Senior Data Engineer

ABOUT FUTURAIL

Futurail is a deeptech startup building the autonomy stack for self-driving trains. Our mission is to make rail the most attractive form of transport, by enabling frequent, reliable, low-carbon services powered by autonomous technology.

With our AI-based software stack, we help rail operators and manufacturers run safer and more efficient services, starting in depots and on branch lines, and expanding to mainline operations. Founded by experts in autonomous systems, we're rethinking how millions of people and goods move every day.

We're backed by leading European investors and already working with mobility players across Europe and the US. As we enter our next phase of growth, this is your opportunity to join a high-trust, high-talent team that's reshaping rail.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Futurail seeks an experienced Senior Software Engineer to lead the development of our Data Warehouse and Fleet Data Management. In this role, you will build the data backbone for our autonomous train development. You will: shape how we collect, store, and make sense of our autonomous train sensor data, including camera, LiDAR, radar, IMU, GPS, and odometry streams. You will have the opportunity to define standards, design scalable pipelines, and create a discoverable and queryable data platform that directly accelerates our Autonomy, ML, and QA teams.

This is a high-impact role where your decisions will enable faster iteration, better model training, and higher-quality validation for our autonomous system.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Design, implement, and operate secure, scalable data pipelines from ingestion to visualization that handle large sensor data .
• Build and evolve the core data infrastructure (data lake, warehouse, and metadata layer), enabling efficient storage, retrieval, and analysis at scale.
• Create searchable metadata models and indexing strategies so engineers and ML teams can discover and filter datasets effectively.
• Collaborate with Autonomy, ML, QA, and platform teams to understand data needs and provide APIs, catalogs, and efficient tooling for easy access.
• Define and implement data quality standards, validation checks, and security/privacy safeguards.
• Optimize storage, processing, and query performance while balancing cost and scalability.
• Influence the data culture and practices across the organization, helping teams make data-driven decisions.

REQUIREMENTS

• 5+ years of experience in data engineering, backend systems, or related fields, ideally building large-scale, high-throughput data pipelines..
• Strong proficiency in Python and experience working with databases and query languages (e.g., SQL or equivalent), with a track record of building reliable ETL workflows, data models, and efficient queries for large datasets.
• Experience with modern data storage systems (e.g., S3-compatible object stores like MinIO, cloud storage like AWS S3/GCS, or on-premise equivalents).
• Experience working with multimodal sensor data (e.g. LiDAR .pcd, ROS2 bag files, high-resolution and compressed video data).
• Demonstrated ability to own projects end-to-end: defining what data to capture, designing robust ingestion and processing pipelines, and delivering accessible, well-documented datasets and tools.
• Deep understanding of the challenges of large, multimodal sensor data and how to design systems that support machine learning and autonomy development
• Proactive, self-directed, and comfortable with ambiguity, with the ability to drive clarity, make pragmatic decisions, and iterate quickly in a fast-moving environment.
• Excellent communication skills, capable of working closely with Autonomy, ML, QA, and platform teams and translating complex technical concepts into practical solutions.

BENEFITS

• High-impact role: Have real ownership and visibility from Day 1
• Learning & development: We are committed to your continuous development and offer support tailored to your role and growth path
• Competitive compensation package: We offer a competitive salary, including a virtual stock option program for full-time employees
• Office in Werk1 - the most start-up friendly space in Munich: A cool and modern office in Munich's Werksviertel, with regular community events like weekly team lunches, monthly breakfasts, after-work events, and much more
• Gym Club membership: We cover part of your Egym Wellpass subscription - for when your brain needs a cooldown and your legs need a warm-up.

Join us as a Senior Data Engineer in our Munich office and help accelerate the shift from road to rail. If you're excited about real-world impact, cutting-edge autonomy, and building from zero-to-one, we'd love to hear from you.