---
title: 'Lead Data Platform Engineer - Enterprise, Data & AI at Zoox'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/lead-data-platform-engineer-enterprise-data-ai-zoox-foster-city-61c1tdms6spr'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-08'
---

# Lead Data Platform Engineer - Enterprise, Data & AI at Zoox

- **Company:** Zoox
- **Location:** Foster City, CA
- **Compensation:** $230k–$277k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-09-04
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-08
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/zoox/fd30da7a-d7ec-49a0-b4bd-ed3a193a1e07

## Job description

Zoox is seeking a high-agency, hands-on Lead Data Platform Engineer to architect, optimize, scale and own the next generation of our enterprise & AI data foundation. In this role, you will architect a high throughput, data fabric that unifies data across Zoox and downstream AI agents. You will drive performance tuning, cost optimization, RBAC, data governance and CI/CD pipelines to deliver secure, low-latency, 'AI-ready' data foundations across the organization.

You will serve as the primary technical driver for our data platform, designing autonomous frameworks, building scalable data infrastructure and establishing strict standards for security and developer velocity. This is an engineering-intensive leadership role for a builder who thrives on solving complex challenges.

In This Role, You Will...

- Scaling self-healing data pipelines that automatically handle schema evolution, detect anomalies, execute circuit breakers and recover from failures without manual intervention.
- Define and enforce company-wide data governance, access, automated data quality testing, schema evolution policies and metadata management to maintain high-fidelity data assets.
- Implement intelligent storage lifecycle strategies, resource throttling and query optimization to minimize compute overhead while delivering high-throughput, low-latency data access for analytics and AI agents. With a focus on Databricks vs EMR (AWS) cloud optimization (cost and performance).
- Build automated CI/CD deployment templates, environment isolation, testing frameworks and version control standards, enabling rapid, reliable and zero-downtime deployments

## Qualifications

- 10+ years of hands-on experience in Data Platform Engineering or Software Engineering with a proven track record of architecting and scaling production-grade data foundations.
- Deep expertise in scaling and optimization, query tuning, compute resource allocation and implementing efficient compute-storage lifecycle policies to minimize infrastructure costs.
- Experience implementing enterprise security standards, Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), Active Directory/IAM roles and fine-grained data masking, with strong familiarity supporting enterprise compliance requirements (e.g., SOX, audit trail controls, data retention policies).
- Track record of establishing enterprise data governance frameworks, automated schema evolution controls, data quality audits and near real-time observability/alerting.
- Hands-on experience building automated CI/CD pipelines, environment isolation (branch testing, rollback mechanisms), version control and automated deployment testing for data assets.

Bonus Qualifications

- Experience incorporating LLMs or GenAI directly into pipeline operations (e.g., code generation, triage and root-cause analysis, automated data reconciliation, backfills or anomaly detection).
- Experience with infrastructure-as-code (Terraform) and containerization/orchestration (EKS) for elastic compute management. GPU/CPU performance optimization & utilization.
- Previous experience in the autonomous vehicle, robotics or high-tech manufacturing sectors.

## 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.

Follow us on LinkedIn

Accommodations If you need an accommodation to participate in the application or interview process please reach out to accommodations@zoox.com 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.

## About Zoox

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Zoox is building a fully autonomous, all-electric, purpose-built robotaxi service to give the world a better way to ride.
- **Entity Type**: Private (independent subsidiary of Amazon, acquired in 2020)
- **Headquarters**: Foster City, California, USA (with offices in Las Vegas, San Francisco, Austin, Miami, Atlanta, Los Angeles)
- **Founded**: 2014
- **Founders**: Not specified in provided sources

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Autonomous ride‑hailing / Self‑driving electric vehicles
- **Target customers**: B2C – individual riders seeking safe, convenient, and sustainable urban transportation
- **Mission**: “Give the world a better way to ride” – providing safer, cleaner, autonomous ride‑hailing for everyone [zoox.com](https://zoox.com/about)

## Products & Services
- **Zoox Robotaxi**: A purpose‑built, fully autonomous electric vehicle designed from the ground up for ride‑hailing. Features bidirectional driving, four‑wheel steering, and no steering wheel or pedals. The service handles all charging, maintenance, and fleet management – riders simply get in and enjoy the ride [zoox.com](https://zoox.com).

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not disclosed (Zoox is a private subsidiary of Amazon)
- **Key Metric**: Not publicly available (revenue and funding details are not reported as a stand‑alone entity)
- **Notable Investors / Partners**: Amazon (parent company)
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Received authorization from the Nevada DMV to operate robotaxis on public roads [zoox.com/about](https://zoox.com/about)
  - Expanded testing and operations to Las Vegas, Seattle, San Francisco, and other cities
  - Continues to scale its engineering and operations teams (multiple open roles on the careers page as of 2026)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Purpose‑built design**: Unlike retrofitted vehicles, Zoox’s robotaxi is designed from scratch for autonomous ride‑hailing (symmetrical, bidirectional, four‑wheel steering, no driver controls)
- **Amazon backing**: Deep financial resources, supply chain expertise, and cloud infrastructure (AWS) support rapid development and scaling
- **Full‑stack autonomy**: In‑house AI, computer vision, and sensing stack integrated directly into the vehicle design
- **Safety‑first approach**: Comprehensive testing, safety‑critical system design, and focus on public road validation

## Strategic Focus
- Achieving commercial launch of the Zoox ride‑hailing service in select U.S. cities
- Continuing to mature the autonomous driving system through real‑world testing and simulation
- Expanding the “Go‑to‑Market” strategy and building out operations teams (see CRM Lead, Go‑to‑Market Manager roles) [jobs.lever.co/zoox](https://jobs.lever.co/zoox)
- Scaling manufacturing and prototyping to prepare for fleet deployment

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Diverse, supportive community with inclusion‑focused strategy. Crew‑led groups for personal and professional development. Emphasis on trust, humility, and openness [zoox.com/careers](https://zoox.com/careers)
- **Work environment**: Hybrid? The careers page lists many roles as “On‑site” in Foster City, CA, with other office locations available. In‑office perks include a famous food program with daily changing local and sustainable dishes, plus a busy calendar of events and sports teams.
- **Benefits**: Comprehensive health plans (Cigna), mental health support, wellbeing program, flexible time off, generous family planning and caregiver support, and a commitment to work‑life balance.
- **Growth opportunities**: Work on cutting‑edge autonomous vehicle technology alongside some of the brightest minds in AI, engineering, computer vision, and more. Offers internships and re‑entry programs (via Path Forward) for career returners.
- **Recruitment process**: Uses AI tools to assist in reviewing applications but final decisions are human. No fees are charged at any stage – watch for recruitment scams [zoox.com/journal/landing-a-job-zoox](https://zoox.com/journal/landing-a-job-zoox)

## Sources
1. [Zoox official website](https://zoox.com)
2. [Zoox About page](https://zoox.com/about)
3. [Zoox Careers page](https://zoox.com/careers)
4. [Zoox job openings on Lever](https://jobs.lever.co/zoox)
5. [Zoox hiring and interview process](https://zoox.com/journal/landing-a-job-zoox)

## Other roles at Zoox

- [Sensing and Perception System Safety Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/sensing-and-perception-system-safety-engineer-zoox-foster-city-9b41z224ntq6) — Foster City, CA
- [Software Engineer - Collision Avoidance System Metrics](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-collision-avoidance-system-metrics-zoox-foster-city-9xfh2gw0nayv) — Foster City, CA
- [Contract Student Worker - Autonomy Safety Data Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/contract-student-worker-autonomy-safety-data-engineer-zoox-foster-city-vb29ss0k5hgs) — Foster City, CA
- [Software Engineer, Operational Tools](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-operational-tools-zoox-foster-city-mmfc9jxj9vgs) — Foster City, CA
- [Diagnostics Serviceability Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/diagnostics-serviceability-engineer-zoox-foster-city-zpp032643x45) — Foster City, CA
- [Manager, Fleet Operations Training](https://feeny.ai/job/manager-fleet-operations-training-zoox-foster-city-8vfyx98j41fz) — Foster City, CA
- [Embedded Software Engineer - Drive Systems](https://feeny.ai/job/embedded-software-engineer-drive-systems-zoox-foster-city-whvhzqychegb) — Foster City, CA
- [Senior Staff / Principal Software Engineer - Freeway Autonomy](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-staff-principal-software-engineer-freeway-autonomy-zoox-foster-city-y93sb485dj53) — Foster City, CA
- [Senior Supplier Quality Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-supplier-quality-engineer-zoox-foster-city-d9gmdemvwa6b) — Foster City, CA
- [Senior Software Engineer -  Mapping Web](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-software-engineer-mapping-web-zoox-foster-city-egqnf19rq5hb) — Foster City, CA