Automotive Testing Lead

Waymo; Mountain View (CA); Hybrid; USD 196,000 - 242,000; Full time

Job summary

Waymo in Mountain View, CA is seeking a Systems Test Engineer to guide test strategies across domains and drive automated data-driven validation.

You will lead cross-functional testing with OEM partners, manage early vehicle smoke tests, and ensure traceability to Waymo data repositories. Requires Japanese N1, hands-on vehicle testing, and systems engineering leadership.

Qualifications

• Professional fluency in Japanese (N1 level or equivalent).
• Experience with physical hands-on testing of vehicles (ADAS, vehicle dynamics, low-voltage systems, system integration).
• Strong background in systems engineering, test engineering, or automotive validation.
• Demonstrated leadership experience coordinating with and leading vendor teams.
• Ability to navigate ambiguity and drive technical consensus across different organizational cultures.

Responsibilities

• Act as Waymo's test engineering representative across multiple technical domains, helping partners develop test strategies and detailed criteria.
• Guide partners in transitioning from manual testing to automated, data-driven approaches with internal infrastructure teams.
• Lead cross-functional collaboration between Waymo and OEM stakeholders to identify gaps and mentor partner engineers.
• Define, execute, and manage early vehicle smoke test campaigns with strict entry/exit criteria for SDS-Ready software releases.
• Scale and lead in-territory vehicle-level testing operations alongside embedded vendor teams.
• Ensure traceability and logging standards across all external test executions for seamless data integration.

Skills

Japanese (N1)

Vehicle testing

Systems engineering

Test engineering leadership

Vendor coordination

Python/SQL for test automation

Tools

Jama

DOORS

Jira

Python

SQL

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.

Waymo's Systems Engineering team works together to blend software and hardware systems in groundbreaking new ways. We set the high performance standards that ensure our vehicles run smoothly and keep passengers safe, then design and perform the tests that validate that performance. We're looking for talented teammates who’ll help us maintain strong teamwork and are passionate about driving results.

This role follows a hybrid work schedule and reports to Systems Test Engineering Lead.

You will:

• Act as Waymo's test engineering representative across a number of technical domains, helping partners develop test strategies for requirements, detailed test plans, scripts, and clear judgement criteria.
• Guide partners in the transition from manual testing methodologies to automated, data-driven approaches, partnering with internal infrastructure teams to build solutions that accelerate the test-to-reporting feedback loop.
• Spearhead cross-functional collaboration between Waymo and OEM stakeholders, identifying operational gaps, mentoring partner engineers, and building their expertise in complex, cross-system validation.
• Define, execute, and manage early vehicle smoke test campaigns, establishing strict entry/exit criteria to validate "SDS-Ready" software releases before upstream integration.
• Scale and lead in-territory vehicle-level testing operations, actively managing daily physical test execution alongside embedded vendor teams.
• Ensure strict traceability and logging standards are met across all external test executions to guarantee seamless integration into Waymo’s central data repositories.

You have:

• Professional fluency in Japanese (N1 level or equivalent)
• Experience with physical hands-on testing of vehicles (ADAS, vehicle dynamics, low-voltage systems, system integration)
• Strong background in systems engineering, test engineering, or automotive validation
• Demonstrated leadership experience with a track record of coordinating with and leading vendor teams
• Ability to navigate ambiguity and drive technical consensus across different organizational cultures

We prefer:

• Experience managing external partners or suppliers in a technical capacity
• Experience with requirements management tools (e.g., Jama, DOORS) and issue tracking (e.g., Jira)
• Strong knowledge of Systems Engineering principles and experience developing verification coverage plans from system level requirements
• Proficiency in Python or SQL for test automation

Travel requirements:

• Willingness to travel up to 50% of the time

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.

Salary Range

$196,000—$242,000 USD