring to increase the pace of technology development.

Kakao Mobility has operated a dedicated autonomous driving organisation since 2018. It has carried out demonstration projects in major urban areas nationwide including Pangyo, Gangnam, Daegu, Jeju and Sejong, and was recently selected as a Seoul autonomous vehicle passenger transport operator and launched services. It has also joined the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy-led “AI Future Car M.AX Alliance” as an anchor company, taking part in building a domestic autonomous driving technology ecosystem.

Kim Jin-gyu (김진규), head of the Physical AI division, said data that reads traffic flows, operational know-how built from solving complex real-world problems, and service capabilities that have kept customer safety as the top priority are unique assets of Kakao Mobility that even global big tech companies cannot easily imitate. He said joining now, when technology maturity, urban infrastructure and market needs converge, would allow people to write a new chapter in South Korea’s mobility history.

Kim said the hiring will accelerate the company’s leap into becoming a leading Physical AI company by internalising advanced autonomous driving technologies. He said he looks forward to active applications from talent who will join Kakao Mobility’s journey to secure global competitiveness, defend technological sovereignty and build a domestic autonomous driving cooperation ecosystem.