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Merlin Labs

Autonomous flight control for aircraft

Lead AI Dataloop and Release Engineer

Data EngineeringConfirmed live in the last 24 hours
Full-time$165k - $220k /yr

About the Job

Requirements

  • A degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Computer Engineering, Applied Math, or a related subject.
  • At least 5 years of engineering experience, including at least 2 years in a technical leadership role owning data infrastructure, MLOps, or AI platform engineering at scale.
  • Demonstrated experience building and operating production-scale data pipelines for AI/ML model training, including dataset management, labeling workflows, and data versioning.
  • Hands-on experience integrating data systems with large-scale distributed training infrastructure, such as GPU/TPU clusters, job orchestration, and experiment tracking.
  • Deep understanding of simulation pipelines, including data-driven, physics-based, or sensor-realistic simulators, and how data quality affects simulator fidelity and model transferability.
  • Experience working in or alongside safety-critical domains such as autonomous vehicles, aviation, or robotics, with understanding of rigor, traceability, and validation.
  • A systems-thinking mindset for treating data quality, pipeline reliability, and infrastructure design as interconnected constraints.
  • Track record of building platforms and tooling used by other engineering teams day-to-day, with high standards for reliability, documentation, and developer experience.
  • Ability to communicate technical data strategy clearly to product, safety, and executive stakeholders.

Responsibilities

  • Define and execute a comprehensive data strategy spanning AI model training, simulation, and production deployment across safety-critical autonomous systems.
  • Own the end-to-end data pipeline from raw collection and labeling through curation, versioning, and delivery, ensuring reliability and scale for training and simulation workflows.
  • Build and maintain data flywheels that improve model performance by connecting deployed system behavior with future training iterations.
  • Collaborate with teams provisioning and operating large-scale GPU/TPU training clusters to align data delivery with compute capacity and training schedules.
  • Drive the design and integration of data pipelines feeding data-driven, physics-based, and high-fidelity simulators, ensuring simulated environments support confident AI model validation.
  • Partner with safety, validation, and certification teams to establish data quality standards and traceability practices that satisfy aviation and/or automotive regulatory requirements.
  • Lead, mentor, and grow a team of data and infrastructure engineers, setting technical direction and fostering rigor, ownership, and continuous improvement.
  • Define and track KPIs for data pipeline health, simulation fidelity, and model readiness; use them to prioritize investments and communicate progress to senior leadership.

Desired Qualifications

  • Experience with domain randomization, synthetic data generation, or sensor simulation techniques for bridging the sim-to-real gap in autonomous systems.
  • Familiarity with aviation standards such as DO-178C and DO-254, or automotive safety frameworks such as ISO 26262 and SOTIF, as they relate to data and software validation.
  • Prior experience building or scaling data flywheel systems that feed real-world deployment signals back into training and labeling workflows.
  • Hands-on background with perception, planning, or control model development in autonomous vehicles or UAV/UAS systems.
  • Experience with formal data governance, lineage tracking, or provenance tooling in regulated environments.
  • Contributions to open-source tooling in MLOps, data engineering, or simulation.

About the Company

Merlin Labs

Autonomous flight control for aircraft

Merlin Labs builds autonomous flight technology, focusing on the Merlin Pilot, an autonomous flight system designed to be deployed across aircraft of any size or age. How it works: the Merlin Pilot is an autonomous pilot system that can operate with a human pilot during a transitional phase, increasing safety and trust. It’s designed to be integrated into existing and future aircraft through partnerships with aviation authorities and manufacturers; revenue comes from selling and licensing the technology to operators and OEMs. What makes Merlin different: it emphasizes a scalable, adaptable platform that is validated through regulatory engagement (FAA, CAA NZ) and a phased approach to autonomy rather than immediate full automation. What is the goal: to enable safe, scalable autonomous flight across commercial airlines, cargo operators, and potentially private aircraft, by providing a certified, integrated autonomous flight solution that can be adopted across fleets.

Company size
201-500
Company stage
IPO
Headquarters
Boston, MA
Founded
2019

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