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. This role is to take us further into the future of custom vehicle development for optimized customer experiences.
This role follows a hybrid work scheduling and you will report to a Director, Concepts and Pre Program Development.
You will:
- Develop and document human factors, occupant packages, and comfort requirements within the vehicle design space
- Benchmark competitor vehicles to validate target metrics, ensuring Waymo delivers class-leading occupant accommodation, ergonomics, and comfort
- Work with Waymo’s Product, Design, and Attribute Teams to develop occupant layouts and integrate ergonomic and comfort requirements into new vehicle platforms centered around AV and TaaS
- Build, maintain, and utilize ergo bucks and physical hardware mockups to evaluate and validate spatial target concepts
- Develop and run user clinics on the ergo buck to gather customer feedback
You have:
- 5 + years of related experience in the field of automotive human factors and occupant packaging
- Deep knowledge of vehicle comfort and ergonomics, with hands-on experience in both subjective and quantitative evaluation methods
- Understanding of SAE standards and FMVSS/ECE regulations to guide occupant layout creation, spaciousness, and visibility targets
- Experience with RAMSIS, CAVA, and Catia CAD tools to create, integrate and maintain 2D/3D vehicle package layouts and ergonomic evaluations
- Proven ability to establish and negotiate targets and requirements with OEMs, partners, and suppliers
- Ability to navigate ambiguity and find a clear path forward to resolve seemingly conflicting requirements
We prefer:
- Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Masters is preferred
- Experience in the future mobility sector, e.g. outside of the traditional OEM/personal car ownership model
- Background working across multiple OEMs, providing a broad perspective on diverse Product Development methodologies
- Experience in occupant packaging and vehicle layout specific to Electric Vehicles (EVs)
- Strong passion for the Autonomous Vehicle (AV) industry and how it is reshaping future mobility
Travel requirements
- Global travel required for on-site OEM engagements (10%)
- Occasional travel to other Waymo locations, suppliers, and service providers on an as-needed basis (10%)
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
- 5+ years of experience in automotive human factors and occupant packaging
- Deep knowledge of vehicle comfort and ergonomics with hands-on subjective and quantitative evaluation methods
- Understanding of SAE standards and FMVSS/ECE regulations to guide occupant layout creation
- Experience with RAMSIS, CAVA, and Catia CAD tools for 2D/3D package layouts and ergonomic evaluations
- Proven ability to establish and negotiate targets and requirements with OEMs, partners, and suppliers
- Ability to navigate ambiguity and resolve conflicting requirements
- Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering
- Master's degree (preferred)
- Experience in the future mobility sector (TaaS/AV) outside traditional OEM/personal car ownership
- Background working across multiple OEMs and diverse product development methodologies
- Experience in occupant packaging and vehicle layout specific to Electric Vehicles (EVs)
- Strong passion for the Autonomous Vehicle industry
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.
