Mapping Operations Lead

About Applied Intuition

We are an in-office company and our expectation is that employees primarily work from their Applied Intuition office 5 days a week. However we also recognize the importance of flexibility and trust our employees to manage their schedules responsibly. This may include occasional remote work starting the day with morning meetings from home before heading to the office or leaving earlier when needed to accommodate family commitments.

About the role

Applied Intuition is seeking a technical lead to drive the day-to-day operations of our mapping team. Maps serve as a foundational interface with autonomous vehicle perception planning and localization systems.

This is a hands-on leadership role at the intersection of data collection map production validation simulation and field operations. Youll own the production schedule lead first-line triage of map and data issues and serve as the connective tissue between mapping specialists software engineering and field operations teams. The right person thrives in a high-throughput environment brings deep technical judgment and knows how to keep a team organized and unblocked. You will directly impact AV stack performance.

This is an excellent opportunity for professionals with a background in high definition (HD) map creation who are comfortable with technical workflows iterative feedback cycles and real-time prioritization in a startup environment.

At Applied Intuition you will:

• Lead a team of mapping specialists setting priorities managing workloads and maintaining a clear production schedule across concurrent map build and update cycles
• Own the weekly and sprint-level production calendar balancing incoming requests for mapping new areas improving map quality and supporting field tests
• Run daily standups and triage sessions; escalate blockers quickly and make real-time prioritization decisions based on operational impact to keep the pipeline moving
• Mentor specialists conduct technical reviews of their work and establish standards for map labeling QC acceptance criteria and documentation
• Serve as the primary escalation point for map data issues flagged during map production validation or by downstream consumers including initial triage creating actionable followup tasks and routing to maps and engineering teams for resolution
• Build and maintain a triage playbook so the team can classify and resolve common issues consistently and quickly
• Coordinate with engineers to validate HD map accuracy in simulation environments and close gaps before map releases
• Close the loop with operations and safety teams so field feedback quickly improves map coverage and quality

Were looking for someone who has:

• 3 years of experience in HD map production geospatial data operations or a closely related field in autonomous vehicles robotics or mobility
• Demonstrated experience leading or coordinating a team of technical contributors you dont need a formal management title but you know how to organize people around a shared workflow
• Strong understanding of HD map data formats (e.g. OpenDRIVE NDS or proprietary lane-level map schemas) and annotation pipelines to label map elements
• Experience working with point cloud data 3D visualization environments or lidar-based annotation tools
• Familiarity with simulation environments (e.g. CARLA LGSVL or internal sim stacks) and how map data feeds into sim validation
• Experience analyzing field reports or sensor data to identify map quality issues
• Comfort with data tooling SQL C Python QGIS or similar for pulling reports querying map data and building dashboards. AI skills a strong plus.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; able to translate technical issues clearly for both specialists and cross-functional partners
• Organized calm under pressure and energized by the pace of production operations.

Nice to have:

• Experience with LiDAR point clouds and camera-based feature extraction
• Experience with standard definition (SD) street network data
• Background in AV safety operations or working alongside safety drivers
• Familiarity with JIRA or similar tools for tracking production backlogs and Slack for real time communication
• Prior experience defining or improving QA/QC standards in a mapping team
• Confident working across time zones

Compensation at Applied Intuition for eligible roles includes base salary equity and benefits. Base salary is a single component of the total compensation package which may also include equity in the form of options and/or restricted stock units comprehensive health dental vision life and disability insurance coverage 401k retirement benefits with employer match learning and wellness stipends and paid time off. Note that benefits are subject to change and may vary based on jurisdiction of employment.

Applied Intuition pay ranges reflect the minimum and maximum intended target base salary for new hire salaries for the position. The actual base salary offered to a successful candidate will additionally be influenced by a variety of factors including experience credentials & certifications educational attainment skill level requirements interview performance and the level and scope of the position.

Please reference the job postings subtitle for where this position will be located. For pay transparency purposes the base salary range for this full-time position in the location listed is:$115000 - $222000 USD annually.

Dont meet every single requirement If youre excited about this role but your past experience doesnt align perfectly with every qualification in the job description we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Applied Intuition is an equal opportunity employer and federal contractor or subcontractor. Consequently the parties agree that as applicable they will abide by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-1.4(a) 41 CFR 60-300.5(a) and 41 CFR 60-741.5(a) and that these laws are incorporated herein by reference. These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race color religion sex sexual orientation gender identity or national origin. These regulations require that covered prime contractors and subcontractors take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment individuals without regard to race color religion sex sexual orientation gender identity national origin protected veteran status or disability. The parties also agree that as applicable they will abide by the requirements of Executive Order 13496 (29 CFR Part 471 Appendix A to Subpart A) relating to the notice of employee rights under federal labor laws.