X is Alphabet’s moonshot factory where uncomfortably ambitious, world-changing ideas are developed and taken out into the world. X projects have the potential to transform the lives of billions of people and make the world a radically better place. For X to be successful, we have to repeatedly turn breakthrough technology ideas into products that solve large problems in the world, and create meaningful businesses for Alphabet.
About the team:
We are an early stage X team focused on using geospatial data, such as satellite and aerial imagery, for machine learning-driven modeling of Earth’s physical processes. We are a small team and there is plenty to do for someone interested in radically improving the world by first simulating it, and addressing problems that are existential for humanity.
About the role:
You will be leading the project’s ML track, analyzing geospatial and other data related to Earth systems and the natural world, and building models to capture the nature of the changing planet. You will be setting direction for the ML team (including temporary, vendor, or contractor staff, AI Residents (ie, interns) while being an active hands-on engineer on the project. Although ML expertise is critical for this role, you will also be helping to guide our classical computer science efforts, including back-end software engineering and other infrastructure roles. We are looking for passionate and driven people, who are comfortable moving between creative, big-picture thinking and tactical execution in a fast-paced, fluid environment.
How you will make 10x impact:
- Be a thought partner on the strategy and execution on the project. This will include refining the “moonshot” vision/hypothesis, as well as setting the long, medium, and short term milestones and tactics for the project.
- Be an active engineer and technical lead on the project. You must be willing to get your hands dirty!
- Drive key decisions on software architecture and technology roadmap: balancing longevity with rapid prototyping; assess and scope technical feasibility of possible new products.
- Develop modelling techniques for Earth systems applications where ML can bring hockey stick growth.
- Acquire and prepare data for use in ML simulations
What you should have:
- Software engineer experience and experience with machine learning systems, algorithms or applications such as: deep learning and computer vision.
- Experience with Earth Engine and functional programming.
- Experience with TensorFlow, Apache Beam/Dataflow, Google Compute Engine.
- Master's degree or PhD in a STEM field such as CS, Physics, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, or Mathematics/Statistics.
- Experienced iterating on existing ML models and dictating data engineering processes.
- An ability to thrive in unstructured work environments with rapidly changing requirements.
It’d be great if you also had these:
- Demonstrated personal passion to apply talents towards solving big global problems.
- Startup / early product development experience.
- Excellent at prioritization and time management.
- Solid written and verbal communication skills.
- Experience with using ML on image time series data / video data.
- Experience with tiffs and tiff projections into physical spaces (aka GeoTiff).
- Openness to working across the stack - data pipelines to ML models to UI.
At X, we don't just accept difference - we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it for the benefit of our employees, our products and our community. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.
If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please contact us at: x-accommodation-request@x.team.