Head of AI Data Pipelines & Release for Autonomy

Merlin Labs, Inc.; Boston (MA); Hybrid; USD 220,000 - 290,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Catered lunches

Snacks & drinks

Benefits package

Job summary

Merlin Labs, Inc. in Boston, MA is seeking a senior data strategy leader to define and drive end-to-end data pipelines for AI model training, simulation, and deployment in safety-critical autonomous systems.

You will own data quality, curation, versioning, and integration with large-scale GPU/TPU clusters, ensuring robust model validation. You will mentor a team of data and infrastructure engineers, partner with safety and certification teams, and establish metrics to measure data pipeline

Qualifications

• Degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Computer Engineering, Applied Math, or a related subject.
• 10+ years of engineering experience, with at least 4 years in a technical leadership role owning data infrastructure, MLOps, or AI platform engineering at scale.
• Demonstrated experience building and operating data pipelines for AI/ML model training, including dataset management, labeling workflows, and data versioning at production scale.
• Hands-on experience integrating data systems with large-scale distributed training infrastructure (e.g., GPU/TPU clusters, job orchestration, experiment tracking).
• Deep understanding of simulation pipelines — including data-driven, physics-based, or sensor-realistic simulators — and how data quality directly impacts simulator fidelity and model transferability.
• Experience working in or alongside safety-critical domains with an understanding of rigor, traceability, and validation in that context.
• Strong systems-thinking mindset: data quality, pipeline reliability, and infrastructure design are interconnected constraints.
• Track record of building platforms and tooling that other engineering teams depend on, with reliability, documentation, and developer experience.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute a comprehensive data strategy spanning AI model training, simulation, and production deployment across safety-critical autonomous systems.
• Own the end-to-end data pipeline from raw collection and labeling to curation, versioning, and delivery for scalable training and simulation workflows.
• Build and maintain data flywheels that improve model performance by linking deployed system behavior to future training iterations.
• Collaborate with teams provisioning and operating large-scale GPU/TPU training clusters to align data delivery with compute and schedules.
• Drive design and integration of data pipelines feeding data-driven, physics-based, and high-fidelity simulators for realistic validation.
• Partner with safety, validation, and certification teams to establish data quality standards and traceability for aviation/automotive domains.
• Lead, mentor, and grow a team of data and infrastructure engineers, promoting rigor, ownership, and continuous improvement.
• Define and track KPIs for data pipeline health, simulation fidelity, and model readiness, communicating progress to senior leadership.

Skills

Data strategy

Data pipelines

MLOps

AI/ML platforms

GPU/TPU clusters

Safety-critical data

Cross-functional communication

Leadership

Education

Degree in CS/AI/DS

Tools

Experiment tracking

Distributed training

Job description

Merlin Labs, Inc. in Boston, MA is seeking a senior data strategy leader to define and drive end-to-end data pipelines for AI model training, simulation, and deployment in safety-critical autonomous systems.

You will own data quality, curation, versioning, and integration with large-scale GPU/TPU clusters, ensuring robust model validation. You will mentor a team of data and infrastructure engineers, partner with safety and certification teams, and establish metrics to measure data pipeline