Software Engineering Manager - AI Data Engine

Motional; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 172,000 - 229,000; Full time

Job summary

Motional is seeking an experienced Staff Level Technical Lead Manager to build and lead their new AI Data Engine team in Boston, Massachusetts. This pivotal role involves driving the strategy for ML dataset generation and integrating solutions across teams.

With 8+ years of data platform engineering experience and strong leadership skills, you will mentor a high-performing team and contribute to technological innovations in the field.

Salary range is $172,000 - $229,000 USD, with options for hybrid or remote work.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional experience in data platform engineering.
• 3+ years in a technical lead or management role with direct reports.
• Extensive experience managing large scale data platforms.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead a team of data and infrastructure engineers.
• Define technical vision and strategy for ML datasets.
• Collaborate with ML research and data engineering teams.

Skills

Data platform engineering

Leadership

Technical expertise in data systems

Python programming

AWS cloud infrastructure

C++ programming

Airflow or Step Functions

Education

BS or MS in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Airflow

AWS

GCP

Job description

We are seeking an experienced and visionary Staff Level Technical Lead Manager to build and lead our new AI Data Engine team. This pivotal role will drive the strategy, development, and execution of initiatives aimed at significantly accelerating our ML dataset generation and our data warehouse stack. The ultimate goal is to drastically reduce the development cycle for new pipelines, ML models and get us operationally prepared for a driverless future!

You will be a hands‑on leader, blending deep technical expertise in data systems and infrastructure with strong leadership and people management skills. You will recruit, mentor, and grow a high‑performing team of engineers, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvements.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Build, lead, and manage a high‑performing team of data and infrastructure engineers focused on building out Motional’s Data Stack.
• Define team goals, priorities, and roadmap in alignment with company objectives.
• Provide technical guidance, mentorship, and career development opportunities to team members.

Technical Strategy & Execution

• Define the technical vision and strategy for storing metrics and generating ML datasets for large computer vision and behavioral models.
• Identify and evaluate cutting‑edge technologies and methodologies for speeding up data loaders for training, ingestion of metrics, and querying of large datasets for everything from dashboards to training.

Cross‑functional Collaboration

• Collaborate closely with ML research, ML Training platform, and data engineering teams to understand their needs and integrate solutions seamlessly.
• Communicate complex technical concepts and strategies to both technical and non‑technical stakeholders.

What We’re Looking For

Experience

• BS or MS in Computer Science or related field.
• 8+ years of professional experience in data platform engineering.
• 3+ years of experience in a technical lead or management role with 3‑7 direct reports.
• Extensive experience with managing large (petabyte plus) scale data platforms such as data warehouses, object storage, and ML training data stores.
• Extensive experience with workflow orchestration frameworks such as Airflow or Step Functions.

Technical Skills

• Strong programming skills in Python. C++ experience is a plus.
• Deep knowledge of data storage formats such as Parquet, Iceberg, and Lance and understand their tradeoffs.
• Strong knowledge of cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP) solutions and their product offerings.
• Prior experience with building data warehouses or lakehouse architectures at a machine learning or robotics company.

Bonus Points (not required)

• Prior experience in autonomous vehicles (AV) is a plus.
• Prior experience with Bazel based build systems.

We encourage a hybrid schedule with in‑office time at one of our locations in Boston, Pittsburgh, or Las Vegas to support collaboration, or this role can be fully remote.

Salary Range: $172,000 USD - $229,000 USD

Motional AD Inc. is an EOE. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. To comply with Federal Law, we participate in E‑Verify. All newly‑hired employees are queried through this electronic system established by the DHS and the SSA to verify their identity and employment eligibility.