Software Engineer, ML Performance Optimization

Zoox

Foster City, CA on site Until 8/21/2026 4+ years exp H-1B sponsor history First posted May 28, 2026 Last posted May 28, 2026

Job description

Zoox is on a mission to reimagine transportation and ground-up build autonomous robotaxis that are safe, reliable, clean, and enjoyable for everyone. We are still in the early stages of deploying our robotaxis on public roads, and it is a great time to join Zoox and have a significant impact in executing this mission. The ML Platform team at Zoox plays a crucial role in enabling innovations in large-scale Foundation models, VLMs, and VLAs to make autonomous driving as seamless as possible.

The Opportunity

Are you excited to drive our ML Performance Optimization initiatives and make our ML models that enable autonomous driving as fast and efficient as possible? You will get to work with SOTA accelerators, cutting-edge techniques in distributed training, quantization, distillation, and pruning, among other things, working closely with all the Autonomy teams within Zoox - Perception, Prediction, Planner, Simulation, Collision Avoidance, and have the opportunity to significantly push the boundaries of how ML is practiced within Zoox.

We build and operate the base layer of ML tools, model development, and serving systems that our applied research teams use for in- and off-vehicle ML use cases. You will work alongside a team of strong software engineers and act as a force multiplier for our internal customers. This team has many growth opportunities as we expand our robotaxi deployments and venture into new ML domains. If you want to learn more about our stack behind autonomous driving, please look here. If you want to learn more about our ML Infrastructure, here is one of our past talks at re:Invent.

In this role, you will:

Design, implement, and operate cutting-edge ML Training OR Inference performance optimization techniques to scale our VLM, VLA, and Foundational models and deploy them efficiently in our robotaxi.
Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including ML researchers, software engineers, data engineers, and hardware engineers, to define requirements and align on architectural decisions.

Qualifications

Note: You do not have to meet all the requirements below to be considered for this position:

4+ years of total experience, including 2+ years of working on large-scale model training or inference platforms.
Experience with training frameworks like PyTorch, leveraging GPUs efficiently for distributed model training.
Experience with GPU-accelerated inference using TensorRT or similar frameworks.
Experience using profiling tools like NVIDIA's Nsight or PyTorch's Profiler for identifying model training and serving bottlenecks.
Proficient in Python or C++.

About Zoox

Zoox is developing the first ground-up, fully autonomous vehicle fleet and the supporting ecosystem required to bring this technology to market. Sitting at the intersection of robotics, machine learning, and design, Zoox aims to provide the next generation of mobility-as-a-service in urban environments. We’re looking for top talent that shares our passion and wants to be part of a fast-moving and highly execution-oriented team.

Accommodations

If you need an accommodation to participate in the application or interview process please reach out to [email protected] or your assigned recruiter.

A Final Note:

You do not need to match every listed expectation to apply for this position. Here at Zoox, we know that diverse perspectives foster the innovation we need to be successful, and we are committed to building a team that encompasses a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and skills.

Compensation (from employer):
192000–257000 USD per year

About this role

Summary

Optimize ML models for autonomous driving; collaborate across teams on scalable ML solutions

Job title

Software Engineer, ML Performance Optimization

Experience level

4+ years

Minimum experience

4+ years exp

Industry

software

Location requirements

Foster City, CA; remote work not specified

Salary

$192k–$257k

Visa sponsorship

H-1B sponsor history

Management role

Skills & keywords

Required skills

PyTorchGPUsTensorRTNsightPythonC++

Preferred skills

None specified

Specializations

machine learningperformance optimizationdistributed trainingacceleratorsmodel inference

Locations

Structured locations inferred from the posting.

Foster City, CA, USA

On-site City