Staff Software Engineer - Autonomy Data & Tooling

May Mobility is transforming cities through autonomous technology to create a safer, greener, more accessible world. Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, May develops and deploys autonomous vehicles (AVs) powered by our innovative Multi-Policy Decision Making (MPDM) technology that literally reimagines the way AVs think.

Our vehicles do more than just drive themselves - they provide value to communities, bridge public transit gaps and move people where they need to go safely, easily and with a lot more fun. We’re building the world’s best autonomy system to reimagine transit by minimizing congestion, expanding access and encouraging better land use in order to foster more green, vibrant and livable spaces. Since our founding in 2017, we’ve given more than 300,000 autonomy-enabled rides to real people around the globe. And we’re just getting started. We’re hiring people who share our passion for building the future, today, solving real-world problems and seeing the impact of their work. Join us.

Job Summary

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Staff Data Engineer to join our growing Data Platform team. This is a critical role responsible for designing, building, and optimizing scalable data pipelines fundamental to our data platform initiatives, with a particular focus on rapidly ingesting and processing the massive volumes of data our vehicles collect. You will play a pivotal role in enabling the efficient and reliable flow of data from vehicles to the systems and teams that depend on it, ensuring timely and complete data availability for downstream analysis and simulation.

Essential Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and implementation of highly robust and scalable data pipelines for ingesting, processing, and transforming vehicle data to cloud.

• Architect and implement real-time streaming solutions for continuous data offloading, prioritizing low-latency delivery, high throughput, and optimal resource utilization (especially CPU) across both vehicle and offload infrastructure.

• Optimize real-time pipelines, improving data freshness and time-to-insight while maintaining cost-efficiency and medallion architecture principles.

• Champion best practices for data quality, data governance, and data security throughout the data lifecycle.

• Implement and manage advanced queuing and prioritization mechanisms for data processing jobs, moving beyond first-come, first-served to enable on-demand data prioritization.

• Foster a culture of rigorous testing, documentation, and continuous improvement within the data engineering team.

• Mentor and provide technical leadership to junior and mid-level data engineers, promoting knowledge sharing and technical growth.

• Collaborate closely with software engineers, cloud architects, data scientists, and product managers to understand data requirements and deliver impactful solutions.

• Evaluate and recommend new technologies and approaches to enhance our data platform capabilities.

Qualifications and Experience

Candidates most successful in this role typically hold the following qualifications or comparable knowledge or experience:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related quantitative field.

• 15+ years of experience in data engineering, with at least 5 years in a lead or senior technical role.

• Expert-level proficiency in distributed data processing frameworks.

• Demonstrated expertise in optimizing data transfer from edge devices.

• Strong understanding and practical experience with performance optimization in resource constrained environments.

• Strong programming skills in Python, with a strong preference for candidates with significant experience in lower level languages used in embedded systems.

• Extensive experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP), particularly with data storage, compute, and messaging services (e.g., S3, Kafka, Kinesis)..

• Proven ability to design and implement robust, fault-tolerant, and scalable data stream processing systems.

• Familiarity with containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes).

• Strong understanding of database concepts (SQL and NoSQL).

• Experience with version control systems (Git) and CI/CD pipelines.

• Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot complex data pipeline issues and optimize performance.

• Knowledge of software engineering best practices, including design patterns, clean code and testing methodologies.

Physical Requirements

• Standard office working conditions which includes but is not limited to:

• Prolonged sitting

• Prolonged standing

• Prolonged computer use

Travel required? - Minimal: 1%-10%

Benefits and Perks

• Comprehensive healthcare suite including medical, dental, vision, life, and disability plans. Domestic partners who have been residing together at least one year are also eligible to participate.

• Health Savings and Flexible Spending Healthcare and Dependent Care Accounts available.

• Rich retirement benefits, including an immediately vested employer safe harbor match.

• Generous paid parental leave as well as a phased return to work.

• Flexible vacation policy in addition to paid company holidays.

• Total Wellness Program providing numerous resources for overall wellbeing

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and/or people of color are less likely to apply to a job unless they meet every qualification. At May Mobility, we’re committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workforce, so if you’re excited about this role but your previous experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification, we encourage you to apply anyway! You may be the perfect candidate for this or another role at May.

Want to learn more about our culture & benefits? Check out our website!

May Mobility is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants for employment will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, genetics or any other legally protected basis. Below, you have the opportunity to share your preferred gender pronouns, gender, ethnicity, and veteran status with May Mobility to help us identify areas of improvement in our hiring and recruitment processes. Completion of these questions is entirely voluntary. Any information you choose to provide will be kept confidential, and will not impact the hiring decision in any way. If you believe that you will need any type of accommodation, please let us know.

Note to Recruitment Agencies: May Mobility does not accept unsolicited agency resumes. Furthermore, May Mobility does not pay placement fees for candidates submitted by any agency other than its approved partners.

Salary Range
$175,000—$251,000 USD