Data Flywheel Engineer - Tech lead
Listed on 2026-07-23
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IT/Tech
Data Engineering, Data Annotation/ AI Labeling
Strategically the single most important role on this team.
About NeolixWe are building a Silicon Valley frontier autonomous-driving team for Neolix, the global leader in L4 autonomous driving. Before you read further, here is the scale we operate at:
- Massive Fleet: 30,000+ proprietary autonomous logistics vehicles (Robo Vans) deployed across 300+ cities in 15+ countries.
- Proven Mileage: ~200 million autonomous kilometers logged on public roads.
- #1 Globally: In June 2026, Neolix ranked #1 globally in last-mile autonomous delivery on the Road to Autonomy Index (scoring 74.7, ahead of Starship, Serve Robotics, and Coco). This index is built by Autnmy AI and S&P Dow Jones Indices based on verified operational records and regulatory disclosures—not self‑reported marketing.
Our fleet already runs at a massive scale on public roads.
The data flywheel is the engine that turns that real-world scale into a compounding model advantage.
As our Data Flywheel Engineer, you will own the loop that converts petabytes of real operational driving data into high-quality model fuel—and into the company's deepest moat.
Note:
This is not a support function. It is the core competitive advantage of an autonomous‑driving company operating at fleet scale.
- Own the End-to-End Data Closed Loop: Drive mining, active learning, auto‑labeling, curation, and feedback into training—turning fleet data directly into model improvements.
- Build Automated Pipelines: Architect pipelines for large‑scale multimodal time‑series data (video / LiDAR / radar / trajectory), handling cleaning, alignment, storage, retrieval, and versioning.
- Drive Down Annotation Costs: Radically increase the auto‑labeling ratio. You must be able to reason clearly about the human‑vs‑model‑vs‑rule cost structure (targeting benchmarks like Momenta's ~99% automation).
- Surface the Long‑Tail: Lead hard‑example mining and corner‑case discovery, closing the loop so that rare real‑world events become vital training signals.
- Collaborate for On‑Road Impact: Partner directly with training‑infra, controls/E2E, and safety teams to ensure the flywheel lifts critical on‑road metrics (MPI, interventions, safety) across the production fleet.
- Exceptional Data Intuition (The Soul of this Role): You have a real feel for data quality, distribution, and the long‑tail. You know exactly which slice of data actually pushes the model's ceiling.
- Hands‑On Expertise: Deep experience with data mining, active learning, auto‑labeling, and data‑closed‑loop automation.
- Large‑Scale Data Engineering: Fluency in building large‑scale data pipelines using Spark, Ray, and stream‑batch architectures, along with data versioning and lineage.
- Multimodal Mastery: Proven ability to work with multimodal time‑series data (video / LiDAR / radar / trajectory).
- Strategic Vision: A clear understanding of annotation cost structures and the technical path to full automation.
- Previously worked at an industry‑leading autonomous driving company (e.g., Waymo, Tesla, Cruise, or Nuro)
You likely come from a data‑flywheel benchmark team (Momenta, Tesla Autopilot, Waymo, XPeng), an elite data‑engine company (Scale AI, Nuro/Cruise data & perception), or a massive‑scale data platform (Byte Dance, Google).
- Base Cash Salary: $300,000 - $500,000 USD +
Equity: Generous founding‑team equity package - Benefits: Premium health, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k), and comprehensive Silicon Valley tech perks
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