NIO

AI Technical Lead

NIO • $192K — $249K *
San Jose, CA 95123In-Person
Information Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Today
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Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Ph.D. in relevant field with 8+ years of experience (or Master's with 12+ years), including leadership in technical teams.
  • Strong background in end-to-end AI systems engineering with hands-on mastery in one or more core domains.
  • Proven experience in designing and deploying distributed ML systems for hybrid inference solutions.
  • Expertise in optimizing LLM/VLM inference pipelines, including model compression techniques.
  • Proficient in C++ and Python with a deep understanding of AI compilers and model-serving frameworks.

Responsibilities

  • Architect hybrid AI systems integrating edge computing with cloud infrastructure.
  • Lead and mentor specialized engineering teams in AI systems design and optimization.
  • Oversee the development of high-availability orchestration engines for inference tasks.
  • Guide the team to develop dynamic model fallback strategies for robust telemetry under variable settings.
  • Drive innovation and foster a culture of cutting-edge advancements within the team.

Benefits

  • $0 Employee Only Coverage for medical plans including Anthem Blue Cross and Kaiser HMO.
  • Comprehensive dental and vision plans with no paycheck contribution required.
  • Company-paid Health Savings Account contribution for enrolled employees.
  • Flexible Spending Accounts for healthcare and dependent care available.
  • Generous 401(k) plan with Brokerage Link option.
  • Paid parental leave and disability leave for eligible employees.
  • Employee assistance program and wellness perks including onsite gym and free lunch.
Full Job Description

JOB DESCRIPTION

Roles and Responsibilities
  • Architect the Hybrid AI Vision: Lead the architectural design and strategic vision for hybrid inference systems, dynamically distributing Large Language Model (LLM) and Vision-Language Model (VLM) workloads across edge computing environments and cloud infrastructure.
  • Team Leadership & Innovation: Lead, mentor, and inspire a team of specialized engineers working across distributed systems orchestration, inference optimization, and AI compiler engineering. While you are not expected to be a hands-on master of every domain, you will drive the overarching technical roadmap, foster a culture of cutting-edge innovation, and guide domain experts in navigating complex system tradeoffs.
  • Design Dynamic Orchestration & Resilience: Oversee the architecture of high-availability orchestration engines that intelligently route inference tasks. Guide the team in developing cascading inference mechanisms, dynamic model fallback strategies, and robust telemetry to ensure continuous, steady-state inference under varying connectivity constraints.

Qualifications
  • Education & Experience: Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, or a related field with 8+ years of relevant industry experience (or Master’s degree with 12+ years), including proven experience leading technical teams or driving complex architectural roadmaps.
  • End-to-End Systems Leadership (T-Shaped Profile): Demonstrated capability to lead full-stack AI systems engineering. You possess deep, hands-on mastery in at least one or two of the following core domains, coupled with the comprehensive systemic breadth required to effectively lead engineers working across the others:
    • Distributed Systems & Hybrid Inference: Designing, scaling, and deploying production-grade distributed ML systems. Balancing cloud infrastructure with edge constraints using modern routing paradigms, such as cascading inference architectures and semantic routing.
    • Algorithmic & Inference Optimization: Proven experience optimizing state-of-the-art LLM/VLM inference pipelines. Deep understanding of model compression (e.g., PTQ, QAT, AWQ, FP8/INT4), hardware-aware compute optimizations (e.g., FlashAttention), and advanced memory management (e.g., PagedAttention, KV cache compression/eviction).
    • Advanced Systems & Compiler Engineering: C++ and production-grade Python proficiency. Deep understanding of edge/cloud model-serving frameworks (e.g., vLLM, TensorRT-LLM, ExecuTorch, MLC-LLM) and AI compilers (e.g., MLIR, Apache TVM, Triton) for compute graph optimization and custom kernel development.

Preferred Qualifications
  • Privacy & Security: Deep understanding of privacy-preserving AI techniques (federated learning, differential privacy, secure enclaves) essential for processing sensitive data across edge and cloud environments.
  • Community Engagement & Open Source: Publications in relevant AI, ML, or systems conferences (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, MLSys), or active contributions to open-source ML infrastructure projects (e.g., vLLM, ONNX Runtime, Apache TVM, llama.cpp).

Compensation:

The US base salary range for this full-time position is $192,100.00 - $249,600.00.

  • Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

  • Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only. It does not include discretionary bonus, equity, or benefits.

Benefits:

Along with competitive pay, as a full-time NIO employee, you are eligible for the following benefits on the first day you join NIO:

  • Anthem Blue Cross, HSA, and Kaiser HMO medical plans with $0 for Employee Only Coverage.  

  • Dental (including orthodontic coverage) and vision plan.  Both provide options with a $0 paycheck contribution covering you and your eligible dependents.

  • Company Paid HSA (Health Savings Account) Contribution when enrolled in the High Deductible Anthem Blue Cross medical plan

  • Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)

  • 401(k) with Brokerage Link option

  • Company paid Basic Life, AD&D, short-term and long-term disability insurance

  • Employee Assistance Program

  • Sick and Vacation time

  • 13 Paid Holidays a year

  • Paid Parental Leave for first 8 weeks at full pay (eligible after 90 days of employment with NIO)

  • Paid Disability Leave for first 6 weeks at full pay (eligible after 90 days of employment with NIO)

  • Voluntary benefits including: Voluntary Life and AD&D options for you, your spouse/domestic partner and dependent child(ren), pet insurance

  • Commuter benefits

  • Mobile Cell Phone Credit

  • Free lunch and snacks

  • Onsite gym

  • Employee discounts and perks program

About NIO

NIO Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells electric vehicles in the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany. The company offers five, six, and seven-seater electric SUVs. It is also involved in the provision of energy and service packages to its users; marketing, design, and technology development activities; manufacture of e-powertrains, battery packs, and components; and sales and after sales management activities. The company was formerly known as NextEV Inc. and changed its name to NIO Inc. in July 2017. NIO Inc. was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Shanghai, China.
Learn more about NIO
Size
15,204 employees
Market Cap
$17.2 billion
Industry
Manufacturing & Automotive
Net Income
-$7 billion
Founded
2014
Revenue
$12.4 billion
NASDAQ
NIO
* Ladders Estimates

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