Principal Software Engineer, Team Lead - Perception Platforms

Motional•Boston, MA

23h

About The Position

The Principal Software Engineer, Team Lead will lead Motional’s Perception Platform team, which works at the intersection of ML infrastructure and perception to build foundational frameworks, evaluation pipelines, and tools for developing perception systems for autonomous vehicles. The team’s systems include large-scale data pipelines for data transformation, model training, and model evaluation; evaluation and visualization tools for understanding 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 role combines team leadership with hands-on software engineering. The team lead will guide and mentor team members, define team goals and roadmaps, collaborate with ML engineers to address technical challenges, and contribute production-quality code. The role also leads architecture and engineering practices for efficient ML development, from concept through deployment and maintenance, while fostering collaboration across teams.

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 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 experience in backend development and leading the architecture of complex systems.
Deep understanding of ML or perception topics to guide pipeline and tooling strategy.
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 other modern ML development platforms.
Experience in project management and a history of successfully delivering complex technical projects.

Responsibilities

Build, lead, and manage a high-performing team creating, 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 roadmaps in alignment with company objectives.
Work closely with ML engineers to identify and resolve technical challenges, while contributing directly to improvements.
Troubleshoot and optimize machine learning workflows for efficiency and performance.
Architect and execute technologies and methodologies that accelerate ML development from concept through deployment and maintenance.
Lead design and code reviews, uphold a high quality bar, and promote engineering best practices.
Foster cross-functional collaboration and alignment with broader organizational goals.