Principal Software Engineer, Team Lead - Perception Platforms

Motional•Boston, MA

2d•$240,000 - $330,000

About The Position

The Principal Software Engineer, Team Lead will lead the Perception Platform team, which builds foundational frameworks, evaluation pipelines, and tooling for perception machine learning development. The team operates at the intersection of ML infrastructure and perception, supporting technology that enables autonomous vehicles to perceive the dynamic world around them. The role leads the development, maintenance, and optimization of data, training, and evaluation pipelines for perception modeling. These systems include large-scale data pipelines for data transformation, model training, and evaluation; tools for visualizing dataset distributions, model behavior, system performance, and edge cases; and an active learning loop that selects high-value data to improve model accuracy and robustness. The position combines team leadership and technical direction with hands-on engineering work, partnering closely with ML engineers and contributing production-level code.

Requirements

7+ years of professional software engineering experience, including at least 3 years in a formal or informal leadership or mentorship role.
2+ years of experience developing, operating, or supporting distributed machine learning training across clusters of GPU nodes.
BS or MS in Computer Science or a related technical field.
Passion for hands-on work and a proven ability to contribute high-quality, production-level code to a shared codebase.
Fluency in Python and familiarity with data processing libraries such as NumPy and Pandas.
Proven backend development experience and experience leading the architecture of complex systems.
Deep understanding of machine learning or perception topics to guide pipelines and tooling strategically.
Demonstrated experience designing and delivering data visualization tools or internal engineering dashboards that drive insights and action.
Expert knowledge of software engineering principles and a track record of leading teams in software design, source control management, build processes, code reviews, and testing methods.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to articulate a technical vision and motivate a team.

Nice To Haves

Expertise in concurrency, parallel processing, and database systems.
Experience with distributed computing frameworks such as Kubernetes and Ray.
Track record of developing and deploying perception systems for autonomous vehicles or robotics.
Ph.D. in a relevant field, or equivalent industry experience demonstrating a commitment to continuous learning.
Proficiency in modern C++ (C++14/17 or later).
Experience building products with current LLMs and MCP protocols.
Experience with GPU-accelerated data processing.
Familiarity with PyTorch, TensorFlow, or another modern ML development platform.
Experience in project management and a history of successfully delivering complex technical projects.

Responsibilities

Build, lead, and manage a high-performing team developing, maintaining, and optimizing internal data, training, and evaluation pipelines for perception modeling.
Provide technical guidance, mentorship, and career development opportunities to team members.
Define team goals, priorities, and roadmap in alignment with company objectives.
Work closely with ML engineers to identify and resolve technical challenges, contribute directly to improvements, and troubleshoot and optimize ML workflows.
Architect and implement technologies and methodologies to accelerate ML development from concept through deployment and maintenance.
Lead design and code reviews, set a high bar for quality, and encourage adoption of best practices.
Foster cross-functional collaboration and alignment with broader organizational goals.