Staff Machine Learning Engineer

Motional

Staff Machine Learning Engineer leading technical strategy and architecture for ML systems at Motional. Transforming autonomous vehicle technology through advanced data discovery and model improvement lifecycles.

Posted 5/11/2026full-timeRemote • 🇺🇸 United StatesLead💰 $205,000 - $272,500 per yearWebsite

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

AWSAzureCloudGoogle Cloud PlatformPythonPyTorchTensorflow

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Define Technical Strategy & Roadmaps: Develop and execute multi-quarter, high-impact technical roadmaps for core ML systems.
Architect System-Level Solutions: Own the system-level architecture for complex ML products. Design scalable frameworks for massive data mining and highly optimized, real-time inference across GPU/CPU clusters.
Drive Cross-Functional Execution: Lead multi-person projects to completion across teams. Influence partner teams' technical roadmaps (such as Autonomy) to solve shared problems, break down silos, and build alignment.
Elevate Engineering Excellence: Establish department-wide standards for ML system design, code quality, testing, and deployment.
Operate as a Generalist Expert: Apply a broad toolkit of ML techniques to solve complex, ambiguous problems.
Mentor and Lead: Act as a role model and technical go-to person. Coach Senior and junior engineers, lead architectural reviews, and elevate Motional’s engineering culture.

Requirements

What you’ll need

BS in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience)
8+ years of hands-on ML engineering experience, with a proven track record of owning architecture, deployment, and optimization of large-scale ML systems
Demonstrated experience working with multimodal foundation models in ML production systems, including integration, scaling, fine-tuning, or deployment of models that process multiple data modalities (e.g., camera, LiDAR, radar, text)
Demonstrated technical leadership: defining multi-quarter roadmaps, leading multi-person initiatives, and driving department-level technical strategy
Expert-level proficiency in Python and ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, or JAX), backed by strong software engineering fundamentals (system design, CI/CD, containerization)
Broad ML generalist knowledge, with practical experience spanning model training, deep learning architectures, evaluation methodologies, and production deployment at scale
Experience deploying ML models in cloud environments (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and optimizing for latency, throughput, and hardware efficiency
Proven ability to mentor peers, explain complex trade-offs to leadership, and drive consensus across disparate teams

Benefits

Comp & perks

Medical
Dental
Vision
401k with a company match
Health saving accounts
Life insurance
Pet insurance
Flexible work arrangements

ATS Keywords

✓ Tailor your resume

Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard Skills & Tools

machine learningsystem architecturedata miningreal-time inferencePythonPyTorchTensorFlowJAXCI/CDcontainerization

Soft Skills

technical leadershipmentoringcross-functional collaborationinfluencingcoachingproblem-solvingcommunicationteam alignmentengineering cultureproject management