Staff, ML Engineer - Scene Generation at Torc Robotics
Ann Arbor, MI
$249,600–$299,500
Aug 3, 2026
Ann Arbor, MI
Sep 24, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A Staff ML Engineer role on the Scene Generation team at an autonomous trucking software company, responsible for leading the technical direction of neural rendering and generative model-based sensor simulation. The work involves translating cutting-edge research (NeRF, 3D Gaussian Splatting, Diffusion Models) into production-quality camera, LiDAR, and radar simulation pipelines deployed in cloud environments, while also mentoring engineers and driving cross-team alignment.
Staff level · 7+ years · Blacksburg-Christiansburg, VA · Bachelor's required · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
Posted 2 times — it's one opening, so apply once.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Roughly 1 people in the Blacksburg-Christiansburg, VA area plausibly meet what this posting asks for (data scientists). range 1–1
Applicant volume Light — Few people clear these requirements, so an application that does clear them gets looked at. Worth applying to even if you miss a nice-to-have.
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $91,029 (middle half $91,029–$110,579).
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Aug 5, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (7)
The role is a genuine hybrid between deep ML research/engineering (15-2051) and production software development (15-1252); the primary day-to-day work leans toward ML modeling and simulation research, so 15-2051 was chosen, but 15-1252 is a close runner-up given the strong emphasis on shipping production-quality software.
The experience requirement is tiered: Bachelor's + 10 years, Master's + 7 years, or PhD + 5 years. The minimum total years figure (7) reflects the Master's path as the lowest plausible gate for a Staff-level role; the PhD path (5 years) is also explicitly stated.
A separate requirement states 'PhD or equivalent work experience of 8+ years in a relevant field' — this appears to be a stricter gate than the tiered degree table above. Both are listed under the required qualifications section, creating an internal inconsistency in the posting.
Neural Radiance Fields and 3D Gaussian Splatting are listed as interchangeable examples of Neural Rendering expertise; they are combined into one skill with alternatives accordingly. Diffusion Models and Flow Matching are similarly treated.
CUDA programming and Ray (MLOps) appear only under the 'Bonus Points' section and are marked as preferred.
No compensation figures are provided; the posting references a competitive package with bonus and stock options but gives no numeric range.
Torc is headquartered in Blacksburg, VA (part of the Daimler group); no explicit remote policy is stated for this role, so remote is set to false.
Read the full posting
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