Staff/Lead Machine Learning Engineer, Behavior & Planning

NextGenEnergyJobs; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Nuro is seeking a Staff/Lead Machine Learning Engineer for Behavior & Planning to lead multi-team ML initiatives, design and deploy scalable models, and contribute to the autonomy stack. The role requires strong foundations in ML, hands-on Python (and possibly C++), and the ability to mentor others across teams.

Ideal candidates will have 7+ years of ML system experience, experience guiding initiatives in autonomous vehicle domains, and a track record of translating research into

Qualifications

• 7+ years building and deploying machine learning systems, with a track record of leading complex, multi-team initiatives.
• MS or PhD in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Robotics, or related field or equivalent practical experience.
• Strong, general machine learning foundations with ability to reason across architectures, training, and evaluation.
• Depth in sequential decision making, prediction, generative modeling, foundation/world models, or representation learning.
• Understanding the full ML development cycle from data collection to deployment and iteration.
• Strong Python (required) and/or C++ programming skills.
• Demonstrated ability to lead initiatives, collaborate across teams, and operate independently.
• Excellent communication to align cross-functional stakeholders.
• Experience mentoring engineers or leading a team and ramping into management.
• Familiarity with PyTorch, JAX, or TensorFlow.

Skills

Python

Leadership

Communication

ML fundamentals

Model deployment

Cross-team work

Mentoring

PyTorch

JAX

TensorFlow

Education

MS or PhD in CS/AI/ML/Robotics or related field

Tools

PyTorch

JAX

TensorFlow

Job description

Staff/Lead Machine Learning Engineer, Behavior & Planning

Nuro believes self-driving vehicles are the most immediate and profound opportunity for AI to drive positive change in the physical world.

Requirements

• 7+ years building and deploying machine learning systems, with a track record of leading complex, multi-team technical initiatives.
• M.S. or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Robotics, or a related field or equivalent practical experience.
• Strong, general machine learning foundations. You can reason from first principles across model architectures, training, and evaluation, and clearly explain and apply state-of-the-art techniques. Depth in some of: sequential decision making, prediction, generative modeling, foundation/world models, or representation learning.
• Understanding of the full ML development cycle, from data collection and training to deployment, onboard inference considerations, and data iteration loops.
• Strong problem-solving and programming skills in Python (required) and/or C++.
• Demonstrated ability to lead initiatives, collaborate across many different teams, and operate independently with minimal oversight.
• Efficient and clear communication skills are a must, with the ability to align cross-functional stakeholders.
• Strong preference for prior experience in autonomous vehicles or robotics, and familiarity with how ML fits into a complete autonomy/planning stack, though we hire strong general-ML talent from adjacent domains and value the ability to ramp on a new domain quickly.
• Experience mentoring engineers or leading a team, and interest in growing into a management or tech-lead track.
• Familiarity with at least one major ML framework (PyTorch, JAX, TensorFlow).