Pay
$166K–$240K is typical
The middle half of what similar US postings state. This one doesn’t list pay.
From 1,279 postings in the last year. Stated ranges, not salaries paid.
Contract Student Worker - Machine Learning Engineer - Data Mining & VLM (Full-time)
Foster City, CA
Live, first seen by us 85 days ago- Pay
$30/hour — pay source
We want to be transparent: this is not an internship. The Part-Time Student Worker Program is designed to complement your academic experience by providing meaningful, ongoing work alongside your studies. Rather than participating in a cohort-based program, you'll join a team directly and contribute to real projects with real impact. While the program does not include structured intern programming or a pathway to full-time employment, it offers valuable opportunities to learn, develop new skills, and gain hands-on experience in a professional environment. Compensation for this role is $30/hour. This is a contract position; employment will be through a vendor contracted with Zoox. The hourly rate is as posted, and benefits eligibility is determined by the vendor.
Read the full posting- Work setting
- Not stated
- Employment
Contract — employment source
Compensation for this role is $30/hour. This is a contract position; employment will be through a vendor contracted with Zoox. The hourly rate is as posted, and benefits eligibility is determined by the vendor. About Zoox
Employment type Contract
Employment type in the employer’s posting: Contract
From the employer’s posting
What you’ll work on
Full postingSupport Zoox's Rules of the Road (RotR) program, where a miner + LLM/VLM tooling method automatically mines and triages potential road-rule violation events from simulation and fleet data.
Develop and iterate data miners that locate potential road-rule violations
Build and refine VLM/LLM workflows that classify road-rule events
Curate golden datasets and measure triager precision and recall against human triage
Extend triagers from simulation to fleet and service data
Analyze triager error cases and turn findings into pipeline improvements
From the employer’s posting
Support Zoox's Rules of the Road (RotR) program, where a miner + LLM/VLM tooling method automatically mines and triages potential road-rule violation events from simulation and fleet data. The student will be helping create or improve the data miners that generate the candidate events, help develop and evaluate the VLM triagers — curating golden datasets, measuring precision/recall against expert triage, and extending automation to new regulations and data sources.
Develop and iterate data miners locating potential RotR Violations following SSO requirements
Develop and iterate on VLM/LLM workflows and pipelines for classifying RotR events
Curate golden datasets and evaluate triager precision/recall against human triage
Extend triagers from simulation to fleet/service data
Analyze error cases and translate findings into pipeline improvements
What you’ll bring
All qualificationsCore experience
- Strong Python / Pyspark / SQL skills
- Experience with Spark optimization and distributed data-processing systems.
- Experience evaluating multimodal or vision-language models.
- Understanding of supervised learning, model evaluation, and common sources of dataset bias and label noise.
- Experience with autonomous vehicles, robotics, mapping, or transportation-related datasets.
- Experience with prompt optimization, model fine-tuning, or human-in-the-loop ML systems.
Qualification wording
Strong Python / Pyspark / SQL skills
Experience with Spark optimization and distributed data-processing systems.
Experience evaluating multimodal or vision-language models.
Coursework in machine learning, computer vision, or NLP. Understanding of supervised learning, model evaluation, and common sources of dataset bias and label noise.
Experience with autonomous vehicles, robotics, mapping, or transportation-related datasets.
Experience with prompt optimization, model fine-tuning, or human-in-the-loop ML systems.
About Amazon
Zoox is an autonomous ridehailing company building the world's first purpose-built robotaxi — fully electric, bidirectional, with no steering wheel or driver's seat.
In the employer’s words · Read in context
Posting record
Report an error- Status in our records
- Live
- First seen by us
- Aug 11, 202685 days ago
- Recorded sightings
- 159
- Last seen by us
- Nov 5, 2026
- Employer says posted
- Aug 7, 2026
These dates show when we found the posting. Check the employer’s website to confirm it is still accepting applications.
How this job compares
Time since we first saw it
Day 85
Up longer than most. Similar jobs usually come down between day 6 and day 70.
At Amazon, jobs usually come down by about day 69.
From 4,442 similar postings that came down, and 20 of Amazon’s. Coming down is not always a hire.
Amazon is hiring
24 open jobs
Open jobs by the week we first saw them, last 12 weeks.
- ML Engineer hiring is picking up
- Takes jobs down at a usual pace
- 4% of open jobs were reposted
See how this role fits your experience
Add your resume and we’ll mark which of these tools you already use, and point out anything in the posting that could rule you out.
- Python
- Scala
- SQL
- Spark
- PySpark
Where the posting names them
- Extend triagers from simulation to fleet/service data - Strong Python / Pyspark / SQL skills - Coursework in machine learning, computer vision, or NLP. Understanding of supervised learning, model evaluation, and common sources of dataset bias and label noise.
Bonus Qualifications - Strong Scala skills. - Experience with Spark optimization and distributed data-processing systems.
- Strong Scala skills. - Experience with Spark optimization and distributed data-processing systems. - Experience with autonomous vehicles, robotics, mapping, or transportation-related datasets.
Your next step
Complete your application on jobs.lever.co. The employer’s form will show what is required.
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Already applied? Track this application
About Amazon
- People
- About 1,207,759 in 2024.Benefit plan filings (Form 5500)
- Company
- Listed as AMZN.
- H-1B visas
- 6,217 approved for new hires in fiscal 2025.US Citizenship and Immigration Services
- Layoff notices
- Notices this year and last cover 988 people. The latest was filed January 29, 2026.State WARN notices
Demand for ML Engineer roles
New ML Engineer postings at the employers we follow are up 12% over the last 5 weeks compared with the 5 before.
Each bar is one week of new postings. The darkest bars are the last 5 weeks.
Counted from the hiring pages we’ve followed for at least five weeks, so employers we add don’t look like growth. Updated weekly.
About the role
We file this job under ML Engineer, by the work the posting describes.
ML engineers put machine learning models into products. They write the code that trains, ships, serves and monitors models so a recommendation or prediction works for real users.
Postings ask for strong Python and software engineering, a framework such as PyTorch, cloud services, and more and more often experience with large language models.
A data scientist often works out which model to build; an ML engineer makes it run reliably in production.
US government figures for computer and information research scientists
- Median yearly pay, May 2025
- $140,300
- Expected change, 2025 to 2035
- 21.8% more jobsagainst 3.5% for all jobs
The government has no code for ML engineers, so these figures are for the closest group, computer and information research scientists.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025) and Employment Projections (2025 to 2035). Occupation code 15-1221.
Job description
About Zoox
Zoox is an autonomous ridehailing company building the world's first purpose-built robotaxi — fully electric, bidirectional, with no steering wheel or driver's seat. Backed by Amazon and founded to make transportation safer, cleaner, and more accessible, Zoox designs its vehicles entirely around the rider. We're currently operating in Las Vegas and San Francisco, with Austin and Miami on the horizon, and testing underway across seven U.S. markets.
About Our Part-Time Student Worker Program
Zoox's part-time student worker program puts you at the center of one of the most ambitious challenges in transportation. You'll contribute to real projects, work alongside engineers and researchers pushing the boundaries of autonomous technology, and gain experience that goes well beyond the classroom. We're looking for students who bring strong academic foundations, curiosity that doesn't stop at coursework, and a drive to be part of something that matters.
Role Overview
Support Zoox's Rules of the Road (RotR) program, where a miner + LLM/VLM tooling method automatically mines and triages potential road-rule violation events from simulation and fleet data. The student will be helping create or improve the data miners that generate the candidate events, help develop and evaluate the VLM triagers — curating golden datasets, measuring precision/recall against expert triage, and extending automation to new regulations and data sources.
Responsibilities
- Develop and iterate data miners locating potential RotR Violations following SSO requirements
- Develop and iterate on VLM/LLM workflows and pipelines for classifying RotR events
- Curate golden datasets and evaluate triager precision/recall against human triage
Required Qualifications
- Extend triagers from simulation to fleet/service data
- Strong Python / Pyspark / SQL skills
- Coursework in machine learning, computer vision, or NLP. Understanding of supervised learning, model evaluation, and common sources of dataset bias and label noise.
- Analyze error cases and translate findings into pipeline improvements
- Hands-on experience building production LLM/VLM applications, including agentic workflows, RAG, tool calling, evaluation, and/or fine-tuning.
- Familiarity with software-engineering practices such as Git, unit testing, debugging, and code reviews.
Bonus Qualifications
- Strong Scala skills.
- Experience with Spark optimization and distributed data-processing systems.
- Experience with autonomous vehicles, robotics, mapping, or transportation-related datasets.
Program Requirements
- Experience evaluating multimodal or vision-language models.
- Currently enrolled in a B.S. or M.S. program in a relevant discipline.
- Experience with prompt optimization, model fine-tuning, or human-in-the-loop ML systems.
- Available to commit to a minimum three-month assignment.
- Able to commit a minimum of 40 hours per week.
- Able to work on-site at one of our office locations.
- Must adhere with Zoox confidentiality requirements, including refraining from using or sharing proprietary company information outside of Zoox, such as in academic research, theses, publications, or presentations.
We want to be transparent: this is not an internship. The Part-Time Student Worker Program is designed to complement your academic experience by providing meaningful, ongoing work alongside your studies. Rather than participating in a cohort-based program, you'll join a team directly and contribute to real projects with real impact. While the program does not include structured intern programming or a pathway to full-time employment, it offers valuable opportunities to learn, develop new skills, and gain hands-on experience in a professional environment.
Compensation for this role is $30/hour.
This is a contract position; employment will be through a vendor contracted with Zoox. The hourly rate is as posted, and benefits eligibility is determined by the vendor.
About Zoox
Zoox is developing the first ground-up, fully autonomous vehicle fleet and the supporting ecosystem required to bring this technology to market. Sitting at the intersection of robotics, machine learning, and design, Zoox aims to provide the next generation of mobility-as-a-service in urban environments. We’re looking for top talent that shares our passion and wants to be part of a fast-moving and highly execution-oriented team.
Accommodations
If you need an accommodation to participate in the application or interview process please reach out to accommodations@zoox.com or your assigned recruiter.
A Final Note:
You do not need to match every listed expectation to apply for this position. Here at Zoox, we know that diverse perspectives foster the innovation we need to be successful, and we are committed to building a team that encompasses a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and skills.
Employment type
Contract
Source details
Source notes
Source excerptsSelected passages from the saved posting. Check the full description for conditions and exceptions.
- Pay
We want to be transparent: this is not an internship. The Part-Time Student Worker Program is designed to complement your academic experience by providing meaningful, ongoing work alongside your studies. Rather than participating in a cohort-based program, you'll join a team directly and contribute to real projects with real impact. While the program does not include structured intern programming or a pathway to full-time employment, it offers valuable opportunities to learn, develop new skills, and gain hands-on experience in a professional environment. Compensation for this role is $30/hour. This is a contract position; employment will be through a vendor contracted with Zoox. The hourly rate is as posted, and benefits eligibility is determined by the vendor.
- Location & working pattern
Foster City, CA
- Able to commit a minimum of 40 hours per week. - Able to work on-site at one of our office locations. - Must adhere with Zoox confidentiality requirements, including refraining from using or sharing proprietary company information outside of Zoox, such as in academic research, theses, publications, or presentations.
- Work authorization
No clear work-authorization passage found. Eligibility is unconfirmed.