Director of Engineering, Physical AI — Lead Robotics Data Engine

Scale; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 302,000 - 378,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity compensation

Health, dental and vision coverage

Retirement benefits

Learning stipend

Generous PTO

Commuter stipend

Job summary

Scale is seeking a Director of Engineering to lead a multidisciplinary team focused on the Physical AI Data Engine, the platform powering embodied AI robotics research and deployment.

You will own the technical vision across data collection, teleoperation systems, ML pipelines, and model evaluation while aligning with Operations and GTM to drive product direction. This executive role requires strong ownership and the ability to navigate a fast-paced environment; travel will be required.

Qualifications

• Bachelors in Engineering, Robotics, CS or related field.
• 8+ years engineering exp with 4+ years managing people.
• Leadership in hardware-software systems with robotics/ML focus preferred.
• Deep ML lifecycle experience: training, data flywheels, evaluation.
• Proficient with Python, C++, TS/Node; cloud infra (AWS, Kubernetes).
• Able to navigate ambiguity and communicate clearly across orgs.

Responsibilities

• Set and drive the technical vision across data collection, teleoperation, ML pipelines, and evaluation.
• Lead a multidisciplinary org spanning managers, software and ML engineers, and researchers.
• Maintain technical and operational excellence by proactive oversight.
• Drive cross-functional alignment on platform architecture and priorities.
• Collaborate with researchers and clients to deliver scalable data infrastructure.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Robotics

Computer Vision

Machine Learning

Python

C++

TypeScript/Node

AWS

Kubernetes

Temporal/Airflow

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Robotics, Computer Science

Tools

Teleoperation systems

ML training pipelines

Data infrastructure

Job description

Scale is seeking a Director of Engineering to lead a multidisciplinary team focused on the Physical AI Data Engine, the platform powering embodied AI robotics research and deployment.

You will own the technical vision across data collection, teleoperation systems, ML pipelines, and model evaluation while aligning with Operations and GTM to drive product direction. This executive role requires strong ownership and the ability to navigate a fast-paced environment; travel will be required.