Data & Systems Intelligence Lead
Palo Alto, CA
Engineering – General Engineering /
Full-time (Exempt) /
Hybrid
Pivotal is the leader in the emerging market of electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft. We design, develop, and manufacture light eVTOL aircraft and are renowned for the BlackFly, the first light eVTOL to fly manned missions and enter the consumer market.
Efficient, compact, and simple, Pivotal vehicles are designed for a wide range of consumer, public service, and defense applications. Our distinctive tilt-aircraft architecture and scalable platform have been in development, preparing to enter the market for over 10 years. We recently announced our next-generation aircraft, the Helix, planned for general release and scalable production in 2025.
Mobility is one of the most highly-valued areas of technology investment today. This is the right company, in the right space, the right strategy, at the right time. We invite you to join our amazing team and grow with us.
We’re looking for a Data & Systems Intelligence Lead to architect, implement, and drive our analytics and insight systems across flight operations, engineering, and customer-facing features. This Staff-level role is responsible for developing the analytics infrastructure that supports predictive maintenance, informs system-level performance trends, and enables deep insights for both internal and external stakeholders.
You’ll work closely with engineering, test, and product teams to integrate telemetry and operational data into dashboards, alerts, and long-term roadmaps. Your first major focus will be Helix and BlackFly — creating the visibility and intelligence needed to support fleet readiness and customer trust.
Responsibilities
- Lead architecture and implementation of data pipelines for fleet health monitoring, predictive maintenance, and system diagnostics.
- Develop dashboards, analytics, and reporting tools for engineering, manufacturing, and flight teams.
- Establish early alerting systems for key subsystems (e.g. powertrain, battery, control).
- Collaborate with Firmware, GNC, Flight Test, and PM to define logging, KPIs, and success metrics across programs.
- Drive roadmap for flight data visibility and analysis tools that extend from internal users to eventual customers.
- Serve as technical lead for data-informed decision-making — from reliability engineering to field service readiness.
- Champion best practices around telemetry design, data security, and long-term scaling.
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Data Science, Systems Engineering, Electrical/Mechanical Engineering, or related field.
- 8+ years of experience in data engineering, analytics, or system-level insight generation in complex technical programs.
- Strong proficiency in Python and tools like Pandas, Plotly, Streamlit, or equivalent for data wrangling and visualization.
- Experience designing dashboards and alerting systems for hardware or fleet-based systems.
- Proven ability to work across engineering and operational teams to translate problems into measurable insights.
- Deep understanding of telemetry, sensors, logging, and data management for hardware-in-the-loop or real-world systems.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience working on electric aircraft, autonomous systems, EVs, or robotics platforms.
- Familiarity with SQL, cloud-based data tools, or embedded system data extraction.
- Understanding of maintenance operations and how data supports fleet availability.
- Ability to drive IP and innovation in the form of analytics architectures or reliability prediction techniques.
Attributes to Core Values
- Demonstrates a proactive safety mindset by embedding safety into daily operations, identifying and mitigating risks through assessments and training, encouraging open dialogue on safety concerns, and continuously improving protocols to ensure a safe work environment.
- Puts customers at the center of every action by deeply understanding their challenges, delivering exceptional value, and striving to exceed expectations to support their success as our core purpose.
- Actively seeks and values diverse stakeholder perspectives, builds cross-functional relationships, and fosters trust through empathetic, fact-based communication—committing to shared decisions for the greater good.
- Drives results with clarity and purpose by focusing on what matters most, adapting to change, taking initiative, and owning outcomes while aligning actions with a clear understanding of success at every level.
- Navigates ambiguity with resilience and bold thinking, challenges the status quo, and combines innovative ideas with practical best practices to overcome obstacles and drive progress.
- Fosters a high-performance culture grounded in respect, professionalism, and support—balancing high expectations with a healthy, collaborative environment and being a trusted, dependable teammate.
Applicants must be eligible for employment in the United States and willing to work onsite at our HQ office in Palo Alto, CA.
Pivotal offers a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, and 401k plans.
Pivotal is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Pivotal does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, non-disqualifying physical or mental disability, national origin, veteran status or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need.
