Motional

Software Engineering Manager -Data Platform

Boston, Massachusetts, United States; Remote U.S.

Open 5 months, first seen by us 155 days ago

Pay: USD 172,000–229,000/yearAnnual period assumed — pay source
Salary Range $172,000—$229,000 USD Motional is a driverless technology company making autonomous vehicles a safe, reliable, and accessible reality. We’re driven by something more.
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Work setting: Remote — work setting source
Listed location: Boston, Massachusetts, United States; Remote U.S.
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Employment: Not stated

What you’ll work on

Full posting

Recruit, mentor, and grow a team of data and infrastructure engineers
Define the technical vision for storing metrics and generating ML datasets
Evaluate technologies to speed up training data loaders, metrics ingestion, and queries
Set team goals, priorities, and roadmap aligned with company objectives
Work with ML research and training platform teams to integrate solutions

From the employer’s posting

recruit, mentor, and grow a high-performing team of engineers

Define the technical vision and strategy for storing metrics and generating ML datasets

Identify and evaluate cutting-edge technologies and methodologies for speeding up data loaders for training, ingestion of metrics, and querying of large datasets

Define team goals, priorities, and roadmap in alignment with company objectives.

Collaborate closely with ML research, ML Training platform, and data engineering teams

What you’ll bring

All qualifications

Core experience

8+ years of professional experience in data platform engineering
Deep knowledge of data storage formats such as Parquet, Iceberg, and Lance and understand their tradeoffs.
3+ years of experience in a technical lead or management role with 3-7 direct reports
Strong knowledge of cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP) solutions and their product offerings.
Prior experience with building data warehouses or lakehouse architectures at a machine learning or robotics company.
Prior experience with Bazel based build systems.

Preferred experience

Prior experience in autonomous vehicles (AV) is a plus.

Qualification wording

8+ years of professional experience in data platform engineering

Deep knowledge of data storage formats such as Parquet, Iceberg, and Lance and understand their tradeoffs.

3+ years of experience in a technical lead or management role with 3-7 direct reports

Strong knowledge of cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP) solutions and their product offerings.

Prior experience with building data warehouses or lakehouse architectures at a machine learning or robotics company.

Prior experience with Bazel based build systems.

Prior experience in autonomous vehicles (AV) is a plus.

Apply at Motional

Posting record

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Open 5 monthsWe first saw this posting 155 days ago and it is still up. Roles open this long are often slow to fill or kept open to collect applications.

Status in our records: Live
First seen by us: Jun 3, 2026155 days ago
Recorded sightings: 105
Last seen by us: Nov 5, 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

Pay

In line with similar jobs

$172K–$229K against $154K–$225K, the middle half of what similar US postings state.

From 2,958 postings in the last year. Stated ranges, not salaries paid.

Time since we first saw it

Day 155

Up longer than most. Similar jobs usually come down between day 7 and day 54.

Well past Motional’s usual: its jobs come down by about day 61.

From 7,965 similar postings that came down, and 9 of Motional’s. Coming down is not always a hire.

Motional is hiring

13 open jobs

Open jobs by the week we first saw them, last 12 weeks.

Hiring has slowed
Its jobs tend to stay up a long time
8% of open jobs were reposted

Hiring record

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.

C++
Python
AWS
GCP
Airflow

Where the posting names them

- Technical Skills: - Strong programming skills in Python. C++ experience is a plus. - Deep knowledge of data storage formats such as Parquet, Iceberg, and Lance and understand their tradeoffs.

- Deep knowledge of data storage formats such as Parquet, Iceberg, and Lance and understand their tradeoffs. - Strong knowledge of cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP) solutions and their product offerings. - Prior experience with building data warehouses or lakehouse architectures at a machine learning or robotics company.

- Extensive experience with managing large (petabyte plus) scale data platforms such as data warehouses, object storage, and ML training data stores. - Extensive experience with workflow orchestration frameworks such as Airflow or Step Functions. - Technical Skills:

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Your next step

Complete your application on motional.com. The employer’s form will show what is required.

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Greenhouse doesn’t read resumes over 2.5 MB, or details placed in a header, footer, text box, table or second column. The file still attaches, but a recruiter has to type you in by hand.

Already applied? Track this application

Demand for Data Leadership roles

New Data Leadership postings at the employers we follow are up 7% over the last 5 weeks compared with the 5 before.

August 17Last week

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 Data Leadership, by the work the posting describes.

Data leaders run data teams or design how a company's data fits together. Managers hire, set priorities and answer for whether the data work pays off; architects choose the systems and the shape of the data.

Expect years of hands-on data work, experience leading people or projects, and the ability to explain tradeoffs to executives.

Unlike a senior engineer or analyst, most of a data leader's week goes to people, planning and decisions rather than building.

US government figures for computer and information systems managers

Median yearly pay, May 2025: $175,140
Expected change, 2025 to 2035: 15.8% more jobsagainst 3.5% for all jobs

The government has no code for data leaders, so these figures are for the closest group, computer and information systems managers, which includes data processing and data operations managers.

Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025) and Employment Projections (2025 to 2035). Occupation code 11-3021.

Job description

View original posting ↗

Mission Summary:

We are seeking an experienced and visionary Staff Level Technical Lead Manager to build and lead our new Data Platform team. This pivotal role will drive the strategy, development, and execution of initiatives aimed at significantly accelerating our ML dataset generation and our data warehouse stack. The ultimate goal is to drastically reduce the development cycle for new pipelines, ML models and get us operationally prepared for a driverless future!

You will be a hands-on leader, blending deep technical expertise in data systems and infrastructure with strong leadership and people management skills. You will recruit, mentor, and grow a high-performing team of engineers, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvements.

What You'll Be Doing:

Team Leadership & Management:

Build, lead, and manage a high-performing team of data and infrastructure engineers focused on building out Motional’s Data Stack.
Define team goals, priorities, and roadmap in alignment with company objectives.
Provide technical guidance, mentorship, and career development opportunities to team members.

Technical Strategy & Execution:

Define the technical vision and strategy for storing metrics and generating ML datasets for large computer vision and behavioral models.
Identify and evaluate cutting-edge technologies and methodologies for speeding up data loaders for training, ingestion of metrics, and querying of large datasets for everything from dashboards to training.

Cross-functional Collaboration:

Collaborate closely with ML research, ML Training platform, and data engineering teams to understand their needs and integrate solutions seamlessly.
Communicate complex technical concepts and strategies to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

What We're Looking For:

Experience:

BS or MS in Computer Science or related field
8+ years of professional experience in data platform engineering
3+ years of experience in a technical lead or management role with 3-7 direct reports
Extensive experience with managing large (petabyte plus) scale data platforms such as data warehouses, object storage, and ML training data stores.
Extensive experience with workflow orchestration frameworks such as Airflow or Step Functions.

Technical Skills:

Strong programming skills in Python. C++ experience is a plus.
Deep knowledge of data storage formats such as Parquet, Iceberg, and Lance and understand their tradeoffs.
Strong knowledge of cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP) solutions and their product offerings.
Prior experience with building data warehouses or lakehouse architectures at a machine learning or robotics company.

Bonus Points (not required):

Prior experience in autonomous vehicles (AV) is a plus.
Prior experience with Bazel based build systems.

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.

The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors including but not limited to specific skills, experience and expertise, role location, certifications, licenses, and business needs. The estimated compensation range listed in this job posting reflects base salary only. This role may include additional forms of compensation such as a bonus or company equity. The recruiter assigned to this role can share more information about the specific compensation and benefit details associated with this role during the hiring process.

Candidates for certain positions are eligible to participate in Motional’s benefits program. Motional’s benefits include but are not limited to medical, dental, vision, 401k with a company match, health saving accounts, life insurance, pet insurance, and more.

Salary Range

$172,000—$229,000 USD

Motional is a driverless technology company making autonomous vehicles a safe, reliable, and accessible reality. We’re driven by something more.

Our journey is always people first.

We aren't just developing driverless cars; we're creating safer roadways, more equitable transportation options, and making our communities better places to live, work, and connect. Our team is made up of engineers, researchers, innovators, dreamers and doers, who are creating a technology with the potential to transform the way we move.

Higher purpose, greater impact.

We’re creating first-of-its-kind technology that will transform transportation. To do so successfully, we must design for everyone in our cities and on our roads. We believe in building a great place to work through a progressive, global culture that is diverse, inclusive, and ensures people feel valued at every level of the organization. Diversity helps us to see the world differently; it’s not only good for our business, it’s the right thing to do.

Scale up, not starting up.

Our team is behind some of the industry's largest leaps forward, including the first fully-autonomous cross-country drive in the U.S, the launch of the world's first robotaxi pilot, and operation of the world's longest-standing public robotaxi fleet. We’re driven to scale; we’re moving towards commercialization of our technology, and we need team members who are ready to embrace change and challenges.

Formed as a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv, Motional is fundamentally changing how people move through their lives. Headquartered in Boston, Motional has operations in the U.S and Asia. For more information, visit www.Motional.com and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.

Motional AD Inc. is an EOE. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. To comply with Federal Law, we participate in E-Verify. All newly-hired employees are queried through this electronic system established by the DHS and the SSA to verify their identity and employment eligibility.

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