Principal AI Transformation Engineer

About the company

Didi Autonomous Driving develops Level-4 autonomous driving technology and unmanned ride-hailing vehicles for urban mobility.

About this role

<p class="ql-direction-ltr ql-long-10000202573"><strong class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-12 ql-font-arial">About the Company</strong></p> <p class="ql-direction-ltr ql-long-10000202573"><span class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-12 ql-font-arial">DiDi's autonomous driving unit was established in 2016 with the mission of developing </span><span class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-12 ql-font-arial">Level 4 autonomous driving (AD) technology to make transportation safer and more efficient. In August 2019, the unit became an independent company, DiDi Autonomous Driving, dedicated to advanced AD R&amp;D, product application, and business expansion. </span><span class="ql-size-12 ql-font-microsoftyahei ql-author-10000202573">We believe integrating AD technology into a shared-mobility fleet will generate immense social value. By leveraging DiDi's specialized technology, operational expertise, and integrated ecosystem, we are positioned to build and operate a highly efficient, user-oriented autonomous fleet.</span></p> <div class="ql-direction-ltr ql-long-10000202573" data-header="4" data-foldable="true" data-default-linespacing="100"><strong>About The Role<br></strong> <p class="ql-direction-ltr ql-long-10000202573"><span class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-9">At DiDi Autonomous Driving, we firmly believe that the future of mobility goes beyond simply "utilizing AI"—it will be fundamentally reimagined and entirely driven by an </span><strong class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-9">AI-Native architecture</strong><span class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-9">.</span></p> <p class="ql-direction-ltr ql-long-10000202573"><span class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-9">We are seeking a visionary, highly technical, and mission-driven </span><strong class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-9">Principal AI Transformation Engineer </strong><span class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-9">to act as the ultimate catalyst for our company-wide AI transformation. In this strategic, high-impact leadership role, you will combine cutting-edge Large Language Model (LLM) expertise, robust systems architecture design, and a proven track record of enterprise-level AI scaling. You will embed deeply with our core engineering teams to evolve our traditional R&amp;D organization into a truly AI-Native powerhouse.</span></p> <p class="ql-direction-ltr ql-long-10000002980"><span class="ql-author-10000002980 ql-size-12 ql-font-arial"><br><br><strong>Key Responsibilities</strong><br></span></p> </div> <ul> <li class=""><span class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-9">AI Infrastructure &amp; Platform Architecture:</span><span class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-9"> Spearhead the evaluation, selection, and deep integration of frontier LLM ecosystems (e.g., Llama, Hugging Face) and commercial AI platforms. Own the architectural design of our unified, distributed AI platform spanning complex data processing, model training, inference pipelines, and evaluation frameworks.</span></li> <li class=""><span class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-9">Forward Deployed Execution:</span><span class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-9"> Embed directly with core autonomous driving teams (Perception, Prediction, Planning &amp; Control, and Simulation) via the FDE model. Pinpoint engineering bottlenecks, eliminate friction, and translate complex AI capabilities into production-ready internal ecosystems (e.g., AI DevOps, AI Copilots).</span></li> <li class=""><span class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-9">LLMOps / MLOps Orchestration &amp; Optimization:</span><span class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-9"> Design and implement highly resilient, scalable automation pipelines for LLM deployment, monitoring, and continuous feedback loops. Optimize GPU cluster utilization, minimize inference latency, and maximize throughput across large-scale production environments.</span></li> <li class=""><span class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-9">Technical Roadmap &amp; Vision:</span><span class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-9"> Keep a strong pulse on breakthrough trends in AGI and systems engineering. Act as a "super-connector" between external technological innovations and internal systems, ensuring our AI infrastructure maintains a 1-3 year competitive edge.</span></li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="ql-direction-ltr ql-long-10000202573" data-header="4" data-foldable="true" data-default-linespacing="100"> <div class="ql-direction-ltr ql-long-10000202573" data-header="3" data-foldable="true" data-default-linespacing="100"><strong><span class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-9">Qualifications &amp; Experience</span></strong></div> </div> <ul> <li class=""><span class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-9">Architectural Vision + Hands-on Execution:</span><span class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-9"> A proven technical leader who can design complex, system-level architectures while maintaining a fierce passion for writing core code, debugging deep system issues, and optimizing low-level execution paths. Proficiency in core languages such as C++, Python, Java, JavaScript, etc.</span></li> <li class=""><span class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-9">Cross-Functional Influence:</span><span class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-9"> Demonstrated ability to build technical authority, align priorities, and drive diverse engineering teams (Algorithms, Infrastructure, Hardware) toward adopting an AI-first engineering paradigm without relying on formal administrative authority.</span></li> <li class=""><span class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-9">Enterprise AI Transformation:</span><span class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-9"> Proven experience leading or heavily contributing to a large-scale corporate "AI-native transformation," or a track record of building enterprise-grade AI/ML platforms from 0 to 1.</span></li> <li class=""><span class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-9">Deep AI Tech Stack Expertise:</span><span class="ql-author-10000202573 ql-size-9"> Thorough hands-on deployment,