Senior ML Engineering Manager (AV data)

inDrive; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

inDrive is seeking a Senior ML Engineering Manager for AV data in the UAE. You will own the end-to-end AV data workstream, from vehicle data capture to processing, annotation, and delivery of AV-grade datasets, while building and leading a multidisciplinary team.

You will set the technical direction across the data pipeline, collaborate with data platform, ML ops, and mapping teams, and manage external partnerships with NVIDIA and other AV partners.

Qualifications

• Over 10 years of engineering experience in applied ML, autonomous systems, or large-scale data/ML platforms.
• At least 3 years in the autonomous-vehicle domain or related AV data/evaluation platforms.
• At least 4 years of experience leading engineering teams and building teams from scratch.
• Deep knowledge of the modern AV landscape including vision-language models, multi-modal perception, 3D reconstruction and NVIDIA AV ecosystem.
• Proven ability to take large-scale ML systems from conception to production with data pipelines and inference infrastructure.
• Strong external presence with partnerships, vendor or customer engagements at senior level.
• Fluency in ML stack (Python, PyTorch) and cloud data platforms at multi-terabyte scale.
• Bachelor’s degree in CS, Engineering, or related field.

Responsibilities

• Own the AV data workstream end to end: roadmap, execution, quality and datasets.
• Build the team from zero: hire and lead a multi-disciplinary group across data engineering, ML engineering, and data annotation.
• Manage ML engineers' charter across the cluster and coordinate with platform, ML ops, geo and mapping teams.
• Set technical direction for the full pipeline from onboard capture to cloud processing and neural scene reconstruction.
• Partner with leaders across the organization to align roadmaps and unblock delivery.
• Own external partnerships with NVIDIA AV ecosystem and other AV partners.
• Balance research and delivery by framing milestones and guiding the team to measurable results.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Applied ML

Team management

Large-scale data platforms

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Engineering

Tools

PyTorch

Python

Linux

Cloud platforms

Job description

Senior ML Engineering Manager (AV data)

Department: Geo Cluster

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: United Arab Emirates

Description

Autonomous vehicles are coming to the markets in which inDrive serves, but the AV industry has a blind spot: it has almost no data from the cities where we operate. inDrive runs one of the world's largest ride-hailing fleets, concentrated in exactly the emerging markets global AV players have yet to reach. We are building the team that turns that fleet into an AV grade data platform: large scale multi sensor collection from real vehicles on real trips, evaluation of driving models against human drivers, automated and human in the loop causal annotation, and camera first 3D scene reconstruction for simulation.

We are hiring the founding leader of this workstream. This is a rare true zero to one: you will hire the team, stand up the vehicles and the data platform, set the technical bar, and own delivery end to end.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the AV data workstream end to end. Roadmap, execution, quality, and outcomes, from vehicle data capture through processing, annotation, and delivery of AV-grade datasets
• Build the team from zero. Hire and lead a multi disciplinary team covering large scale data engineering, search and serving, ML engineering across divergence detection, edge inference, and VLM based auto labeling, 3D reconstruction research, and data annotation operations. Own the hiring bar and the team's growth
• Management: Manage ML engineers' charter across the cluster
• Set technical direction across disciplines. Provide design authority for the full pipeline, including onboard capture, cloud ingestion and processing at fleet scale, semantic and causal labeling, and neural scene reconstruction, and make the key technical decisions on evidence
• Partner with leaders across the organization. Work closely with the leaders of data platform, ML ops, geo and mapping, and inDrive's wider autonomous vehicle initiatives to align roadmaps, share infrastructure, and unblock delivery
• Own external partnerships. Drive the technical relationships this work depends on, including the NVIDIA AV ecosystem and prospective AV partners consuming our data
• Balance research and delivery. Several of the core questions here are open research. You frame milestones as decision gates, redirect work based on evidence, and keep the team shipping measurable results on a schedule

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• 10+ years of engineering experience in applied ML, autonomous systems, or large-scale data and ML platforms, including 3+ years in the autonomous vehicle industry or closely adjacent autonomy domains (AV data, simulation, or evaluation platforms, ADAS, robotics perception, HD mapping), and 4+ years managing engineering teams, with a track record of building teams from scratch and delivering from zero to one
• Strong command of the modern AV and foundation model landscape: vision-language models, multi-modal perception, 3D reconstruction and neural rendering, and the NVIDIA AV ecosystem. Deep enough to set direction, review designs, and make evidence-based technical calls
• Genuine engineering leadership range: you have successfully led data engineering, platform, or infrastructure delivery, not only ML research, and can evaluate and unblock work across those disciplines
• Proven ability to take large-scale ML systems from conception to production: data pipelines, training and evaluation infrastructure, and models running under real-world constraints
• Strong external presence: experience owning technical partnerships, vendor and licensing relationships, or customer-facing technical engagements at a senior level
• Deep fluency in the modern ML stack (PyTorch or equivalent, large-scale training and inference, Python and Linux) and in cloud data platforms at multi-terabyte scale
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field

Nice to have:

• AV industry experience specifically in offline evaluation, data mining, annotation platforms, or simulation, as distinct from on-vehicle stack development
• Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in ML, robotics, or computer vision
• Experience operating in emerging markets, and comfort building where the playbook does not exist yet

Why join us

• Help us challenge injustice by creating fair choices for millions of people across 47 countries
• Develop your professional skills with access to mentoring, career consulting, and learning programs.
• Collaborate with teams around the world and gain international experience through our Global Talent Exchange Program
• Engage in company-wide challenges, awards, sports activities, employee-led social impact and volunteering projects
• Work alongside people who take initiative, speak openly, and challenge themselves to grow
• Improve your language skills through co-financed courses and internal speaking clubs

Final benefits may vary depending on the location.