Director of AI Data Operations
AI in this role
Director of AI Data Operations leading software operations, data labeling, and training datasets for Nuro's autonomous driving stack.
Who We Are
Nuro is a self-driving technology company on a mission to make autonomy accessible to all. Founded in 2016, Nuro is building the world’s most scalable driver, combining cutting-edge AI with automotive-grade hardware. Nuro licenses its core technology, the Nuro Driver™, to support a wide range of applications, from robotaxis and commercial fleets to personally owned vehicles. With technology proven over years of self-driving deployments, Nuro gives the automakers and mobility platforms a clear path to AVs at commercial scale, empowering a safer, richer, and more connected future.
About the Role
Data is the foundation of autonomous driving. Every improvement in Nuro’s autonomy stack depends on identifying the right real-world examples, transforming them into high-quality training and evaluation datasets, and rigorously validating that each software release is ready for the road.
As Director of AI Data Operations, you will lead the organization responsible for this critical development loop—from producing the data that trains and evaluates Nuro’s AI models to identifying autonomy regressions and building confidence in every software release. Your work will directly influence how quickly our models learn, how effectively engineering teams resolve performance gaps, and how safely new capabilities reach the vehicle.
Sitting at the center of Nuro’s autonomy organization, your team will work closely with machine learning, autonomy, simulation, onboard systems, data science, and product teams. You will also help Nuro take advantage of emerging technologies, including multimodal foundation models, LLMs to improve how training data is created and how system performance is evaluated.
We are looking for a proactive, technically fluent operational leader who can identify gaps across the autonomy development lifecycle and build the teams, systems, and partnerships needed to close them. You will define the long-term vision for software operations while developing an organization equally capable of navigating ambiguity, executing disciplined processes, and staying aligned with Nuro’s broader technical roadmap.
About the Work
- Direct the strategy and execution of the Software Operation organization, including providing high quality data for AI models, conducting triage and root cause analysis to support autonomy and system teams.
- Own data labeling vendors as the extended software operation organization. Be responsible for quality, throughput SLAs, budgets, pricing negotiation.
- Manage embedded domain specialists doing deep-dive work on autonomy stack modules, and partner closely with engineering and data science to build out scenario and evaluation datasets.
- Set the operational KPIs, throughput metrics, and quality bar across all pipelines, and act as the main connective tissue between Software Operations, Engineering, and Product.
- Run a multi-pillar organization efficiently, evolving the organization structure to align with the business needs.
About You
- 10+ years of operational leadership experience, with 5+ years in AV, robotics, or complex ML operations including budget or P&L ownership
- Proven track record managing large-scale onshore and offshore vendor operations (labeling/annotation), both operationally and commercially
- Strong working knowledge of AI systems and cross-functional collaboration with engineering and product teams
- Strong analytical skills to identify root causes of KPI gaps and drive execution to resolve them
- Demonstrated ability to build and scale operational organizations in fast-paced, ambiguous environments
Bonus Points
- Background in autonomous vehicles or physical AI
- Experience with LLM or GenAI labeling pipelines
At Nuro, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package. For this position, the reasonably expected base pay range is between $193,000 and $291,000 for the level at which this job has been scoped. Your base pay will depend on several factors, including your experience, qualifications, education, location, and skills. In the event that you are considered for a different level, a higher or lower pay range would apply. This position is also eligible for an annual performance bonus, equity, and a competitive benefits package.
At Nuro, we celebrate differences and are committed to a diverse workplace that fosters inclusion and psychological safety for all employees. Nuro is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and expressly prohibits any form of workplace discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristics. #LI-DNP
How we rate this
Director of AI Data Operations at Nuro rates 70 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Works on AI (AI Level 3 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.
Works on AI. The daily work is on AI products, without building the model.
- ●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
- ●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
- ●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
- ●○○○ Little AI0 to 39
Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Open the description and count.
Prepare for this job
A free preview built only from this posting: what it asks for, what you could be asked in an interview, and how to adjust your resume.
Skills and AI tools this role asks for
Questions you could be asked
- How do you keep labeling instructions consistent across a large annotation team?
- Tell me about a project where data operations was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where autonomous vehicles was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where data labeling was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where root cause analysis was part of your work. What did you do?
Adapt your resume
- List these exact terms on your resume: AI Data Labeling, Data Operations, Autonomous Vehicles, Data Labeling, and Root Cause Analysis. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
- Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them — a tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.
- Show where AI is part of your daily process, not a one-off project — this role expects it to be a running habit.
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