Principal Software Engineer – Dataset and Annotation Quality - Physical AI, Autonomy & Data Platform
Caterpillar3 days ago
Base Salary
$159k - $259k/yr
Responsibilities
- Define data quality frameworks, validation rules, scoring models, acceptance criteria, and dataset readiness standards for ML systems.
- Design scalable systems for label validation, consistency checking, anomaly detection, auditability, governance, and continuous data quality monitoring.
- Create feedback loops connecting model performance and failures to annotation prioritization, active learning, error mining, and targeted dataset improvement.
- Provide architectural direction and technical authority to annotation and dataset quality engineering teams across multiple teams.
- Lead hands-on development, prototyping, troubleshooting, performance tuning, modernization, and continuous improvement of platform components using Python and/or Java.
- Champion software engineering practices including CI/CD, automated testing, infrastructure as code, observability, reliability, maintainability, release management, and operational maturity.
- Partner with product management, ML, autonomy, data engineering, annotation engineering, platform engineering, and DevOps teams.
- Translate business and platform objectives into technical roadmaps and facilitate design reviews, sprint planning, backlog refinement, dependency management, and engineering governance.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science, software engineering, computer engineering, or a related field.
- 10+ years of software engineering experience, including significant principal-, staff-, or lead-level technical leadership experience.
- Expert-level proficiency in Python and/or Java.
- Expertise in computer vision, sensor-based systems, or ML-driven products, with strong experience designing annotation platforms, labeling systems, or data quality frameworks.
- Strong understanding of data-centric AI, training data lifecycle management, label ontologies, annotation guidelines, quality standards, and data quality metrics.
- Experience building or scaling human-in-the-loop systems and connecting model failures to data issues and improvements.
- Proven ability to lead architectural direction across multiple teams and deep expertise in system design, distributed systems, and large-scale cloud-native architectures.
- Strong experience designing and implementing enterprise-scale streaming and batch data processing systems.
- Hands-on experience with AWS cloud services and architecture patterns; Azure or GCP experience is valued.
- Experience leading technical strategy in agile environments and operating effectively amid ambiguity, experimentation, prototyping, and evolving constraints.
- Preferred experience with AI/ML, autonomous systems, computer vision, robotics, advanced analytics platforms, multimodal LiDAR/image/telemetry data, annotation tools, auto-labeling, active learning, hybrid annotation systems, or large-scale annotation operations.
Benefits
- Medical, dental, and vision benefits, subject to plan eligibility.
- Paid time off including vacation, holidays, and volunteer time.
- 401(k) savings plans, health savings accounts, and flexible spending accounts.
- Health lifestyle programs, employee assistance programs, voluntary benefits, and employee discounts.
- Career development, tuition reimbursement, incentive bonus, disability benefits, life insurance, parental leave, and adoption benefits.
- The position is based in Irving, TX (Dallas), and domestic relocation assistance is available.
- Visa sponsorship is available for this position.
About Caterpillar
Caterpillar Inc. designs, manufactures, and services construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives for infrastructure, resource, and energy customers. The public company, founded in 1925 and headquartered in Irving, Texas, sells primarily through an independent worldwide dealer network and provides equipment financing. It operates through Construction Industries, Resource Industries, and Energy & Transportation segments, with shares traded on the NYSE and Euronext Paris.