Principal Engineer Tech Lead Manager, ML Acceleration

Motional is a driverless technology company making autonomous vehicles a safe, reliable, and accessible reality. They are seeking an experienced Principal Level Tech Lead Manager to build and lead a new Machine Learning Acceleration team, drive strategy, and execute initiatives aimed at accelerating ML model training.

Responsibilities:

• Build, lead, and manage a high-performing team of ML and infra engineers focused on acceleration
• Provide technical guidance, mentorship, and career development opportunities to team members
• Foster a collaborative and inclusive team environment
• Define team goals, priorities, and roadmap in alignment with company objectives
• Define the technical vision and strategy for ML acceleration across the organization
• Identify and evaluate cutting-edge technologies and methodologies for speeding up ML training, including but not limited to data pipeline optimization, large scale distributed training, data loader optimization, hardware acceleration, and model optimization techniques
• Design, develop, and implement scalable and efficient ML acceleration solutions
• Collaborate closely with ML research, ML Training platform, and product teams to understand their needs and integrate acceleration solutions seamlessly
• Communicate complex technical concepts and strategies to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Act as a technical expert and advocate for ML acceleration initiatives across the company
• Regularly measure and report on the impact of acceleration efforts
• Continuously seek opportunities for further optimization and innovation

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience
• 8+ years of experience in software engineering, with at least 5+ years focused on Machine Learning systems, infrastructure, or performance optimization
• 3+ years of experience in a technical lead or management role, with a proven track record of building and leading high-performing teams
• Extensive experience with large-scale ML model training and deployment, ideally in a production environment
• Strong understanding of distributed systems and cloud computing platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure)
• Deep expertise in ML frameworks such as PyTorch or JAX
• Proficiency in performance profiling and optimization techniques for ML workloads
• Strong programming skills in Python; C++ experience is a plus
• Knowledge of MLOps principles and practices
• Exceptional leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills
• Ability to attract, hire, and retain top engineering talent
• Proven ability to drive complex technical projects from conception to completion
• Strong problem-solving skills and a proactive, results-oriented mindset
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment