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.
The Simulator Team at Waymo builds state-of-the-art simulations of realistic environments for testing and training the Waymo Driver. We develop industry-leading simulation solutions using advanced ML algorithms that measure and enhance the performance of the Waymo Driver. The Simulator platform is complex and evolving. To ensure that Waymo's Simulation and Evaluation system seamlessly supports next-generation autonomy advancements and fleet growth, this Principal technical leadership role will look across multiple teams and guide architectural strategy for horizontal integrations across the entire Simulator software stack. You will lead simulator projects supporting the development of new onboard architectures and ML systems, new vehicle platforms, and various novel simulator capabilities and evaluation methodologies, defining scalable system interfaces and representing the Simulator Platform in wider cross-functional Waymo efforts.
You will:- Architect and lead complex, horizontal software integrations across the Waymo Simulator stack.
- Define long-term technical vision, system boundaries, and extensible interfaces that cleanly integrate onboard autonomy subsystems with offboard simulation and evaluation workflows.
- Drive multi-quarter, cross-organizational technical roadmaps and large-scale architectural migrations across simulation, evaluation, and onboard engineering teams.
- Partner closely with senior technical leaders across onboard, sim realism, vehicle platforms, and evaluation to align on end-to-end system design and fidelity requirements.
- Establish technical standards, integration frameworks, and validation methodologies that accelerate how new Waymo Driver capabilities and vehicle platforms are brought into simulation.
- Mentor senior engineers and technical leads across partner teams, elevating system architecture quality and driving cohesive cross-team execution.
- BS/MS/PhD in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Math, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience)
- Extensive experience operating technical leadership level at an autonomous vehicle (AV) company, AV simulation company, robotics company, or a related complex simulation/autonomy domain.
- Proven track record of setting multi-year technical vision, driving multi-quarter roadmaps, and delivering complex horizontal software integrations across organizational boundaries.
- Deep expertise architecting large-scale, high-complexity simulation or autonomy systems, integrating onboard software stacks, ML models, and vehicle platforms into simulation.
- Excellent communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical designs, trade-offs, and strategies to diverse stakeholders, including senior leadership, partner engineering, research, and product teams.
- Strong hands-on technical proficiency in C++ and large-scale software architecture, with demonstrated ability to establish collaboration structures across team boundaries.
- Direct experience architecting end-to-end autonomous driving or robotics simulators, including closed-loop simulation, scenario generation, and onboard/offboard software interfaces
- Experience integrating next-generation onboard ML architectures, planning/behavior models, high-definition mapping, or environmental/weather models into simulation
- Experience driving large-scale simulation mode migrations and supporting multi-generation vehicle platforms across open-loop and closed-loop evaluation
- Proven success leading large-scale software re-architecture and cross-functional integration projects while maintaining high developer velocity and system reliability
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
- BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Mathematics, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
- Extensive technical leadership experience at an autonomous vehicle, AV simulation, robotics, or related complex simulation/autonomy company
- Proven experience setting multi-year technical vision, driving multi-quarter roadmaps, and delivering complex horizontal software integrations across organizational boundaries
- Deep expertise architecting large-scale simulation or autonomy systems integrating onboard software stacks, ML models, and vehicle platforms into simulation
- Excellent communication skills and ability to explain complex technical designs, trade-offs, and strategies to senior leadership and cross-functional stakeholders
- Strong hands-on proficiency in C++ and large-scale software architecture, with experience establishing collaboration structures across teams
- Experience architecting end-to-end autonomous driving or robotics simulators, including closed-loop simulation, scenario generation, and onboard/offboard software interfaces
- Experience integrating onboard ML architectures, planning and behavior models, high-definition mapping, or environmental and weather models into simulation
- Experience driving large-scale simulation mode migrations and supporting multi-generation vehicle platforms across open-loop and closed-loop evaluation
- Proven success leading large-scale software re-architecture and cross-functional integration projects while maintaining developer velocity and system reliability
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.
