Senior Engineering Manager, Behavior Foundation Model - Zoox

Job Title: Senior Engineering Manager, Behavior Foundation Model
Job Location: Foster City, CA
Job Listing URL: https://jobs.lever.co/zoox/160ee89b-8c01-4f54-8f61-e82eef0e3419
Job Description: The Prediction & Behavior ML team is responsible for developing machine learning (ML) algorithms that learn and predict behaviors from data, applying them both on-vehicle to influence driving behavior and off-vehicle to provide ML capabilities to simulation and validation. Given the tight integration of behavior forecasting and motion planning, our team collaborates closely with the Planner team to advance overall vehicle behavior. We also work closely with our Perception, Simulation, and Systems Engineering teams to accelerate our ability to validate our driving performance.

As the Senior Engineering Manager for the Behavior Foundation Model team, you will lead the team responsible for advancing and scaling foundation models that understand and generate driving behaviors. This team collaborates across Perception, Planning, SImulation, Data Science, Systems Engineering, Validation, QA, and ML Infra, to leverage the power of generative AI for applications, including: scene encoding for learned driving trajectories, automated driving quality assessment, estimating scenario similarity, synthetic scenario creation, and simulated agent behavior. There are also emergent applications building on these technologies that will expand over time.
In this role, you will:
Team Leadership: Manage, mentor, and grow a team of managers and technical leads, fostering a culture of innovation and continuous improvement.
Strategy Development: Develop and organize our overall strategy for Foundation Models as they relate to driving behavior and scenario understanding. You will interface with multiple partner teams to identify opportunities for Foundation Model adoption within their problem area. You’ll be setting the short and long term technical direction for the team and collaborate on the broader company-wide directions.
Technical Oversight: Provide technical guidance and leadership in the design and development of training large, multi-modal foundation models and work with partner teams on ensuring their efficient inference.
Performance Monitoring: Establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness of optimization strategies and drive continuous improvement.
Resource Management: Manage the allocation of resources within the team, ensuring that projects are staffed appropriately and that team members have the necessary tools and support to succeed.
Qualifications:
Fluency in Python
Extensive experience with programming and algorithm design, strong mathematics skills
BS, MS, or PhD degree in computer science or related field
5+ years of experience with production Machine Learning pipelines, with at least 5 years in a leadership or management role.
Expertise with some, or all, of Large Language Models, Diffusion, Reinforcement Learning, and ML for Planning
Bonus Qualifications
Conference or Journal publications in Machine Learning or Robotics related venues
Prior experience working with autonomous vehicles or robotics