Lead AI Engineer / Technical Lead Manager at Rivianvw.tech

ABOUT US Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is a joint venture between two industry leaders with a clear vision for automotive’s next chapter. From operating systems to zonal controllers to cloud and connectivity solutions, we’re addressing the challenges of electric vehicles through technology that will set the standards for software-defined vehicles around the world. The road to the future is uncharted. By combining our expertise across connectivity, AI, security and more, we’ll map a new way forward. Working together, we’ll create a future that’s more connected, more intelligent, more sustainable for everyone. Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies Canada is proud to be a Great Place To Work® Certified company — 92% of employees at RV Tech Canada say it is a great place to work, compared to 60% at a typical company. ROLE SUMMARY As a Lead AI Engineer / Technical Lead Manager, you will head the technical direction and execution of our LLM and Agentic Systems strategy, with a specialized focus on bridging cloud intelligence and embedded execution. You will lead a high-performing squad of engineers to develop, fine-tune, and deploy state-of-the-art models that drive core product innovation. You are a "player-coach" who balances deep-dive architectural design—including model optimization for edge hardware—with people leadership, ensuring your team delivers scalable, production-grade AI solutions. RESPONSIBILITIES - Strategic Technical Leadership: Own the roadmap for LLM integration and Agentic workflow orchestration. You will move projects from conceptual research to high-availability production environments, ensuring performance parity across cloud and embedded edge devices. - Team Management & Mentorship: Direct responsibility for the growth of a specialized AI/ML team. You will provide technical mentorship in both high-level Generative AI and low-level model optimization (quantization, pruning) to ensure your team can deploy to any target. - Architecting Agentic Systems: Lead the design of complex, multi-agent autonomous systems. You will oversee frameworks that allow LLMs to automate workflows reliably in both resource-constrained embedded environments and high-compute cloud environments. - System Integration & Scalability: Partner with Platform and Hardware teams to architect the "AI/ML Backbone." You will ensure infrastructure supports low-latency on-device inference, vector database scaling, and efficient data exchange across the hardware ecosystem. - Defining "Production-Grade": Establish rigorous standards for MLOps and TinyMLOps, including CI/CD for ML, automated evaluation frameworks (RAG metrics, hardware-specific latency benchmarking), and model health monitoring. - Cognitive Automation Strategy: Identify high-impact opportunities for cognitive automation (e.g., local summarization, real-time reasoning) and delegate execution to maximize accuracy within the power and memory envelopes of our hardware. - Cross-Functional Diplomacy: Act as the primary liaison between AI Engineering and Product, Legal, and Hardware stakeholders. You will translate complex ML constraints—such as SRAM limitations or NPU capabilities—into clear business trade-offs. QUALIFICATIONS - Advanced Degree: Master’s or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field. - Proven Leadership: 7+ years of total experience in ML/Software Engineering, with 2+ years in a Lead or Management role managing small to mid-size technical teams. - Generative AI & Optimization Expertise: Extensive experience with LLM fine-tuning (PEFT, LoRA) and a solid understanding of model compression techniques (INT8/FP16 quantization) for deployment. - Technical Stack: Mastery of Python and PyTorch/TensorFlow. Strong proficiency in C++ or Rust is highly preferred for developing performance-critical inference engines on embedded targets. - Production Lifecycle: Proven track record of taking ML models from notebook to 24/7 production environments, including experience with Edge AI runtimes (e.g., TensorRT, ONNX Runtime, or TFLite). - Strategic Mindset: Ability to balance the "bleeding edge" of research with the pragmatic needs of stable, low-power, and maintainable embedded products. TOTAL REWARDS Total compensation packages for full-time positions include base salary, eligibility for an annual performance bonus, and eligibility for equity. In addition, our benefits package has been designed to support the health and wellness of our employees. Benefit offerings include Flex Time Off, retirement savings plans as well as medical, vision and dental coverage. For more information on RV Tech’s comprehensive benefits package for full-time employees, check out our Global Benefits Site [Upgrade to PRO to see link] External candidates can apply for this role through the RV Tech Careers site ([Upgrade to PRO to see link] If you are a current employee, please apply through our internal job board [Upgrade to PRO to see link] EQUAL OPPORTUNITY Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information or characteristics, physical or mental disability, marital/domestic partner status, age, military/veteran status, medical condition, or any other characteristic protected by law. We are also committed to ensuring compliance with all applicable fair employment practice laws regarding citizenship and immigration status. Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is committed to ensuring that our hiring process is accessible for persons with disabilities. If you have a disability or limitation, such as those covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, that requires accommodations to assist you in the search and application process, please email us at [Upgrade to PRO to see contact]. CANDIDATE DATA PRIVACY Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies” may collect, use and disclose your personal information or personal data (within the meaning of the applicable data protection laws) when you apply for employment and/or participate in our recruitment processes (“Candidate Personal Data”). This data includes contact, demographic, communications, educational, professional, employment, social media/website, network/device, recruiting system usage/interaction, security and preference information. Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies may use your Candidate Personal Data for the purposes of (i) tracking interactions with our recruiting system; (ii) carrying out, analyzing and improving our application and recruitment process, including assessing you and your application and conducting employment, background and reference checks; (iii) establishing an employment relationship or entering into an employment contract with you; (iv) complying with our legal, regulatory and corporate governance obligations; (v) record keeping; (vi) ensuring network and information security and preventing fraud; and (vii) as otherwise required or permitted by applicable law. Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies may share your Candidate Personal Data with (i) internal personnel who have a need to know such information in order to perform their duties, including individuals on our People Team, Finance, Legal, and the team(s) with the position(s) for which you are applying; (ii) Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies affiliates; and (iii) Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies’ service providers, including providers of background checks, staffing services, and cloud services. Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies may transfer or store internationally your Candidate Personal Data, including to or in the United States, Canada, and the European Union and in the cloud, and this data may be subject to the laws and accessible to the courts, law enforcement and national security authorities of such jurisdictions. If you provide a mobile telephone number as part of your application or during the recruitment process, Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies may use that number to contact you via SMS text message for recruitment-related purposes, including scheduling, logistics, and status updates. Message and data rates may apply. You may opt out of SMS communications at any time by replying STOP to any text message you receive from us. Consent to receive SMS messages is not a condition of applying for or being considered for employment. Please see our Candidate Data Privacy Notice (English) [Upgrade to PRO to see link] and Candidate Data Privacy Notice (Serbian) [Upgrade to PRO to see link] for more information. -- Please note this job posting represents an open, active vacancy. Additionally, we are not currently accepting applications from third party application services.