Principal Engineer, System Performance Analytics

Motional

10h•$200,000 - $275,000

About The Position

Motional is seeking a Principal Engineer to lead executive reporting on autonomous vehicle performance. The role translates complex robotics data, autonomy insights, and system performance metrics into strategic narratives for senior stakeholders. It initially takes ownership of the weekly Software Performance Review (SPR) presented to leadership, including the CEO, and expands to architect the broader executive reporting ecosystem, commercial readiness reviews, and long-term autonomy trend analyses. The Principal Engineer works across autonomy, infrastructure, operations, and multiple internal performance teams to synthesize disparate data into cohesive release narratives. The role also mentors junior engineers and establishes team-wide standards for data visualization and executive communication. It includes designing automated reporting pipelines that connect AV performance databases to presentation tools, using AI workflows and integration frameworks to reduce manual reporting. The role encourages a hybrid schedule with in-office work in Boston, Pittsburgh, or Las Vegas, or may be fully remote. The work environment includes regular exposure to mechanical and computer parts, occasional exposure to fumes and airborne particles, and low-to-moderate noise levels. Reasonable accommodations may be made for individuals with disabilities.

Requirements

At least 8 years of experience bridging business intelligence, data science, and strategic reporting in a highly complex technical field such as autonomous vehicles, robotics, or aerospace.
Master’s degree in Business Analytics, Data Intelligence, or Robotics, or an MBA combined with a strong technical foundation in engineering problem spaces.
Excellent communication skills and executive presence, including experience leading executive presentations and high-visibility reviews.
Ability to use data to develop a compelling point of view, influence stakeholders, and drive actionable engineering decisions.
Ability to balance long-term system maturity strategy with detailed investigation of software release anomalies.
Strong foundational understanding of robotics systems, data architectures, and autonomous vehicle performance, perception, and prediction validation.
Expert judgment in data visualization, including selecting and designing charts and visual frameworks that make complex engineering outputs clear to executives.
Familiarity with AI agent workflows and IDEs, such as Cursor or GitHub Copilot, and understanding of how API protocols such as MCP can securely connect SaaS tools and databases.

Nice To Haves

Experience as a strategic management consultant specializing in deep tech, AI, robotics, or automotive sectors.
Direct experience reporting on software readiness, simulation performance such as Software/Hardware-in-the-Loop, and autonomous systems safety metrics.
A track record of replacing manual presentation-building processes with scalable, code-driven slide generation scripts.

Responsibilities

Analyze autonomous vehicle data pipelines, including heuristic extraction, diagnostic evaluations, and ETL-driven performance data, to identify and communicate key findings.
Lead the weekly Software Performance Review and own leadership reporting on AV performance, aligning metrics with executive goals and strategic questions.
Partner with leads across Heuristic Extractors, Reasoning Engine & Infrastructure, Diagnosis & Reporting, and Data & Metrics Analysis to unify data into cohesive release narratives.
Mentor junior engineers and establish best practices for data visualization, chart design, and executive communication.
Architect and deploy automated reporting pipelines using AI workflows and integration frameworks such as MCP.
Connect AV performance databases to programmatic presentation tools, such as the Google Slides API, to automate weekly reporting decks and reduce manual work.