Tech Lead Applied Scientist

Samsara; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 200,000 - 358,000; Full time

Job summary

Samsara is seeking a Senior Scientist/ML Engineer to lead Safety AI initiatives across edge and cloud, taking models from research to production in safety-critical systems.

You will design end-to-end computer vision pipelines for real-time perception on millions of edge devices, mentor engineers, and work with hardware teams to co-design the full stack. This role enables scalable safety solutions for global operations.

Qualifications

• Master’s or PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Computer Vision, or related field.
• 10+ years as a scientist or ML engineer leading end-to-end AI systems in production.
• Experience with multimodal perception and sensor fusion (camera, lidar, radar, GPS/IMU).
• Experience with transformer-based architectures and vision-language models (VLMs/VLAs).
• Experience building real-time or edge ML systems optimized for low-latency inference.
• Demonstrated ability to drive systems from research through production deployment, at scale.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end safety AI projects on edge devices and cloud.
• Architect CV pipelines for real-world safety detection.
• Define roadmap for edge and cloud perception deployment.
• Collaborate with hardware and firmware teams to co-design the full stack.
• Work with petabyte-scale multimodal data to train production models.
• Mentor senior scientists and engineers across the team.
• Translate customer and business needs into solvable engineering challenges.

Skills

Multimodal perception

Sensor fusion

Edge/real-time ML

Transformer architectures

Education

Master’s or PhD in CS/EE/Robotics/CV

Job description

Samsara (NYSE: IOT) is the pioneer of the Connected Operations™ Cloud, which is a platform that enables organizations that depend on physical operations to harness Internet of Things (IoT) data to develop actionable insights and improve their operations. At Samsara, we are helping improve the safety, efficiency and sustainability of the physical operations that power our global economy. Representing more than 40% of global GDP, these industries are the infrastructure of our planet, including agriculture, construction, field services, transportation, and manufacturing — and we are excited to help digitally transform their operations at scale.

Working at Samsara means you’ll help define the future of physical operations and be on a team that’s shaping an exciting array of product solutions, including Video-Based Safety, Vehicle Telematics, Apps and Driver Workflows, and Equipment Monitoring. As part of a recently public company, you’ll have the autonomy and support to make an impact as we build for the long term.

About the role:

Samsara's AI has helped prevent accidents that would have harmed an estimated 380,000 people per year. Every model we ship runs in the real world, on real roads, protecting real drivers.

This is the most senior individual contributor role on our Safety AI team. The role is focused on taking models from research to production in safety-critical systems.

You’ll sit at the intersection of cutting-edge computer vision research and production systems that run across millions of IoT devices globally. The models you build run on the edge, in real time, on the trucks and vans and heavy equipment that keep the world moving.

• Scale: Millions of AI dash cams, 100B+ miles/year (~99% of U.S. roads), 25T+ data points
• Problems: Driver behavior understanding, 3D scene reasoning, and long-tail event detection in real-world environments
• Stack: Modern vision models (e.g. transformers), large-scale training pipelines, and optimization for edge inference on constrained devices

This is a remote position open to candidates residing in the US.

You should apply if:

• You want to impact the industries that run our world: Your efforts will result in real-world impact – helping to keep the lights on, get food into grocery stores, reduce emissions, and most importantly, ensure workers return home safely.
• You are the architect of your own career: If you put in the work, this role won’t be your last at Samsara. We set up our employees for success and have built a culture that encourages rapid career development, countless opportunities to experiment and master your craft in a hyper growth environment.
• You’re energized by our opportunity: The vision we have to digitize large sectors of the global economy requires your full focus and best efforts to bring forth creative, ambitious ideas for our customers.
• You want to be with the best: At Samsara, we win together, celebrate together and support each other. Youwill be surrounded by a high-calibre team that will encourage you to do your best.

In this role, you will:

• You will be the technical thought leader and you will lead the design and implementation of our most critical Safety AI initiatives including real-time perception systems that run across millions of edge devices in the physical world and the cloud. The scale and constraints make this an extremely unique applied ML problem. You will:
  • Architect end-to-end computer vision pipelines for real-world safety detection — object detection, tracking, semantic segmentation, multi-camera fusion, and beyond
  • Drive the technical roadmap for edge and cloud perception, including how we optimize and deploy models on constrained hardware without sacrificing accuracy
  • Partner closely with our hardware and firmware teams — we build our own devices, which means you'll have a rare ability to co-design the full stack
  • Work with petabyte-scale multimodal data (video, sensor, telematics, diagnostics) to train and iterate on production models
  • Stay at the frontier of CV and perception research and translate what matters into shipped product
  • Mentor and technically guide senior scientists and engineers across the team
  • Bring clarity to ambiguous problems — translating customer and business needs into precise, solvable engineering challenges.
• Champion, role model, and embed Samsara’s cultural principles (Focus on Customer Success, Build for the Long Term, Adopt a Growth Mindset, Be Inclusive, Win as a Team) as we scale globally and across new offices

Minimum requirements for the role:

• Master’s or PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Computer Vision, or a related quantitative field.
• 10+ years as a scientist or ML engineer, with experience leading end-to-end AI systems in production.
• Experience with multimodal perception and sensor fusion (e.g., camera, lidar, radar, GPS/IMU).
• Experience with transformer-based architectures and vision-language models (VLMs/VLAs).
• Experience building and deploying real-time or edge ML systems optimized for low-latency inference.
• Demonstrated ability to drive systems from research through production deployment, including performance optimization and reliability at scale.

An ideal candidate also has:

• Experience applying perception to real-world systems such as driver assistance, fleet safety, or operations automation.
• Publications or patents at top-tier venues (CVPR, ICCV, ICRA, NeurIPS).

$200,200 — $357,500 USD

Total Rewards

At Samsara, we build for the people who keep the global economy moving. We want owners, not passengers, which is why our rewards are designed to fuel high-impact builders. Our compensation program delivers above-market total compensation through a combination of base salary, performance-based bonus/variable pay, and equity (for eligible roles) in a high-growth public company. We meaningfully differentiate pay for our top performers, who have the opportunity to earn above-market compensation that can outpace the broader market over time.

Beyond compensation, we provide the foundations that enable long-term success: a flexible, employee-led remote model, a professional development stipend, comprehensive health and parental leave plans, and more. If you’re ready to build for the long term and own the outcome, your journey starts here.

Flexible Working

At Samsara, we embrace a flexible working model that caters to the diverse needs of our teams. Our offices are open for those who prefer to work in-person and we also support remote work where it aligns with our operational requirements. For certain positions, being close to one of our offices or within a specific geographic area is important to facilitate collaboration, access to resources, or alignment with our service regions. In these cases, the job description will clearly indicate any working location requirements. Our goal is to ensure that all members of our team can contribute effectively, whether they are working on-site, in a hybrid model, or fully remotely. All offers of employment are contingent upon an individual’s ability to secure and maintain the legal right to work at the company and in the specified work location, if applicable.

Belonging at Samsara

At Samsara, we welcome everyone regardless of their background. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, and other characteristics protected by law. We depend on the unique approaches of our team members to help us solve complex problems and want to ensure that Samsara is a place where people from all backgrounds can make an impact.

Accommodations

Samsara is an inclusive work environment, and we are committed to ensuring equal opportunity in employment for qualified persons with disabilities. Please email [e-mail] or click here if you require any reasonable accommodations throughout the recruiting process.

Samsara's Mission

Improve the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of the operations that power the global economy.