Mapping Operations Lead

Decisive Point; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Health insurance

401k retirement benefits

Paid time off

Wellness stipend

Job summary

Applied Intuition seeks a technical lead to drive the day-to-day operations of the mapping team. You will own production schedules, triage map issues, and coordinate with mapping, software, and field ops.

This hands-on leadership role focuses on HD map creation, validation, and real-time prioritization in a startup environment. The role requires a strong background in HD map production, geospatial data, and experience leading technical teams.

Qualifications

• A Bachelor’s degree or higher in a relevant field.
• 3+ years in HD map production or related field for autonomous mobility.
• Experience leading or coordinating technical contributors,
• Strong knowledge of HD map data formats and annotation pipelines.
• Experience with sensor data, point clouds, and 3D visualization.
• Familiarity with simulation environments and map data in sim validation.
• Proficiency with SQL, Python, C++, and QGIS for data tasks.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; able to translate issues clearly.
• Organized and calm under production pressure.

Responsibilities

• Lead a mapping team, set priorities, manage workloads, and maintain a production schedule.
• Own weekly and sprint calendars for mapping new areas and improving quality.
• Run daily standups, triage blockers, and prioritize issues for fast resolution.
• Mentor specialists, conduct technical reviews, and establish map QA standards.
• Serve as escalation point for map data issues from production to engineering.
• Build a triage playbook to classify and resolve issues quickly.
• Coordinate with engineers to validate HD map accuracy in simulation.
• Close feedback loop with field ops to improve map coverage.

Skills

Leadership experience

HD map production

Geospatial data operations

OpenDRIVE / NDS

Point cloud data / 3D visualization

CARLA / LGSVL / sim stacks

SQL / Python / C++ / QGIS

Field data analysis

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's Degree or higher in a relevant field

Tools

CARLA

LGSVL

Internal sim stacks

JIRA

Job description

Applied Intuition, Inc. is powering the future of physical AI. Founded in 2017 and now valued at $15 billion, the Silicon Valley company is creating the digital infrastructure needed to bring intelligence to every moving machine on the planet. Applied Intuition services the automotive, defense, trucking, construction, mining and agriculture industries in three core areas: tools and infrastructure, operating systems, and autonomy. Eighteen of the top 20 global automakers, as well as the United States military and its allies, trust the company’s solutions to deliver physical intelligence. Applied Intuition is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in Washington, D.C.; San Diego; Ft. Walton Beach, Florida; Ann Arbor, Michigan; London; Stuttgart; Munich; Stockholm; Bangalore; Seoul; and Tokyo. Learn more at applied.co.

We are an in-office company, and our expectation is that full-time employees primarily work from their Applied Intuition office 5 days a week. However, we also recognize the importance of flexibility and trust our employees to manage their schedules responsibly. This may include occasional remote work, starting the day with morning meetings from home before heading to the office, or leaving earlier when needed to accommodate family commitments. This in-office expectation does not apply to contractor positions

About the role

Applied Intuition is seeking a technical lead to drive the day-to-day operations of our mapping team. Maps serve as a foundational interface with autonomous vehicle perception, planning, and localization systems.

This is a hands-on leadership role at the intersection of data collection, map production, validation, simulation, and field operations. You'll own the production schedule, lead first-line triage of map and data issues, and serve as the connective tissue between mapping specialists, software engineering, and field operations teams. The right person thrives in a high-throughput environment, brings deep technical judgment, and knows how to keep a team organized and unblocked. You will directly impact AV stack performance.

This is an excellent opportunity for professionals with a background in high definition (HD) map creation who are comfortable with technical workflows, iterative feedback cycles, and real-time prioritization in a startup environment.

At Applied Intuition, you will:

• Lead a team of mapping specialists, setting priorities, managing workloads, and maintaining a clear production schedule across concurrent map build and update cycles

• Own the weekly and sprint-level production calendar — balancing incoming requests for mapping new areas, improving map quality, and supporting field tests

• Run daily standups and triage sessions; elevate blockers quickly and make real-time prioritization decisions based on operational impact to keep the pipeline moving

• Mentor specialists, conduct technical reviews of their work, and establish standards for map labeling, QC, acceptance criteria, and documentation

• Serve as the primary escalation point for map data issues flagged during map production, validation, or by downstream consumers, including initial triage, creating actionable followup tasks, and routing to maps and engineering teams for resolution

• Build and maintain a triage playbook so the team can classify and resolve common issues consistently and quickly

• Coordinate with engineers to validate HD map accuracy in simulation environments and close gaps before map releases

• Close the loop with operations and safety teams so field feedback quickly improves map coverage and quality

We're looking for someone who has:

• Bachelor's Degree or higher in a relevant field

• 3+ years of experience in HD map production, geospatial data operations, or a closely related field in autonomous vehicles, robotics, or mobility

• Demonstrated experience leading or coordinating a team of technical contributors — you don't need a formal management title, but you know how to organize people around a shared workflow

• Strong understanding of HD map data formats (e.g., OpenDRIVE, NDS, or proprietary lane-level map schemas) and annotation pipelines to label map elements

• Experience working with point cloud data, 3D visualization environments, or lidar-based annotation tools

• Familiarity with simulation environments (e.g., CARLA, LGSVL, or internal sim stacks) and how map data feeds into sim validation

• Experience analyzing field reports or sensor data to identify map quality issues

• Comfort with data tooling — SQL, C++, Python, QGIS, or similar — for pulling reports, querying map data, and building dashboards. AI skills a strong plus.

• Excellent written and verbal communication; able to translate technical issues clearly for both specialists and cross-functional partners

• Organized, calm under pressure, and energized by the pace of production operations.

Nice to have:

• Experience with LiDAR point clouds and camera-based feature extraction

• Experience with standard definition (SD) street network data

• Background in AV safety operations or working alongside safety drivers

• Familiarity with JIRA or similar tools for tracking production backlogs and Slack for real time communication

• Prior experience defining or improving QA/QC standards in a mapping team

• Confident working across time zones

Compensation at Applied Intuition for eligible roles includes base salary, equity, and benefits. Base salary is a single component of the total compensation package, which may also include equity in the form of options and/or restricted stock units, comprehensive health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance coverage, 401k retirement benefits with employer match, learning and wellness stipends, and paid time off. Note that benefits are subject to change and may vary based on jurisdiction of employment.

Applied Intuition pay ranges reflect the minimum and maximum intended target base salary for new hire salaries for the position. The actual base salary offered to a successful candidate will additionally be influenced by a variety of factors including experience, credentials & certifications, educational attainment, skill level requirements, interview performance, and the level and scope of the position.

Don’t meet every single requirement? If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Applied Intuition is an equal opportunity employer and federal contractor or subcontractor. Consequently, the parties agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-1.4(a), 41 CFR 60-300.5(a) and 41 CFR 60-741.5(a) and that these laws are incorporated herein by reference. These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities, and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin. These regulations require that covered prime contractors and subcontractors take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status or disability. The parties also agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of Executive Order 13496 (29 CFR Part 471, Appendix A to Subpart A), relating to the notice of employee rights under federal labor laws.

FOR US-BASED ROLES: Applied Intuition is committed to providing an accessible and inclusive application and interview experience to applicants who are disabled veterans and other applicants with disabilities or medical conditions. Reasonable accommodations are available, requesting an accommodation will not affect your candidacy in any way, and you are not required to disclose the nature of your disability or medical condition in order to make a request. If you require an accommodation please contact [e-mail]. We will work with you!