Commercial Counsel

Waymo; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 251,000 - 310,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary annual bonus

Equity incentive plan

Company benefits program

Job summary

Waymo is seeking a seasoned commercial counsel to negotiate and draft complex agreements and advise cross-functional teams on regulatory, IP and business issues.

The role covers strategic partnerships, tech transactions, and vendor/partner agreements across domestic and international deployments of the Waymo Driver, with a focus on scalable and compliant solutions. The expected salary range is 251,000–310,000 USD, plus discretionary bonus and equity opportunities.

Qualifications

• JD degree and must be admitted to the bar in which the position is located and in good standing or otherwise authorized to practice law in the state in which the position is located.
• 4+ years of experience advising on commercial agreements, strategic partnerships and intellectual property matters.
• Experience drafting and negotiating tech transaction commercial agreements; licenses, supply chain agreements and services agreements.
• Experience in another specialist subject area of law (e.g., employment, IP, corporate, or competition).
• Direct knowledge and experience advising clients from strategic partnerships, business development, hardware supply, R&D or fast-paced new technology companies.
• Excellent analytical, communication and organizational skills, and demonstrated ability to manage several simultaneous projects under deadline pressure.

Responsibilities

• Review, draft and negotiate a variety of commercial agreements, with a focus on strategic partnership agreements designed to deploy the Waymo Driver with partners domestically and internationally.
• Respond promptly to legal requests from business development and strategic partnerships, product, supply chain, engineering, sourcing, finance, marketing, and other clients, summarizing and communicating legal concepts in a clear and concise manner.
• Advise business and cross-functional stakeholders on legal issues that may include regulatory issues, agreement structures and approval processes, product liability, company policies and procedures, IP, and negotiation strategy.
• Support the continuous improvement of Waymo and the legal department by identifying and implementing improvements in processes, forms and operations.

Skills

Contract negotiation

Analytical thinking

Communication

Legal advisory

Education

JD degree

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.

Responsibilities

• Review, draft and negotiate a variety of commercial agreements, with a focus on strategic partnership agreements designed to deploy the Waymo Driver with partners domestically and internationally.
• Respond promptly to legal requests from business development and strategic partnerships, product, supply chain, engineering, sourcing, finance, marketing, and other clients, summarizing and communicating legal concepts in a clear and concise manner.
• Advise business and cross‑functional stakeholders on legal issues that may include regulatory issues, agreement structures and approval processes, product liability, company policies and procedures, IP, and negotiation strategy.
• Support the continuous improvement of Waymo and the legal department by identifying and implementing improvements in processes, forms and operations.

Qualifications

• JD degree and must be admitted to the bar in which the position is located and in good standing or otherwise authorized to practice law (e.g., have registered in‑house status) in the state in which the position is located.
• 4+ years of experience advising on commercial agreements, strategic partnerships and intellectual property matters.
• Experience drafting and negotiating tech transaction commercial agreements; licenses, supply chain agreements and services agreements.
• Experience in another specialist subject area of law (for example but not limited to employment, intellectual property, corporate, or competition).
• Direct knowledge and experience advising clients from strategic partnerships, business development, hardware supply, R&D or fast‑paced new technology companies.
• Excellent analytical, communication and organizational skills, and demonstrated ability to manage several simultaneous projects under deadline pressure. Ability and interest in developing expertise in new, complex subject areas.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience drafting and negotiating agreements for the development and deployment of autonomous vehicles.
• Experience as commercial counsel at technology companies seeking to rapidly scale a nascent and highly regulated technology.
• Background negotiating and drafting commercial agreements with complex revenue‑sharing arrangements.
• Prior experience with commercial agreements where the counterparty is a vendor, partner, and competitor.

Travel Requirements

• Up to 15%

Salary & Benefits

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 remotely, 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: $251,000 – $310,000 USD