Sensors Team Lead

About the role

Waabi, founded by AI visionary Raquel Urtasun, is the leader in Physical AI. With a world-class team, we're unlocking the next era of autonomous transportation with technology that's powering commercial autonomous trucks and robotaxis. Waabi is backed by and partners with world leaders in AI, automotive, logistics, and deep tech.

With offices in Toronto, San Francisco, Dallas, and Pittsburgh, Waabi is growing quickly and looking for diverse, innovative and collaborative candidates who want to impact the world in a positive way.

You will...

Sensor Development

Responsible for driving the technical direction and creating the overall strategy/roadmap for Waabi.

Developing a technical plan that aligns with the development of the Waabi Driver over multiple generations and stages of maturity for different verticals.

Sensor Evaluation and Requirements

• Maintain strategic technical relationships with all sensor vendors to stay informed on the latest technologies and options.
• Lead the comprehensive testing and evaluation of new sensor samples utilizing test fixtures and the Sensor Mule vehicle along with the development of the related tooling to support.
• Drive the development of Waabi Sensor Requirements in collaboration with the Systems and Hardware Systems teams.

Integration and Optimization

• Oversee the entire sensor integration pipeline, ensuring raw data is correctly ingested into the compute platform.
• Manage sensor configuration to align with optimized settings (resolution, frame rate, FOV) provided by the Autonomy & AI team.

Health, Reliability, and Safety

• Implement systems for monitoring data integrity, identifying issues such as corrupt data, latency, or environmental interference.
• Define standards for what constitutes a ‘clean sensor’ and develop validation methods, supporting the development of event-based cleaning triggers in coordination with Autonomy & AI.
• Work closely with Autonomy & AI on application-level monitoring of data quality to support overall autonomy performance.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Collaborate with the Sim team to build accurate sensor simulation models and validate them through rigorous testing.
• Provide technical direction and leadership to the team, ensuring cohesion and alignment with the overarching technical strategy.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in related hands-on experience with Lidar, Radar and Camera, preferably in autonomous vehicles or robotics.
• 5+ years in a leadership role
• Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, Mechatronics, Computer Science, or a related field.
• Proven experience in leading technical teams in sensor development, validation, or integration for complex systems.
• Deep technical knowledge of automotive or robotics sensors (Lidar, Radar, Cameras).
• Demonstrated ability to drive technical strategy and roadmap development.
• Experience in developing sensor requirements and managing vendor relationships.
• Strong problem-solving skills and meticulous attention to detail.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
• Open-minded and collaborative team player with a willingness to assist others.
• Passionate about self-driving technologies, tackling complex problems, and creating innovative solutions.

Bonus/nice to have

• Experience with GNSS and/or IMU.
• Technical experience in developing self-driving vehicles.