# Payam K. > Software Engineer, OTA Updates @ Mercedes-Benz R&D North America Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/payamk Early-career C++ and Python software developer on the OTA Updates team at MBRDNA, with a prior background in ADAS defect analysis and web development. The C++ side of my role gives me lots of hands-on experience with AUTOSAR Adaptive and QNX, and I spend the other part of my time working on test automation for HiLs and vehicles using Python. I work on performance-critical production code and the occasional cross-functional proof-of-concept. I've also been adding Product Owner responsibilities to grow in ways outside of writing code, as well. I'm seeking an FTE SWE role (L3 or equivalent) at a startup or mid-size company with strong mentorship to continue developing fundamentals in system design, C++ best practices, and long-term code ownership. I'm agnostic to the specific product you create, or whether I am working on internal tools or the customer-facing product; I can seamlessly fit into your team and hit the ground running either way. Let's talk about what you're looking for! ## Work Experience ### Software Engineer, OTA Updates @ Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America, Inc. Jan 2023 – Present | San Jose, CA ❖ Owned the integration of a proprietary delta update algorithm into the OTA update software stack (running on Vector Adaptive AUTOSAR) to reduce wireless data transmission costs by 70% and improve update speeds by 100% ❖ Conduct OTA performance testing to identify and implement opportunities to reduce CPU utilization, kernel calls, and deadlocks in the QNX resource-constrained and functionally safe embedded environment ❖ Optimize build process of delta update software generator by using flame and call graphs to pare dependencies, as well as reduce potential CVE exposure and FOSS licensing concerns ❖ Generate special software builds to support verification of bug fixes and unique test cases ❖ Perform HiL testing using Vector CANoe, an in-house UDS diagnostic testers, and an in-house Python framework ❖ Support the building of a PoC of an “always-on parked-car surveillance” feature by transmitting a video feed from the ADAS ECU to an Apple TV over RTSP ❖ Extend in-house Python test framework to automate OTA update tests on vehicles via the Mercedes-Benz backend ❖ Replace LZMA decompression with ZSTD in AUTOSAR Adaptive base layer, reducing CPU utilization by 20% during software package decompression ### Contributing Software Engineer @ Jobs for Humanity Jan 2023 – Jan 2023 | San Francisco, CA ❖ Contribute to a custom job board to match 50,000 candidates with jobs using Python, MySQL, ElasticSearch, and AWS EC2 / S3 / RDS ### Freelance Software Developer @ Self Employed Jan 2021 – Jan 2023 ❖ Iteratively improve documentation templates and test them via a mock project for The Good Docs Project ❖ Update Dahlia Society of California website by adding monthly events and newsletters ❖ Modernize Dahlia Society of California website by moving from WordPress to Squarespace ### Defect Analyst @ Tesla Jan 2020 – Jan 2021 | Fremont, CA ❖ Analyzed Autopilot / Full Self-Driving test data using Grafana and proprietary Tesla visualization software, identifying, reporting, investigating, and triaging critical software bugs and regressions ❖ Communicated with PMs and engineering stakeholders to identify priorities for new feature testing ❖ Spearheaded testing for AutoPilot high-speed cross-traffic clear-to-go component while collaborating with software engineers and product managers to eliminate interventions related to poor cross-traffic handling ❖ Trained and mentored 6 new test operators within 3 months of hire ❖ Designed test specs using JIRA to efficiently discover regressions and gather data for new features ### Software Engineer @ Cinee (formerly known as Auteur) Jan 2020 – Jan 2020 | San Francisco Bay Area ❖ Designed and built an independent filmmakers' social media iOS app using SwiftUI and Firebase ❖ Coordinated with co-founder and stakeholders to identify and iterate on core feature set ❖ Collaborated with customers to schedule, coordinate, and lead technical support calls ❖ Created Java Spring backend that efficiently stored and retrieved movie files from AWS S3 data store ### Research And Development Test Specialist @ Cruise Jan 2019 – Jan 2020 | San Francisco, California ❖ Led an internal study/pilot program to overhaul the start-of-shift vehicle assignment process to reduce bottlenecks, reducing vehicle fleet idle time from 30 minutes to under 10 minutes ❖ Maintained a perfect safety record during rigorous internal QA audits while collecting and annotating high-quality data in challenging urban driving conditions ❖ Filed JIRA tickets for vehicle software bugs and worked with engineering and management stakeholders to ensure prompt resolutions ### Software Engineer @ Revi Technologies LLC Jan 2017 – Jan 2018 | Santa Cruz, California ❖ Implemented Scrum framework to keep on task and deliver the team’s first release by end of Q4 deadline, resulting in a successful product launch. ❖ Designed and implemented a trip‐planning component using React, Google Maps API, and Firebase ❖ Connected React Native front-end to Firebase DB ### Engineering Intern @ Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America, Inc. Jan 2017 – Jan 2017 | Sunnyvale, CA ❖ Created a system to log data from predictive navigation software on the car’s head unit ❖ Prepared and flashed daily software builds from Stuttgart onto pre-production vehicles ❖ Collaborated with German engineers at Stuttgart HQ to understand vehicle systems ❖ Developed testing plan for obscure bugs ❖ Reviewed and updated technical documentation on Confluence ❖ Developed an internal Python tool to automate bug data collection, contributing to a 10% reduction in bugs. ❖ Participated in the full software development life cycle, gaining valuable experience in a professional setting. ## Education ### Computer Science B.S. University of California, Santa Cruz ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/payam-katoozian - GitHub: https://github.com/kotovSyndrome --- Source: https://flows.cv/payamk JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/payamk/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-11