Staff Applied Scientist

Who we are
Samsara (NYSE: IOT) is the pioneer of the Connected Operations™ Cloud, which is a platform that enables organizations that depend on physical operations to harness Internet of Things (IoT) data to develop actionable insights and improve their operations. At Samsara, we are helping improve the safety, efficiency and sustainability of the physical operations that power our global economy. Representing more than 40% of global GDP, these industries are the infrastructure of our planet, including agriculture, construction, field services, transportation, and manufacturing — and we are excited to help digitally transform their operations at scale.
Working at Samsara means you’ll help define the future of physical operations and be on a team that’s shaping an exciting array of product solutions, including Video-Based Safety, Vehicle Telematics, Apps and Driver Workflows, and Equipment Monitoring. As part of a recently public company, you’ll have the autonomy and support to make an impact as we build for the long term.
About the role:
Samsara is building an AI/ML team inside its Operations team to make our supply chain AI native. You would be one of its first AI/ML engineers.
We design connected hardware (cameras, vehicle gateways, sensors), build it with joint development manufacturing partners, and deliver it to tens of thousands of customers in industries that keep the economy running. Every link in that chain often runs on emails, flat files and manual reconciliations. We are moving our internal operations into the future with modern AI capabilities.
We expect you to work across the supply chain including fulfillment, inventory, returns, cash, planning, components, suppliers and cost management. You will partner directly with Planning, Procurement, Fulfillment, Finance, Sales, and the hardware, firmware and quality engineering teams.
You'll design, develop, and deploy advanced machine learning and statistical models that optimize our global supply chain. From forecasting demand to modeling supply risk using real-time IoT signals, you'll apply cutting-edge techniques to solve complex problems with direct business impact.
What makes this unique:
11 years of untapped operational data: ERP systems (e.g. NetSuite, e2open, Propel), IoT sensor streams, Salesforce, Slack, Gong call insights, and real-world hardware telemetry
Own the full stack: Modeling, MLOps, deployment, monitoring—build production systems that drive real business decisions
Real hardware supply chain: Complex multi-tier supplier networks, lead times, high-stakes NPI ramps
Direct executive partnership: Collaborating cross-functionally with teams in Product, Engineering, Procurement, and Finance
You'll shape the team's roadmap, scientific agenda, and modeling standards. Ideal for a deeply technical IC who thrives in ambiguity, thinks strategically, and enjoys end-to-end ownership.
This is a remote role open to candidates residing in the US or Canada.
Why this role matters:
Real-world impact at massive scale:
Your models will help prevent supply shortages for customers in construction, utilities, transportation, and public safety—industries that literally keep the world running.
Optimize inventory for hardware deployed across 98% of US roads and 70+ billion miles driven annually.
Drive sustainability initiatives by reducing waste and improving supply chain efficiency across global operations.
Unique technical challenges:
Build demand, inventory and cost forecasting systems for highly variable, seasonal SKUs with intermittent patterns and long lead times.
Model supplier risk using real-time IoT telemetry, geopolitical signals, and market data—not just historical sales.
Design cost optimization algorithms balancing inventory carrying costs, expedite fees, and revenue risk across multiple regions.
Create anomaly detection systems for cellular connectivity spend and supply chain disruptions using multimodal data.
A data playground unlike any other:
Access to 10+ trillion data points annually from connected operations.
Work with ERP data, IoT sensor streams, third-party market intelligence, and operational metrics.
Build features from unique real-world signals—vehicle diagnostics, utilization patterns, failure modes.
You should apply if:
You are motivated by impact: Your work will drive smarter, faster, more sustainable supply chain decisions across Samsara's operations.
You combine scientific rigor with real-world pragmatism: You're skilled at navigating trade-offs between model complexity, performance, and maintainability.
You want to work on hard problems: You'll tackle forecasting volatility, cost optimization, anomaly detection, and more using large, noisy, high-dimensional datasets.
You are a self-directed leader: You identify analytical white space, set multi-quarter plans, and mentor others through influence.
You enjoy building models that matter: Your solutions will be deployed in production, drive decisions, and be regularly evaluated against business KPIs.
You seed AI/ML capabilities and enable the broader organization: You establish foundations, set standards, and empower cross-functional teams to adopt data-driven decision making.
In this role you will:
Define the end-to-end AI transformation roadmap for supply chain alongside the Senior Director of Supply Chain AI Transformation, aligning with company OKRs and executive stakeholders
Desig