Principal Machine Learning Engineer, 3D Data and Generative AI Systems

Autodesk • Boston, MA

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

Autodesk is transforming the AEC (Architecture, Engineering, and Construction) industry by embedding generative AI and data-driven intelligence deeply into our products. Across AutoCAD, Revit, Construction Cloud, and Forma, we are building cloud-native, AI-powered systems that operate at the scale and complexity of real-world design and construction data. As a Principal Machine Learning Engineer on the AEC Solutions team, you will lead the design and implementation of new machine learning models for large-scale 3D data retrieval and representation learning. Your work will focus on transforming complex geometric data—meshes, point clouds, CAD/BIM representations—into high-quality embeddings and retrieval systems that power next-generation design workflows. This role combines deep model development, production ML systems, and technical leadership. You will architect and build end-to-end ML pipelines using Airflow and AWS, collaborate closely with researchers and product teams, and set the technical direction for how Autodesk builds, trains, evaluates, and deploys 3D-aware ML systems.3D-awar You will report to an ML Development Manager for the Generative AI team. Location: Remote or Hybrid (Canada or United States; East Coast preferred)

Requirements

• Master’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics, Statistics, or a related field
• 10+ years of experience in machine learning or AI, with demonstrated technical leadership and hands-on model development
• Strong expertise in deep learning architectures (e.g., Transformers, CNNs, GANs) and modern ML frameworks such as PyTorch, Lightning, and Ray
• Proven experience building new models (not just applying existing ones), especially for retrieval, embeddings, or representation learning
• Deep understanding of 3D data representations and processing techniques (e.g., meshes, point clouds, CAD/BIM geometry)
• Experience building and operating production ML pipelines, including orchestration with Airflow
• Hands-on experience with AWS and SageMaker for scalable training and deployment
• Strong foundations in computer science, distributed systems, and algorithmic efficiency
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to influence across teams

Nice To Haves

• Background or domain experience in Architecture, Engineering, or Construction
• Experience with LLMs, VLMs, vector databases, and retrieval systems, including RAG-style architectures
• Proficiency with distributed data processing or training (e.g., Spark, Ray, custom pipelines)
• Experience designing systems for large-scale data preparation, optimization, and acceleration
• Familiarity with Responsible AI practices, including bias mitigation, interpretability, and ethical considerations

Responsibilities

• Technical Leadership & Strategy Set the technical vision for 3D data retrieval and representation learning across Autodesk’s AEC AI initiatives Influence short- and long-term investments in models, data infrastructure, and ML systems Identify architectural gaps and scalability bottlenecks, and drive cross-team alignment on long-term solutions
• Model & Algorithm Development Design and implement new ML models for 3D data understanding and retrieval, including geometric embeddings and multimodal representations Apply advanced techniques such as self-supervised learning, weak supervision, and active learning to leverage large volumes of unlabeled design data Optimize data representations and feature extraction pipelines for downstream model performance and retrieval quality
• Production ML & Pipelines Architect and own production-grade ML pipelines, orchestrated with Airflow, supporting: large-scale data preprocessing model training and fine-tuning evaluation and deployment workflows Build scalable systems on AWS, including integration with SageMaker and distributed training or data processing frameworks Establish best practices for model experimentation, versioning, evaluation, and monitoring in high-throughput environments
• Data Systems & Feedback Loops Lead the development of intelligent data processing systems that transform unstructured 3D, text, and image data into ML-ready formats Own the model/data feedback loop, monitoring quality, diagnosing failure modes, and guiding iterative improvements based on real-world usage Collaborate with data engineers and applied scientists to ensure data quality, lineage, and reproducibility
• Collaboration & Mentorship Work closely with AI researchers, software architects, and product teams to integrate models into customer-facing workflows Mentor and guide ML engineers, raising the technical bar and fostering a culture of ownership, rigor, and curiosity Communicate complex technical ideas clearly through documentation, design reviews, and cross-functional presentations

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees