Principal Engineer, System Performance Analytics

Mission Summary:

Motional is a leading autonomous driving company on a mission to make driverless vehicles a safe, reliable, and accessible reality. Backed by Hyundai Motor Group, Motional is at the forefront of the physical AI revolution. Motional isn’t just building first-of-its-kind technology; we are transforming transportation to create safer streets and more sustainable mobility options.

The Systems Readiness and Performance team is the crucial bridge between software development and real-world deployment. We are responsible for driving system design, for verifying and validating the autonomy stack, and for defining, measuring, and validating system performance targets. We work closely with stakeholders in autonomy, infrastructure, and operations to build the definitive safety case for the commercial launch of our fully driverless IONIQ 5 robotaxis in Las Vegas later this year.

We are seeking a Principal Engineer to own and elevate the autonomous vehicle performance executive reporting for our organization. As a critical leader within the team, you will be the definitive voice translating complex robotics data, autonomy insights, and system performance metrics into compelling, strategic narratives for Motional's highest-level stakeholders.

While you will take immediate ownership of our critical weekly Software Performance Review (SPR) presented to leadership (including the CEO), your mandate extends far more broadly. You will architect the broader executive reporting ecosystem, commercial readiness reviews, and long-term autonomy trend analyses. Furthermore, you will serve as a force multiplier, mentoring junior engineers to elevate the data visualization and storytelling culture across the entire team. This role requires a unique hybrid professional: someone who deeply understands robotics and the autonomous vehicle (AV) problem space, but can synthesize that complexity into high-level strategy.

What You'll Be Doing

• Strategic Data Synthesis: Analyze complex autonomous vehicle data pipelines encompassing heuristic extraction, diagnostic evaluations, and ETL-driven AV performance data analysis and visualization to extract the core "story" the data is telling.
• Executive Reporting Ownership: Establish the analytical "rhythm of business" by leading the weekly Software Performance Review (SPR) and owning all leadership AV performance reporting, continuously calibrating metrics to align with executive goals and directly answer the strategic questions needed to drive the business forward.
• Cross-Functional Alignment: Partner seamlessly with internal team leads across Heuristic Extractors, Reasoning Engine & Infrastructure, Diagnosis & Reporting, and Data & Metrics Analysis to unify disparate data streams into a single, cohesive release narrative.
• Mentorship & Team Elevation: Serve as the strategic anchor for the team, mentoring junior engineers. Establish best practices in data visualization, chart design, and executive communication.
• Reporting Automation & AI Tooling: Architect and deploy automated, zero-touch reporting pipelines utilizing modern AI workflows (e.g., Cursor IDE) and integration frameworks like Model Context Protocol (MCP). Directly connect AV performance databases to programmatic presentation tools (e.g., Google Slides API) to auto-generate weekly reporting decks and eliminate manual reporting overhead.

What We're Looking For

• 8+ years of experience bridging business intelligence, data science, and strategic reporting within a highly complex technical field (Autonomous Vehicles, Robotics, Aerospace).
• Master’s degree in Business Analytics, Data Intelligence, Robotics, or an MBA combined with a remarkably strong technical foundation in engineering problem spaces.
• Executive Presence: You possess superb communication skills and can command a room. You are experienced in leading executive presentations and high-visibility reviews with polish and professionalism.
• Analytical & Influential: You can use data to build a compelling Point of View (POV) that influences internal stakeholders and drives actionable engineering decisions.
• Strategic & Operational Balance: You can synthesize the long-term system maturity vision while also diving deep into the details of specific software release anomalies.
• Strong foundational understanding of robotics systems, data architectures, and the unique problem space of autonomous vehicle performance, perception, and prediction validation.
• The Art of Data Visualization: Treat data visualization as a strategic art form. Exercise expert judgment in knowing exactly what type of chart, graph, or visual framework to use, where to place it, and how to design it to instantly translate dense engineering outputs into clear, executive-level insights.
• AI-Assisted Development: Familiarity with modern AI agent workflows and IDEs (e.g., Cursor, GitHub Copilot) and an understanding of how to leverage API protocols (such as MCP) to connect disparate SaaS tools and databases securely.

Bonus Points (not required)

• Prior experience as a strategic management consultant specializing in deep-tech, AI, robotics, or automotive sectors.
• Direct experience reporting on software readiness, simulation performance (e.g., Software/Hardware-in-the-Loop), and safety metrics for autonomous systems.
• Proven track record of replacing entirely manual presentation-building processes with scalable, code-driven slide generation scripts.

Success Metrics

• Successful overhaul and seamless weekly delivery of the Software Performance Review (SPR), resulting in immediate clarity and strategic alignment for the CEO.
• Establishment of a unified data storytelling framework that elevates the entire System Performance Organization's reporting quality and visualization standards.
• Demonstrated growth and elevated output from mentored junior BABI engineers.

Working Environment

The work environment characteristics described here represent those a team member encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The team member is regularly exposed to mechanical and computer parts. The team member is occasionally exposed to fumes and/or airborne particles. The noise level in the environment is low to moderate.

We encourage a hybrid schedule with in-office time at one of our locations in Boston, Pittsburgh, or Las Vegas to support collaboration, or this role can be fully remote.