2027 Summer Intern, MS/PhD, Software Engineer

Waymo LLC; Mountain View (CA); Hybrid; USD 96,000 - 117,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hourly Masters Pay: $70

Hourly PhD Pay: $85

Job summary

Waymo seeks software engineering interns in Mountain View, CA to contribute to the Waymo Driver software stack. This hybrid onsite internship provides hands-on experience with C++ development, perception, and safety-critical systems on a collaborative team.

The program targets graduate students pursuing MS or PhD in CS, Robotics, or EE, with strong C++ skills and core CS fundamentals. Pay is $70/hour for Masters track and $85/hour for PhD track, with benefits eligibility.

Qualifications

• MS or PhD in CS, Robotics, or EE or related field.
• Experience programming in C++ with clean, efficient code.
• Strong CS fundamentals: data structures, algorithms, computational complexity.

Responsibilities

• Work with a creative team to ensure autonomous vehicle behavior is safe, compliant, and predictable.
• Design and implement onboard C++ logic for Waymo Driver interactions with traffic controls.
• Validate software changes with large-scale simulations to evaluate safety and rule compliance.
• Write clean, tested, production-grade code following strict review and CI processes.

Skills

C++ programming

Data structures

Algorithms

Computational complexity

Education

MS/PhD in Computer Science, Robotics, or Electrical Engineering

BS in Computer Science, Robotics, or Electrical Engineering

Job description

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.

Waymo interns partner with leaders in the industry on projects that create impact to the company. We believe learning is a two-way street: applying your knowledge while providing you with opportunities to expand your skill-set. Interns are an important part of our culture and our recruiting pipeline. Join us at Waymo for a fun and rewarding internship!

You Will

• Work with a creative team of people who ensure that the behavior of our cars is compliant, safe, smooth, and predictable to other road users
• Design and implement onboard C++ logic governing how the Waymo Driver interacts with traffic controls
• Validate software changes with large-scale simulation suites to evaluate safety, rule compliance, among a multitude of metrics before deployment
• Write clean, tested, production-grade code adhering to rigorous code review standards and continuous integration testing

You Have

• Currently enrolled in an MS or PhD program in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field
• Experience programming in C++ with clean and efficient code
• Solid foundational understanding of core Computer Science principles, including data structures, algorithms, and computational complexity

We Prefer

• BS in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field. Currently enrolled in an MS or PhD program in similar fields
• Proven ability to write clean, efficient, and maintainable C++ code in a large-scale codebase
• Experience developing software for safety-critical, fault-tolerant, or real-time systems
• Experience with large-scale data/ML applications

Note: This will be a hybrid onsite internship position.

The expected hourly rate for this full-time position is listed below. Interns are also eligible to participate in the Company’s generous benefits programs, subject to eligibility requirements.

Hourly Masters Pay

$70—$70 USD

Hourly PhD Pay

$85—$85 USD