Uber is launching AV Labs to accelerate the autonomous technology ecosystem. We’re building out a high-velocity team of multi-disciplinary experts to turn real-world operations into high-quality data for our autonomous partners. This team is focused on the hardest problem in AV today: unlocking real-world, long-tail driving data. Autonomy is now a data race—and Uber has an edge: We collect rare, real-world driving data at a scale and capital efficiency no one else can match.
As a Staff ML Engineer, you will be at the forefront of Physical AI, developing core components of our Autonomous Driving stack. You will set the technical direction for the development and implementation of machine learning techniques across the autonomy systems. You aren't just solving known problems; you are identifying the next generation of challenges in AV, designing the architectural foundations to solve them, and raising the bar for technical excellence across the entire engineering organization. You will collaborate with engineers across big data, compute, and cloud engineering to build platforms that harness scale and real-world complexity to reimagine how the world moves.
What the Candidate Will DoSet the technical roadmap and lead the delivery of state-of-the-art Machine Learning systems:
- Strategic Autonomy Development: Lead the strategy for Autonomous Driving Algorithm Development, ensuring our stack is robust, safe, and capable of handling the most complex urban edge cases.
- End-to-End AI Innovation: Drive the adoption of end-to-end AI-driven methods for autonomy pipelines, moving beyond incremental improvements to achieve breakthrough performance.
- Architecture & System Design: Design and oversee the implementation of complex, large-scale ML systems, ensuring seamless integration between upstream sensor data.
- Technical Mentorship & Influence: Mentor senior and lead engineers, fostering a culture of rigorous experimentation and engineering excellence. You will influence the technical direction of multiple teams.
- Platform Evolution: Define the requirements for high-quality datasets and auto-labeling systems, ensuring our ML infrastructure evolves at the speed of the latest research.
- Cross-Organizational Leadership: Act as a bridge between AV Labs and other Uber engineering units to ensure that autonomous technology is successfully integrated and deployed at scale.
- 8+ years of working experience in the ML, Robotics, or Autonomous Systems industry.
- 2+ years of working experience with L4 Autonomy companies
- Proven experience leading large-scale technical projects from conception to production.
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related fields.
- Expert-level proficiency in Python and Linux environments.
- Deep expertise in modern AI/ML frameworks (e.g., PyTorch).
- PhD degree in Computer Vision, Robotics, or Machine Learning with a focus on Autonomous Driving.
- Extensive experience with C++, CUDA, and high-performance system optimization.
- Deep understanding of the Robot Operating System (ROS) or similar autonomous middleware.
- Recognized expertise in the field (e.g., publications in CVPR, NeurIPS, ICRA or patents related to AV).
- Experience building and scaling "Foundation Models" for physical world interaction.
For Sunnyvale, CA-based roles: The base salary range for this role is USD $232,000 per year - USD $258,000 per year.
You will be eligible to participate in Uber's bonus program, and may be offered an equity award & other types of comp. All full-time employees are eligible to participate in a 401(k) plan. You will also be eligible for various benefits.
About UsReady to Ride?
This isn't the kind of place where you follow a playbook — it's where you help write one. If you're driven by impact, energized by challenge, and ready to shape how the world moves — we'd love to hear from you.
You may be eligible for bonuses, equity, and other compensation, as well as a range of benefits. Explore our benefits.
Offices remain key to collaboration and Uber's culture. Unless approved for full remote work, employees must spend at least 50% of their time in-office. Some roles, like those at greenlight hubs, require full-time in-office presence. Ask your Recruiter for details about this role's requirements.
Uber is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know by completing this form.
Skills Required
- 8+ years of working experience in machine learning, robotics, or autonomous systems
- 2+ years of working experience with L4 autonomy companies
- Experience leading large-scale technical projects from conception to production
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field
- Expert-level proficiency in Python and Linux environments
- Deep expertise in modern AI/ML frameworks such as PyTorch
- PhD in Computer Vision, Robotics, or Machine Learning focused on autonomous driving
- Extensive experience with C++, CUDA, and high-performance system optimization
- Deep understanding of Robot Operating System or similar autonomous middleware
- Recognized expertise through publications or patents related to autonomous vehicles
- Experience building and scaling foundation models for physical-world interaction
Uber Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Uber and has not been reviewed or approved by Uber.
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Parental & Family Support — Policies provide a minimum of fully paid parental leave for all parents and financial support for fertility, adoption, and surrogacy, with added credits to ease the transition. Programs extend to family medical leave and parenting support resources, indicating depth beyond baseline offerings.
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Healthcare Strength — Healthcare coverage is described as comprehensive across many countries, with medical, dental, vision, life, disability, and mental health benefits, plus allowances where direct plans are not available. Wellness programs and reimbursements further reinforce access to care.
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Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Monthly ride and meal credits, free office meals/snacks, fitness stipends, onsite gyms, and wellbeing reimbursements create meaningful everyday value. Home‑office stipends, travel medical coverage, and counseling support round out lifestyle-oriented perks.
Uber Insights
What We Do
We are Uber. The go-getters. The kind of people who are relentless about our mission to help people go anywhere and get anything. Movement is what we do. It’s our lifeblood. It runs through our veins. It’s what gets us out of bed each morning. It pushes us to constantly reimagine how we can move better. For you. For all the places you want to go. For all the things you want to get. For all the ways you want to earn. Across the entire world. In real-time. At the incredible speed of now.
Why Work With Us
We welcome people from all backgrounds who seek the opportunity to help build a future where everyone and everything can move independently. If you have the curiosity, passion, and collaborative spirit, work with us, and let’s move the world forward, together.
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