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.
Software Engineering builds the brains of Waymo's fully autonomous driving technology. Our software allows the Waymo Driver to perceive the world around it, make the right decision for every situation, and deliver people safely to their destinations. We think deeply and solve complex technical challenges in areas like robotics, perception, decision-making and deep learning, while collaborating with hardware and systems engineers. If you’re a software engineer or researcher who’s curious and passionate about Level 4 autonomous driving, we'd like to meet you.
In this hybrid role you will report to a Technical Lead Manager, Senior Staff Engineer.
You will:
- Provide technical leadership for onboard motion planning systems that improve low-speed maneuvering performance
- Improve evaluation capabilities to better understand on-road performance
- Provide mentorship for junior engineers on the team
- Investigate driving behavior issues from logs and understand the root cause
- Develop foundational frameworks that help advancement of the Waymo Driver's capabilities
- Directly contribute to solving some of the most challenging driving situations in the long tail.
You have:
- MS/PHD in Computer Science, ML, Robotics, similar technical field of study, or 4+ years of equivalent practical experience
- General software engineering experience programming in C++ with robust and efficient code
- Ability to collaborate within and across teams
- 1+ year of management experience years with 5+ reports
We prefer:
- AV or Robotics experience
- Experience with Machine Learning models in production systems
- Experience in graph search, optimization, or path planning algorithms
- 8+ years of Software Engineering experience in complex systems
- Coding proficiency in Python and SQL
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
- Master’s or PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Robotics, or a similar technical field, or 4+ years of equivalent practical experience
- Software engineering experience using C++ to develop robust and efficient code
- Ability to collaborate within and across teams
- At least 1 year of management experience with 5 or more direct reports
- Autonomous vehicle or robotics experience
- Experience deploying machine learning models in production systems
- Experience with graph search, optimization, or path-planning algorithms
- 8+ years of software engineering experience in complex systems
- Proficiency in Python and SQL
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.
