Senior AI Engineer - ML Ops (Unable to consider OPT/CPT candidates)

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Senior Artificial Intelligence Engineer

Role Summary:

The Center of Excellence within the ADMT LLC focuses on applied research and pre-development with the goal to evaluate and/or develop and transfer innovative technology from industries and research institutions into the autonomous driving domain for technology/supplier decisions and to build the strategic base for a further development of a VW Group owned vertical integrated AD-stack. This specific role has the main focus areas:

To develop reference processes, methods and tools needed to enable, scale, and industrialize MaaS/TaaS applications, including simulation, data analytics, scene understanding, as well as core SDS tasks.

To implement those and define KPI to evaluate and benchmark these enablers for autonomous driving

To conduct benchmarks and assessments

To collaborate with internal and external partners

Role Responsibilities:

Software Development and Testing

· Build scalable AI and ML based solutions to support production AD development use cases including simulation, data analytics, perception, behavior modeling, scene understanding, and fleet operations.

· Designs and implements new machine learning based approaches based on existing frameworks

Keeps up to speed with the state of the art of academic research and technology in the industry

Tests developed solutions in simulated, prototype, and real-world vehicles (virtual testing, unit tests, integration tests, in-vehicle/field tests, etc.)

Analyzes and evaluates conducted tests

Presents project/progress reports and presentations to top management, mentors, partners, and project affiliates

Transfers technologies and solutions to ADMT GmbH, CARIAD

· Develop KPI and operations frameworks for continuous validation and MLOps.

Build CI/CD AI deployment pipelines to serve models to production teams

Manages and coordinates the tech scouting process

Network Development

· Communicates regularly and influences partners in US and Germany to define, implement, and deliver new applied AI solutions to satisfy production needs.

Expands research network between ADMT LLC and local entities

· Manage resource allocation, budget, timelines, and deliverables for work packages.

Initiates and implements partnerships with external partners (companies, research institutions, universities) within Silicon Valley and US

Transfers project outcomes to internal Volkswagen Group partners (ADMT GmbH, CARIAD)

Strategic Management

Secures intellectual property

Qualifications - External

Years of Relevant Experience:

7+ years post-grad professional work experience

Required Education:

Master’s degree in computer science or equivalent

PhD strongly preferred

Skills:

Strong technical background of different machine learning algorithms

Strong project management and business development skills

Communication & documentation skills

Problem solving skills

Analytical skills

Conceptual thinking skills

Integration - joining people, processes or systems

Excellent verbal and writing skills

Detailed knowledge of autonomous driving and software technologies

Strong attention to detail

Required Specialized Skills

Must have experience with algorithm development for Autonomous Driving tasks including Perception, Sensor Fusion, Motion Prediction, Path Planning, End-to-End Driving, Simulation, Data Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies & technical skills

Background in Deep Neural Network Learning, Computer Vision, and Machine Learning

· Experience with the complete applied AI/ML development process for a variety of model and problem types: problem definition, architecture definition, training and validation, hyperparameter tuning, cloud deployment and operations, etc.

· Strong hands-on experience in building and deploying models on both on-premises compute and cloud compute (e.g., AWS).

· Experience with feature extraction and engineering from camera, lidar, radar, GPS/ D-GPS and HD maps, object-lists, large-scale fleet data, live data and offline data.

· Excellent knowledge and practical experience with simulation frameworks such as VTD, Unity, Unreal, ASM or similar.

· Experience with software-in-the-loop testing, and good knowledge of hardware-in-the-loop testing.

· Experience with data analytics, data-lake modeling, data preparation and quality assessment, building training/validation data pipelines from data lakes to AI models.

Strong programming skills with Python and TensorFlow/Pytorch PyTorch on on-premises compute and public clouds (e.g. AWS), Knowledge of generating features from sensor technology like camera, lidar, radar, GPS/ D-GPS and HD maps

Experience with data gathering, data quality, system architecture, coding best practices

Take initiative to launch projects with the ability to quickly learn and develop own ideas in an interdisciplinary environment

Extracting high level logical structure from low level, multi-dimensional data

Experience with different types of Neural Networks such as Transformers, CNNs, RNNs, LLMs, LSTMs, GNNs, Foundation Models.

Experience with different ML paradigms such as supervised/unsupervised learning, reinforcement learning, self-supervised learning, and imitation learning paradigms and the latest research trends

Specification/Documentation of interfaces between software modules.

Programming languages/tools as Python, C++, LaTex, Bash, Cmake, Git, Linux, familiar with data structures and algorithms, machine learning and math

· Experience with common applied AI and software development tools/libraries: Kubernetes, AWS Sagemaker, Docker, HuggingFace, Weights & Biases, OpenCV, OpenGL, TensorRT, CUDA, Open3D, PCL

Project Management & leadership

Experience running one or more projects simultaneously.

Project managing tasks - manage timelines, budgets, resource planning, risk etc.

Effective at communicating with teams across cultures and in different times zones

Desired Specialized Skills

· Experience with current state-of-the-art AI technologies such as Vision-Language Models, Neural Radiance Fields, Agentic AI, Embodied AI, Generative AI, Deep Sensor Fusion

· Experience with algorithm development for simulation and data analytics use cases, including AI digital twins, scene understanding, outlier detection, synthetic data generation, scenario modeling, traffic modeling, neural reconstruction, AI automation, etc.

· Good knowledge of scenario-based testing, and test design for the validation of autonomous vehicles.

· Experience with AD specialized tooling, datatypes, and workflows: DSPACE, OpenScenario, SOTIF, OpenDRIVE, ROS

Experience in programming concepts: Data filters/pipelines, multi-threading, programming for various types of SoC, real-time systems

Experience in a regulated industries such as automotive, aerospace, medical devices etc.

Experience in one or more of the following technical areas:

Compute architectures and technologies

Sensor technologies

Robotics

Broad knowledge of full vehicle inter-relationship, automotive systems, and interfaces between them

High level of engagement and self-initiative

Work Flexibility:

Up to 10% international and domestic travel to meet with internal/external partners.

Travel for internal and external shows for communication of project progress, results, and transfer.

Regular conference attendance for autonomous driving and especially software technologies.

In the Silicon Valley, the salary range for this role will be $165,000 - $190,000, depending on education and years of relevant experience.

Salary is determined by geographical location and adjusted accordingly. Other benefits for this position include:

Eligibility for annual performance bonus

Healthcare benefits

401(k), with company match

Defined contribution retirement program.

Tuition reimbursement

Company lease car program

Paid time off

Volkswagen Group of America is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We welcome and encourage applicants from all backgrounds, and do not discriminate based on race, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, color, gender identity/expression, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected by applicable laws.

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