Software Engineer - Data Infrastructure
Luma AI is hiring a Software Engineer - Data Infrastructure for a remote role open to applicants in United States. It pays $170k-$360k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Luma AI.
Level's read on this job
- On Level's scale, this software engineer role is Builds AI ●●●●: the job is building AI systems.
- The listed pay starts close to the typical software engineer posting on Level.
- The posting lists this role as remote.
- Tools and skills the posting cites include Python, Ray and Spark.
- Level lists 29 other open roles at Luma AI.
AI in this role
Data Infrastructure Engineer building high-throughput data processing pipelines for multimodal AI research.
About the Role
As a Data Infrastructure Engineer in Research at Luma, you will play a critical role in building and scaling the data infrastructure that supports our cutting-edge multimodal AI systems. Your work will focus on developing high-throughput, large-scale data processing pipelines tailored for machine learning research and internal ML platform needs. You will collaborate closely with ML researchers and product teams to create reliable, efficient, and easy-to-use data infrastructure that empowers innovation and accelerates development. This role requires a strong foundation in distributed systems and data engineering, with an emphasis on supporting complex machine learning workflows rather than traditional product data infrastructure.
Responsibilities
Build and maintain scalable data infrastructure for high-throughput machine learning workflows
Collaborate with ML researchers and product teams to ensure data systems meet evolving needs
Develop and optimize large-scale data pipelines and batch processing jobs
Contribute to the architecture and implementation of reliable, high-performance data platforms
Integrate open-source tools and continuously improve data infrastructure through monitoring and tuning
Participate in cross-functional projects to improve data reliability, scalability, and operational excellence
Support the evaluation and adoption of new programming languages and frameworks relevant to data infrastructure
Engage in continuous improvement of data infrastructure through monitoring, troubleshooting, and performance tuning
Collaborate with research & engineering teams to help define and refine best practices for data infrastructure development
Qualifications
Proficiency in Python (or similar languages with willingness to learn Python) and experience with large-scale, high-throughput data infrastructure
Familiarity with distributed computing frameworks (e.g., Ray, Spark, Beam)
Ability to design and optimize data pipelines for ML research and internal teams
Strong problem-solving skills and understanding of data engineering at scale
Collaborative, product-focused mindset; comfortable in fast-paced environments
Experience sourcing, integrating, and optimizing data from diverse and large datasets
Comfortable working in a fast-paced, product-focused environment with a strong execution mindset
Open to candidates across seniority levels, from mid-level individual contributors to senior engineers and managers.
Nice to have
Prior experience working with complex data infrastructure or AI/ML platforms highly desirable
Experience with open source data infrastructure projects is a plus
Experience working in the robotics industry preferred
How we rate this
Software Engineer - Data Infrastructure at Luma AI rates 80 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Builds AI (AI Level 4 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.
Builds AI. The job is building AI systems.
- ●●●● 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. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.
Prepare for this job
Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.
Skills and AI tools this role asks for
Pay
- This job starts at
- $170k
- Typical software engineer job
- $168k
This posting starts close to the typical software engineer job. See software engineer jobs
Questions you could be asked
- Tell me about a research question you investigated. What did you find?
- Tell me about a project where data engineering was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where distributed systems was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where machine learning was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where data pipelines was part of your work. What did you do?
Adapt your resume
- List these exact terms on your resume: AI Research, Data Engineering, Distributed Systems, Machine learning, and Data Pipelines. 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.
- Lead with what you built, trained or shipped. This role is judged on the AI system itself, not the tools around it.
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