Software Engineering Manager -Data Platform

motional; United States; Hybrid; USD 172,000 - 229,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work options

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

401k with company match

Pet insurance

Job summary

Motional is seeking a senior leader to build and run a new Data Platform team, accelerating ML dataset generation and scaling a petabyte-scale data warehouse for autonomous vehicle initiatives. The role blends hands-on technical leadership with people management to support advanced robotics programs.

Responsibilities include guiding data and infrastructure engineers, defining goals and roadmaps, mentoring staff, and shaping the data storage and ML dataset generation strategy across cloud

Qualifications

• BS or MS in Computer Science or related field.
• 8+ years of professional experience in data platform engineering.
• 3+ years in a technical lead or management role overseeing 3-7 direct reports.
• Extensive experience with petabyte-plus scale data platforms such as data warehouses, object storage, and ML training data stores.
• Hands-on experience with workflow orchestration frameworks such as Airflow or AWS Step Functions.
• Strong programming skills in Python, with C++ experience a plus.
• Deep knowledge of data storage formats such as Parquet, Iceberg, and Lance and their tradeoffs.
• Strong knowledge of cloud infrastructure (AWS or GCP) and their product offerings.
• Prior experience building data warehouses or lakehouse architectures at a machine learning or robotics organization.

Responsibilities

• Build, lead, and manage a high-performing team of data and infrastructure engineers.
• Define team goals, priorities, and roadmap aligned with broader organizational objectives.
• Provide technical guidance, mentorship, and career development for team members.
• Define the technical vision for storing metrics and generating ML datasets for large computer vision and behavioral models.
• Evaluate and adopt cutting-edge technologies for data loaders, metric ingestion, and large-dataset querying.
• Collaborate with ML research, ML training platform, and data engineering teams to integrate solutions seamlessly.
• Communicate complex technical strategies to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Skills

Technical leadership

Team management

Python

Communication

Education

BS in Computer Science

MS in Computer Science

Tools

Airflow

AWS

GCP

Parquet

Iceberg

Lance

Job description

Role overview

A senior leadership role responsible for building and leading a new Data Platform team focused on accelerating machine learning dataset generation and scaling a petabyte-scale data warehouse. The position blends hands-on technical leadership with people management in support of autonomous vehicle development.

Responsibilities

• Build, lead, and manage a high-performing team of data and infrastructure engineers


• Define team goals, priorities, and roadmap aligned with broader organizational objectives


• Provide technical guidance, mentorship, and career development for team members


• Define the technical vision for storing metrics and generating ML datasets for large computer vision and behavioral models


• Evaluate and adopt cutting-edge technologies for data loaders, metric ingestion, and large-dataset querying


• Collaborate with ML research, ML training platform, and data engineering teams to integrate solutions seamlessly


• Communicate complex technical strategies to both technical and non-technical stakeholders

Requirements

• BS or MS in Computer Science or a related field


• 8+ years of professional experience in data platform engineering


• 3+ years in a technical lead or management role overseeing 3-7 direct reports


• Extensive experience with petabyte-plus scale data platforms such as data warehouses, object storage, and ML training data stores


• Hands-on experience with workflow orchestration frameworks such as Airflow or AWS Step Functions


• Strong programming skills in Python, with C++ experience a plus


• Deep knowledge of data storage formats such as Parquet, Iceberg, and Lance and their tradeoffs


• Strong knowledge of cloud infrastructure (AWS or GCP) and their product offerings
  
• Prior experience building data warehouses or lakehouse architectures at a machine learning or robotics organization

Nice to have

• Prior experience in autonomous vehicles


• Prior experience with Bazel-based build systems

Benefits and work setup

• Hybrid schedule with in-office time in Boston, Pittsburgh, or Las Vegas, or fully remote


• Medical, dental, and vision coverage


• 401k with company match, health savings accounts, and life insurance


• Pet insurance


• Base salary range of $172,000-$229,000 USD


• Eligibility for additional compensation such as bonus or company equity