---
title: 'Machine Learning Engineer III, Routing Cost at Mapbox'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/machine-learning-engineer-iii-routing-cost-mapbox-mapbox-e1mkbnsrah8j'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-10'
---

# Machine Learning Engineer III, Routing Cost at Mapbox

- **Company:** [Mapbox](https://feeny.ai/companies/mapbox)
- **Location:** Mapbox, Germany
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2025-12-02
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-10
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/1177eb0c-bcbf-44c7-874d-fce855570013/application

**Skills:** Python, Hadoop, Spark, Airflow, Dask, AWS, Machine Learning, Distributed Processing, Statistical Analysis, Data Quality Control

> Lead the design and development of highly trafficked recommendation systems for the routing cost engine. Responsibilities include building ML and data pipelines, optimizing geospatial algorithms, and mentoring engineering teams to ensure system availability and quality.

## Job description

Mapbox is the leading real-time location platform for a new generation of location-aware businesses. Mapbox is the only platform that equips organizations with the full set of tools to power the navigation of people, packages, and vehicles everywhere. More than 4 million registered developers have chosen Mapbox because of the platform’s flexibility, security and privacy compliance. Organizations use Mapbox applications, data, SDKs and APIs to create customized and immersive experiences that delight their customers.

## What We Do

The [Navigation team](https://www.mapbox.com/navigation) at Mapbox develops and operates web services powering virtually all of Mapbox’s strategic navigation initiatives in consumer, automotive, and logistics verticals. We are a highly multidisciplinary organization, with work spanning distributed systems on AWS to geospatial localization, traffic telemetry, and mapping. Collectively we are revolutionizing in-car experiences with technology to build fast, industry-leading maps and navigation for any vehicle. We’ve launched products such as [MapGPT](https://www.mapbox.com/mapgpt), [Mapbox for EV](https://www.mapbox.com/ev), and we’re enhancing the visual experience of in-vehicle navigation with 3D styling with our new Mapbox Standard through web and mobile SDKs. Mapbox has worked with [automotive partners](https://www.mapbox.com/automotive)— including BMW, Toyota, and GM — to bring the best aspects of mobile app development into in-vehicle navigation and infotainment.

- [Mapbox Blog: Introducing 3D Live Navigation](https://www.mapbox.com/blog/mapbox-3d-navigation)
- [Mapbox Blog: Route Notifications Improve Driver Safety](https://www.mapbox.com/blog/route-notifications-improve-driver-safety)
- [Mapbox Newsroom: AI Features in New Navigation SDK](https://www.mapbox.com/press-releases/mapbox-unveils-ai-features-in-new-navigation-sdk)

As AI becomes embedded in modern engineering workflows, we value engineers who can thoughtfully integrate AI into design, development, and decision-making. Our interview process will include discussion of how you use AI in your engineering workflow.

## What You’ll Do

As a Machine Learning Engineer III on the Routing Cost team, you will lead the design, development, and delivery of highly trafficked recommendation systems for our routing cost engine. Your technical contributions will include:

- Lead the engineering team(s) to execute end-to-end feature implementation within the larger navigation organization (~80 engineers).
- Design and build new ML and data pipelines, as well as optimizing existing ML and data pipelines.
- Build tools for automated quality assurance and data exploration.
- Leverage geospatial algorithms to optimize pipelines, as well as creating automated tuning and outlier detection algorithms.
- Partner with data scientists to make improvements to our models for determining patterns in movement and/or traffic.
- Mentor colleagues and participate in code and design reviews.
- Participate in an on-call rotation to ensure our systems remain available to customers 24/7. Team members alternate as the on-call primary responder, which may require immediate response outside normal working hours, including weekends.

What We Believe are Important Traits for This Role

- 8-10+ years of backend and ML experience: Extensive hands-on experience showcasing expertise and a strong track record in the engineering field. Experience with Reinforcement Learning.
- Technical knowledge: Extensive experience with Python, distributed processing pipelines (Hadoop, Spark, Airflow, Dask), and very large datasets – statistical analysis, data quality control, optimizing storage.
- Cloud proficiency: Extensive experience with cloud and infrastructure services, including, as well as deploying and managing infrastructure in cloud environments.
- Operational excellence: You drive a culture of quality and continuous improvement in your organization. Strong passion for clean code and robust architecture, with a drive to elevate engineering practices and design standards across the team.
- Ownership & execution: Own the technical vision, lead the strategy and guide the team to execute towards building the future of our routing cost engine.
- Customer focus: You care deeply about your customers and their problems, and you work tirelessly to innovate on their behalf.
- Growth mindset: Have the humility to accept mistakes, learn and grow from them.
- Mentorship: Experience mentoring and leading engineering teams developing skill sets and career growth.
- Strong written and vocal communication skills: You can talk and write about complex ideas concisely to a wide audience. You are able to lead and resolve org-wide technical discussions and are able to collaborate and include input from cross-functional teams (security, devops, data, compliance and product).
- Data informed mindset: You believe in the value of data informed decision making and strive to measure things that are not straight forward but essential. You also have the right instincts to make speedy decisions in the absence of perfect & comprehensive data.

## What We Value

In addition to [our core values](https://www.mapbox.com/about/values/), which are not unique to this position and are necessary for Mapbox leaders:

- We value high-performing creative individuals who dig into problems and opportunities.
- We believe in individuals being their whole selves at work. We commit to this through supportive health care, parental leave, flexibility for the things that come up in life, and innovating on how we think about supporting our people.
- We emphasize an environment of teaching and learning to equip employees with the tools needed to be successful in their function and the company.
- We strongly believe in the value of growing a diverse team and encourage people of all backgrounds, genders, ethnicities, abilities, and sexual orientations to apply.

## How we support you

- Hybrid/Remote Options: Enjoy flexibility to work comfortably from home or periodically from an office where applicable.
- Country-Specific Care & Coverage: Private health, dental, and income protection plans tailored to elevate your regional statutory benefits.
- Family-First Support: Family care, maternity and paternity leave policies to support your growing family.
- Lifestyle Spending Account: Contributions to support your health, wellness, and personal growth
- Balance & Brainpower: Mental health support for you and your dependents.
- Rest & Recharge: Paid time away, company holidays, and generous absence policies.
- Time Off to Give Back: Dedicated paid volunteering time in addition to your standard PTO.

By applying for this position, you acknowledge that you have received the [Mapbox Non-US Privacy Notice](https://www.mapbox.com/legal/applicant-privacy-notice/) for applicants, which is linked here.  Completing this application requires you to provide personal data, such as your name and contact information, which is mandatory for Mapbox to process your application. We are committed to a fair and equitable hiring process. We do not discriminate against any protected class.

#LI-Remote

## About Mapbox

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Mapbox is a global location platform that provides maps, navigation, search, and real-time location data services to power experiences for developers, enterprises, and consumers.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Growth Stage)
- **Headquarters**: Washington, DC, USA (with offices in San Francisco, Helsinki, and Minsk)
- **Founded**: 2010
- **Founders**: Eric Gundersen, Mikel Maron, Alex Barth, Will White, Tom MacWright

## Core Business
- Primary industry: Location Technology / Geospatial Data / Developer Infrastructure
- Target customers: B2B and B2D (Developer-first) — serving logistics, delivery, automotive, retail, travel, manufacturing, and enterprise software companies
- Mission or purpose: To power navigation for people, packages, and vehicles everywhere. They equip innovators to keep up with a changing world through real-time data and map rendering technologies.

## Products & Services
- **Mapbox Maps**: A customizable, high-performance mapping platform offering a suite of APIs and SDKs for web and mobile applications, including vector tiles, static maps, and map design tools.
- **Mapbox Navigation**: Turn-by-turn navigation services for car, truck, and last-mile delivery, optimized for real-time traffic and routing.
- **Mapbox Search**: Geocoding and place search APIs that provide location intelligence and address autocomplete.
- **Mapbox Data**: A rich set of datasets including traffic data, points of interest (POI), and real-time location insights for analytics and planning.
- **Mapbox Unity SDK**: Tools for building immersive location-based experiences in games, AR/VR, and simulation.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed (private company); Mapbox raised over $350M in equity funding. In 2020, its valuation was reported as approximately $1B.
- **Key Metric**: Total Funding — Over $370M raised from investors
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: SoftBank Vision Fund, Foundry Group, DFJ Growth, True Ventures, Glynn Capital, Atomico, and others. Strategic partners include the United Nations, World Bank, USAID, and Doctors Without Borders.
- **Growth Signals**: Headquartered in DC with offices in SF, Helsinki, and Minsk; serves millions of developers and enterprise customers globally; expanding into automotive, logistics, and IoT verticals. In October 2024, they launched new real-time data products for fleet management.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Developer-First Platform**: Serves a massive global developer community with a strong open-source ethos and extensive APIs/SDKs.
- **Customizability and Performance**: Unmatched ability for developers to style maps and control rendering, with low-latency vector tiles.
- **Real-Time Data Ecosystem**: Proprietary traffic, navigation, and location data that continuously updates, creating a data moat.
- **Strong Industry Partnerships**: Works with the UN, World Bank, and global enterprises, demonstrating trust and reliability beyond typical commercial use.

## Strategic Focus
- **Automotive & Logistics Growth**: Deepening integrations with automotive OEMs and delivery/logistics companies for real-time navigation and fleet management.
- **Real-Time Intelligence**: Expanding data products for real-time location analytics, traffic, and supply chain visibility.
- **Developer Ecosystem Expansion**: Investing in SDKs, Unity integrations, and developer tools to maintain community leadership.
- **Global Reach**: Scaling enterprise sales across non-US markets, especially Europe and Asia.

## Why Work Here
- **Remote-First Culture**: Mapbox embraces work flexibility; most roles are remote-friendly, and employees are free to work from home, offices, or even a national park with good WiFi.
- **Comprehensive Benefits**: Offers competitive compensation, equity, generous PTO, company-wide breaks, retirement programs, and comprehensive healthcare/mental health support.
- **Family Support**: Paid maternity, paternity, adoption, and family care leave.
- **Social Impact**: Over 30 hours of paid volunteer time annually and a donation-matching benefit. The team works on projects with NGOs and social impact organizations.
- **Engineering-Driven**: A builder culture with a focus on innovation, data-driven decision-making, and cross-functional collaboration.
- **Diverse and Inclusive**: Committed to DEI, with employee resource groups and policies promoting equity and inclusion.
- **Open Positions**: As of mid-2025, there were 77 open roles across multiple locations, including remote and hybrid options in the US, Helsinki, and Minsk.

## Sources
1. [mapbox.com/company](https://www.mapbox.com/company)
2. [mapbox.com/careers](https://www.mapbox.com/careers)
3. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox)
4. [mapbox.com/company/culture](https://www.mapbox.com/company/culture)
5. [crunchbase.com/organization/mapbox](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/mapbox)

## Other roles at Mapbox

- [RAVE I, Map Quality & Insights](https://feeny.ai/job/rave-i-map-quality-insights-mapbox-minsk-1thwfx24y9qb) — Minsk, Belarus
- [RAVE I (24/7), Feedback and Corrections (Road Closures)](https://feeny.ai/job/rave-i-24-7-feedback-and-corrections-road-closures-mapbox-minsk-wt9dnn3hkw43) — Minsk, Belarus
- [Documentation Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/documentation-engineer-mapbox-mapbox-086wgtmd0w42) — Mapbox, United States
- [IT Administrator](https://feeny.ai/job/it-administrator-mapbox-mapbox-1za7gn44c0en) — Mapbox, United States
- [Software Development Engineer II, Search](https://feeny.ai/job/software-development-engineer-ii-search-mapbox-mapbox-1xek5gxm8p5s) — Mapbox, United States
- [Head of Sales, Strategic Accounts](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-sales-strategic-accounts-mapbox-mapbox-2qzzbjd4r0k5) — Mapbox, United States
- [Head of Sales, Renewals](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-sales-renewals-mapbox-mapbox-5n4eqz0gafjt) — Mapbox, United States
- [Head of Global Demand Generation](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-global-demand-generation-mapbox-mapbox-v7kjyygck2rt) — Mapbox, United States
- [Software Development Engineer II, Cloud Platform](https://feeny.ai/job/software-development-engineer-ii-cloud-platform-mapbox-mapbox-dztb4qk2p60n) — Mapbox, United States
- [Software Development Engineer II, Routing Engine (Rust)](https://feeny.ai/job/software-development-engineer-ii-routing-engine-rust-mapbox-mapbox-pjm51fy15ag3) — Mapbox, United States