Sr. Data Engineer, Used Cars Program Tesla Motors, Inc. 172,000 - 258,000 USD paid holidays, flex time, 401(k) United States, California, Palo Alto Aug 08, 2026
What to Expect Tesla continues to expand rapidly in line with our mission to create a sustainable world of abundance. To keep pace with this growth, the North America Used Cars team is seeking a rigorous, analytically driven problem solver with the depth to operate across modeling, pricing strategy, and operational execution. This team is responsible for the Tesla Used Cars business focused on the acquisition, refurbishment, and resale of all used Tesla and non-Tesla vehicles. Tesla is seeking a Data Engineer to join the Used Cars Programs team, a high-ownership role sitting at the intersection of machine learning, pricing science, and business operations. The used car pricing function currently supports multiple markets (US, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico) with additional markets on the horizon. This role will be instrumental in executing a growing portfolio of ML and analytical initiatives from daily pricing operations and exception handling to new model development and strategic analytical projects. The right candidate is comfortable building and owning models end-to-end, diving into messy data, and translating analysis into pricing decisions that directly affect margins, inventory turn, and customer outcomes. This is a rare opportunity to do technically rigorous work with immediate, measurable business impact at one of the world's most data-rich automotive companies. Role can be located in either Palo Alto, CA or Austin, TX. What You'll Do
Own the day-to-day operational backbone of the used car pricing function across all active markets (US, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico), maintaining pricing system parameters, handling exceptions, and ensuring outputs remain accurate and competitive
Develop and improve ML-based pricing models, including resale value forecast, listing price optimization, and trade-in offer models - supporting the full lifecycle from design and validation through production monitoring and continuous improvement
Execute a high-priority strategic analytics backlog, owning projects end-to-end including third-party pricing analysis, competitor trend tracking and insights, and invetory optimization strategy
Monitor model performance in production, detecting and addressing drift, edge case failures, and unexpected output patterns, and resolving escalations that require manual inspection or override
Explore new data science application areas across the Used Cars business, including routing efficiency, auction price strategy, and other optimization problems as the team's ML roadmap expands
Support market expansion efforts, adapting models and pipelines to new geographies with distinct data environments and regulatory considerations
Partner cross-functionally with Finance Analytics, Product, Operations, and senior leadership to communicate findings, validate assumptions, and translate complex analytical outputs into clear, actionable recommendations for non-technical stakeholders What You'll Bring
3-5+ years of professional experience in data science, quantitative analytics, or a related technical field, with demonstrated ability to operate with both technical precision and commercial judgment
Strong proficiency in Python or R for data manipulation, statistical modeling, and machine learning, paired with solid command of SQL and experience working with large-scale datasets
Hands-on experience building and deploying predictive models (regression, time series, tree-based methods, or probabilistic models) in a production or near-production setting, including familiarity with model monitoring and drift detection
Proven ability to translate analytical output into business decisions and communicate findings clearly to non-technical stakeholders, including senior leadership
Prior experience in pricing, valuation, inventory optimization, or automotive/retail verticals is a strong plus; familiarity with ML experimentation frameworks (e.g., A/B testing, champion-challenger evaluation) is also highly desirable
Thrives in a high-velocity, ambiguous environment where priorities shift, autonomy is expected, and personal ownership of outcomes is the norm Compensation and Benefits
Benefits Along with competitive pay, as a full-time Tesla employee, you are eligible for the following benefits at day 1 of hire: Medical plans > plan options with $0 payroll deduction
Family-building, fertility, adoption and surrogacy benefits
Dental (including orthodontic coverage) and vision plans, both have options with a $0 paycheck contribution
Company Paid (Health Savings Accounts) HSA Contribution when enrolled in the High-Deductible medical plan with HSA
Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
401(k) with employer match, Employee Stock Purchase Plans, and other financial benefits
Company paid Basic Life, AD&D
Short-term and long-term disability insurance (90 day waiting period)
Employee Assistance Program
Sick and Vacation time (Flex time for salary positions, Accrued hours for Hourly positions), and Paid Holidays
Back-up childcare and parenting support resources
Voluntary benefits to include: critical illness, hospital indemnity, accident insurance, theft & legal services, and pet insurance
Weight Loss and Tobacco Cessation Programs
Tesla Babies program
Commuter benefits
Employee discounts and perks program
Expected Compensation
$172,000 - $258,000/annual salary + cash and stock awards + benefits Pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position may also include other elements dependent on the position offered. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.