Waymo is an autonomous driving technology company with the mission to be the world's most trusted driver. Since its start as the Google Self-Driving Car Project in 2009, Waymo has focused on building the Waymo Driver—The World's Most Experienced Driver™—to improve access to mobility while saving thousands of lives now lost to traffic crashes. The Waymo Driver powers Waymo’s fully autonomous ride-hail service and can also be applied to a range of vehicle platforms and product use cases. The Waymo Driver has provided over ten million rider-only trips, enabled by its experience autonomously driving over 100 million miles on public roads and tens of billions in simulation across 15+ U.S. states.
Hardware Engineering is a diverse, innovative, and collaborative group of electrical, mechanical, reliability, software and vehicle engineers. We design, build, and perfect the products which are the eyes and ears of Waymo's autonomous driving technology, and integrate those products into vehicle platforms. We're seeking curious and talented teammates to keep us moving in the right direction.
This role follows a hybrid work schedule and you will report to a Technical Lead.
You will:
- Perform Design Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (DFMEA) and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) to identify hardware reliability risks early
- Define reliability requirements and environmental specifications to create comprehensive test plans
- Independently develop and execute reliability experiments and custom test setups
- Lead failure analysis and corrective actions to determine root causes for hardware issues
- Manage technical relationships with vendors and suppliers to execute reliability testing and validation
- Maintain failure rate models and deliver field reliability reports to communicate technical risks
You have:
- Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Material Science, or Physics
- 5+ years of experience in reliability and quality analysis, including FMEA, Weibull analysis, and SPC
- 5+ years of experience with data analysis and reporting tools such as Python, SQL, JMP, or Tableau
- Experience independently developing reliability test plans, executing experiments, and performing failure analysis
- Knowledge of the mechanics of materials and physics of failure for electronics and sensors
- Experience leading cross-functional teams to resolve complex hardware reliability and quality issues
We prefer:
- Experience in automotive or autonomous vehicle reliability testing and standards
- Product development and launch experience across 2-3 independent product categories
- High-volume manufacturing reliability experience, like ORT
- Masters Degree in Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science, or Engineering
- 5-10 years of product design, reliability, and quality experience
- Prior experience managing vendors and suppliers for electronic components
Occasional travel (1-2 times a quarter) both domestically and internationally
The expected base salary range for this full-time position across US locations is listed below. Actual starting pay will be based on job-related factors, including exact work location, experience, relevant training and education, and skill level. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for the role location or, if the role can be performed remote, the specific salary range for your preferred location, during the hiring process.
Waymo employees are also eligible to participate in Waymo’s discretionary annual bonus program, equity incentive plan, and generous Company benefits program, subject to eligibility requirements.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Material Science, or Physics
- 5+ years of experience in reliability and quality analysis
- 5+ years of experience with data analysis and reporting tools
- Experience developing reliability test plans and performing failure analysis
- Knowledge of mechanics of materials and physics of failure for electronics
Waymo Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Waymo and has not been reviewed or approved by Waymo.
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Fair & Transparent Compensation — Pay is considered strong for full‑time technical roles, aligning with top‑tier AV/Big Tech benchmarks. Employer materials also emphasize competitive pay with eligibility for bonuses and equity as part of total rewards.
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Healthcare Strength — Coverage spans medical, dental, vision, mental‑health resources, onsite wellness centers, and counseling, with specialized programs such as menopause and transgender medical advocacy. Dependents are included, indicating depth across core health needs.
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Parental & Family Support — Offerings include fertility and family‑forming assistance, parental and baby‑bonding leave, caregiver and elder‑care support, and backup childcare. These programs are positioned to support families through multiple life stages.
Waymo Insights
What We Do
Waymo is an autonomous driving technology company with a mission to make it safe and easy for people and things to move around. With the Waymo Driver, we can improve the world’s mobility while saving thousands of lives. Waymo reaches out to candidates from official channels only (e.g. directly from @waymo.com email addresses, or through our recruiters or sourcers who are noted as such on LinkedIn). We do not contact candidates about career opportunities through instant messaging apps like Telegram, email addresses from domains other than waymo.com (such as Gmail addresses), direct messages on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, or text messages. Visit waymo.com to check out our official job listings.
