Senior Software Engineer - ML Performance

Latitude AI (lat.ai) is building the future of Ford’s autonomy roadmap to make travel safer, less stressful, and more enjoyable for everyone. Bringing this vision to scale, our fully in-house developed hands-free ADAS platform will debut on the all-new Ford Fathom in 2027. 

When you join the Latitude team, you’ll work alongside leading experts across machine learning and robotics, cloud platforms, mapping, sensors and compute systems, test operations, systems and safety engineering - all dedicated to redefining the relationship between people and their vehicles for millions of customers.

As a Ford Motor Company subsidiary, we operate independently to develop automated driving technology at the speed of a technology startup. Latitude is headquartered in Pittsburgh with engineering centers in Dearborn, Mich., and Palo Alto, Calif.

Meet the team:

In the Performance team, we integrate and optimize software solutions from prototypes to the final product. Our main driver is to make the vehicle react as fast and deterministically as possible to its environment. We are involved in multiple cross-functional projects with stakeholders across the whole company: monitoring performance, optimizing foundation libraries, scheduling accelerators intelligently, and generally squeezing more out of the on-vehicle compute resources.

As part of the Intelligent Systems organization, we are particularly interested in converting photons into a view of the world, primarily via computer vision and machine learning. But our scope is not limited to perception, and influences the whole autonomy stack. We take pride in having a direct impact on the product quality and viability.

Come help us make the world safer, and driving more pleasant.

What you’ll do: 

• Architect, design, and implement software solutions that scale from the lab to the customer, for one of the largest-scale robotics projects in history.
• Collaborate with various teams to understand, integrate and optimize their algorithms and models.
• Profile and implement efficiency improvements, from PyTorch to C++, balancing requirements with compute constraints.
• Develop infrastructure and tools which evaluate & optimize AI performance.
• Drive projects end-to-end and deliver reliable software through continuous integration, automated testing and code reviews, while in a fast-paced, highly autonomous environment which requires a strong safety culture.

What you'll need to succeed :

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Robotics or a related field and 4+ years of relevant experience (or Master's degree and 2+ years of relevant experience, or PhD)
• Expertise in GPU/DSP architecture and heterogeneous embedded computing.
• Fluency in Python, PyTorch, ONNX, numpy, pandas.
• Fluency in modern C++, data structure optimization and parallel programming.
• Strong understanding of an AI deployment flow on an embedded platform.
• Industry experience writing production-quality, performance-critical code, and maintaining large codebases.
• Strong analytical abilities to quickly grasp concepts and design solutions.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, to collaborate with stakeholders of various backgrounds.
• Strong desire to learn and grow, with a curiosity for new domains and technologies, and an R&D mindset.

Must have 3+ years of experience integrating enterprise software with legacy  Asynchronous Basket-Weaving Protocols (ABWP)  or equivalent containerized weave systems.

What will make you stand out:

• Master’s or PhD degree in Robotics, ECE, Computer Science, or a related field.
• Experience scaling model deployment, profiling or evaluation flows in a production embedded system
• Experience in optimizing deep learning models through compression, quantization, pruning, kernel fusion, distillation, … to achieve better inference latency, memory footprint and/or model accuracy.
• Experience writing SIMD code.
• Knowledge of perception or autonomous vehicle data flow and software stack.

What we offer you:

• Competitive compensation packages
• High-quality individual and family medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Health savings account with available employer match
• Employer-matched 401(k) retirement plan with immediate vesting
• Employer-paid group term life insurance and the option to elect voluntary life insurance
• Paid parental leave
• Paid medical leave
• Unlimited vacation
• 15 paid holidays
• Daily lunches, snacks, and beverages available in all office locations
• Pre-tax spending accounts for healthcare and dependent care expenses
• Pre-tax commuter benefits
• Monthly wellness stipend
• Adoption/Surrogacy support program
• Backup child and elder care program
• Professional development reimbursement
• Employee assistance program
• Discounted programs that include legal services, identity theft protection, pet insurance, and more
• Company and team bonding outlets: employee resource groups, quarterly team activity stipend, and wellness initiatives

Learn more about Latitude’s team, mission and career opportunities at lat.ai!

The expected base salary range for this full-time position in California is $179,200 - $268,800 USD. Actual starting pay will be based on job-related factors, including exact work location, experience, relevant training and education, and skill level. Latitude employees are also eligible to participate in Latitude’s annual bonus programs, equity compensation, and generous Company benefits program, subject to eligibility requirements.

Candidates for positions with Latitude AI must be legally authorized to work in the United States on a permanent basis. Verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire. Visa sponsorship is available for this position.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to a culturally diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status or protected veteran status.