Senior / Staff Applied Scientist

Waabi; Toronto; On-site; CAD 232,000 - 386,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

Equity awards

Health and Wellness benefits

Unlimited vacation

Flexible hours

Work from home support

Team events

Job summary

Waabi is shaping the future of autonomous driving with a rigorous evaluation framework spanning simulation, track, and public roads. We seek an Applied Data Scientist who can lead end-to-end analyses and deliver production-grade evaluation software for the Waabi Driver ecosystem.

The role requires senior technical expertise, collaboration with Safety and Autonomy teams, and the ability to prototype advanced analytics that bridge simulation with real-world driving outcomes.

Qualifications

• 6+ years in applied data science or ML.
• MS/PhD or equivalent in quantitative field (Stats, CS, Math, Physics, Robotics).
• Strong Python/SQL for analysis and prototyping.
• Expertise in statistical methods: hypothesis testing, A/B testing, sampling, modeling.
• Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams.
• Team player who is collaborative and eager to help others.
• Passion for self-driving tech and solving hard problems.

Responsibilities

• Design scalable production frameworks for autonomy evaluation with rigorous statistics.
• Develop methods to measure fidelity and reliability of the evaluation infrastructure.
• Prototype complex analyses and write production-quality evaluation code.
• Build tools and dashboards to communicate progress to technical and exec teams.
• Partner with Safety and Autonomy teams to ensure reporting matches system requirements.
• Develop models to correlate simulation with real-world driving outcomes.

Skills

Python

SQL

Statistics

A/B testing

Hypothesis testing

Data analysis

Cross-functional collaboration

Problem solving

Education

MS/PhD or equivalent in quantitative field

Tools

Python tooling

Jupyter

Job description

Waabi, founded by AI visionary Raquel Urtasun, is the leader in Physical AI. With a world-class team, we're unlocking the next era of autonomous transportation with technology that's powering commercial autonomous trucks and robotaxis. Waabi is backed by and partners with world leaders in AI, automotive, logistics, and deep tech.

With offices in Toronto, San Francisco, Dallas, and Pittsburgh, Waabi is growing quickly and looking for diverse, innovative and collaborative candidates who want to impact the world in a positive way. To learn more visit: www.waabi.ai

At Waabi, we are building the next generation of autonomous driving technology, leveraging a revolutionary approach to Physical AI. Central to our success is the ability to monitor and report on the performance of our software, platform, and fleet with rigor and reliability.

We are looking for a highly experienced Applied Data Scientist to play a leading role in shaping the methodologies underlying our evaluation ecosystem. This is a senior technical role that sits at the intersection of Evaluation, Systems & Safety, and the Autonomy teams. You will help co-design and build the rigorous frameworks that validate the Waabi Driver across Waabi World (Simulation), Track, and Public Road testing.

You will...

• Design scalable production frameworks for autonomy evaluation. You will apply statistically rigorous methodologies to challenges such as sampling evaluation sets to ensure comprehensive Operational Design Domain (ODD) coverage.
• Design and implement methodologies to systematically measure and monitor the performance, fidelity, and reliability of the evaluation infrastructure itself, ensuring our testing ecosystem remains a highly trusted source of truth.
• Directly prototype complex deep-dive analyses, write production-quality evaluation code, and build the sophisticated tools and dashboards that synthesize our progress for technical and executive leadership.
• Act as a key partner to Safety and Autonomy teams, ensuring that our automated reporting faithfully captures the technical intent and requirements of our system.
• Develop advanced analytical models to help correlate closed-loop simulation performance with real-world driving outcomes, quantifying the fidelity and predictive power of our evaluation metrics.
• Serve as a subject matter expert and collaborative partner, elevating the analytical bar of the team through code reviews, methodological guidance, and helping to define best practices for end-to-end data science workflows.

Qualifications:

• Minimum of 6+ years of professional experience in an applied data science, advanced analytics, or machine learning role, with a track record of driving end-to-end projects.
• MS/PhD or equivalent experience in a highly quantitative field such as Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, or Robotics.
• Strong command of Python/SQL for data analysis and prototyping
• Expertise in statistical methods, including hypothesis testing, A/B testing on complex systems, sampling methodologies, and statistical modeling.
• Experience working with internal cross-functional partners/stakeholders
• Open-minded and collaborative team player with willingness to help others
• Passionate about self-driving technologies, solving hard problems, and creating innovative solutions.

Bonus/nice to have:

• Experience in the Autonomous Vehicle or Robotics industry
• Familiarity with Systems Verification and Validation
• Experience with large scale databases and analytics
• Experience with workflow automation/orchestration frameworks

The US yearly salary range for this role is: $146,000 - $280,000 USD in addition to competitive perks & benefits. Waabi (US) Inc.'s yearly salary ranges are determined based on several factors in accordance with the Company's compensation practices. The salary base range is reflective of the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations. Note: The Company provides additional compensation for employees in this role, including equity incentive awards and an annual performance bonus.

Perks/Benefits:

• Competitive compensation and equity awards.
• Health and Wellness benefits encompassing Medical, Dental and Vision coverage (for full-time employees only).
• Unlimited Vacation.
• Flexible hours and Work from Home support.
• Daily drinks, snacks and catered meals (when in office).
• Regularly scheduled team building activities and social events both on-site, off-site & virtually.
• As we grow, this list continues to evolve!

Waabi is a technology start-up building technologies to transform the way the world moves. Join our talented team to be a part of the future and to make an impact!

Waabi is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating a supportive, inclusive, and accessible workplace for all our employees. We seek applicants of all backgrounds and identities, across race, color, ethnicity, national origin or ancestry, age, citizenship, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military or veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or parental status, caregiver status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law. We make workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process please let our recruiting team know.