Head of Industrial Design

Waymo; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 323,000 - 399,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary annual bonus

Equity incentives

Generous benefits

Job summary

Waymo is seeking a seasoned Industrial Design leader to head the studio across exterior, interior, CMF and sensor integration for the Waymo Driver family. You will guide strategy, drive Class-A surfacing from concept to production, and ensure alignment with engineering and packaging teams.

You will mentor a multi-disciplinary group and shape studio standards while delivering production-ready designs for autonomous mobility.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design, Transportation Design, or Automotive Design.
• 15+ years in industrial design; 8+ years leading automotive programs or OEM studios.
• Proven track record delivering production vehicle programs from concept to volume manufacturing.
• Deep mastery of automotive packaging, Class-A surfacing, CMF processes, and safety/regulatory compliance.
• Experience presenting design strategy and trade-offs to executives and cross-functional engineering leads.
• Strong leadership with mentoring and scaling multi-disciplinary design teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Industrial Design studio across vehicle exterior, interior cabin, CMF, and hardware sensor integration programs.
• Drive physical design execution from strategic vision through Class-A surfacing, prototyping, and production launch.
• Interface and collaborate with automotive design studios to align design vision, packaging, and hardware integration.
• Establish studio standards for physical quality, surfacing excellence, ergonomics, and brand identity across all vehicle programs.
• Manage studio operations, resource planning, external vendor engagements, and program schedules.
• Mentor and grow a world-class team of industrial designers, CAD modelers, CMF specialists, and Design Engineers.

Skills

Leadership

Mentoring

Cross-functional

Presentation

Team management

Automotive packaging

Education

Bachelor's degree in Industrial Design, Transportation Design, or Automotive Design

Master's degree preferred

Tools

VR design reviews

High-fidelity prototyping

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.

Passionate about aesthetics and product innovation, Waymo’s Industrial Design Team is responsible for envisioning the future of mobility and autonomous driving technology. The Design Team develops and applies cohesive design language to the Waymo Driver, delivering an exceptional customer experience with best-in-class product quality.

The Industrial Design Team creates smart and elegant solutions that pave the future of mobility while prioritizing our riders’ needs & safety. We are involved in every step of the engineering and product development process to optimize Waymo’s technology and delight the rider’s journey. The team is a unique fusion of creatives and innovators with the opportunity to pioneer a new industry.

This role follows a hybrid work schedule and you will report to a Head of Design and Consumer Research

You will:

• Lead the Industrial Design studio across vehicle exterior, interior cabin, CMF, and hardware sensor integration programs
• Drive physical design execution from strategic vision through Class-A surfacing, physical prototyping, and production launch
• Interface and collaborate directly with automotive design studios to align design vision, vehicle packaging, and hardware integration
• Establish studio standards for physical quality, surfacing excellence, ergonomics, and brand identity across all vehicle programs
• Manage studio operations, resource planning, external vendor engagements, and program schedules
• Mentor and grow a world-class team of industrial designers, CAD modelers, CMF specialists, and Design Engineers

You have:

• Bachelor's degree in Industrial Design, Transportation Design, or Automotive Design
• 15+ years of industrial design experience, including 8+ years leading automotive design programs or OEM vehicle studio teams
• Proven track record of delivering production vehicle programs or complex automotive exterior and interior platforms from concept to volume manufacturing
• Deep technical mastery of automotive packaging, Class-A surfacing, CMF processes, and vehicle safety or regulatory compliance
• Demonstrated experience presenting design strategy and technical trade-offs to executive leadership and cross-functional engineering leads
• Strong leadership background with experience managing, mentoring, and scaling multi-disciplinary design teams

We prefer:

• Master's degree in Industrial Design, Transportation Design, or related field
• Experience integrating complex hardware suites, sensors, or perception systems into automotive platforms
• Track record of bridging consumer product design empathy with traditional automotive studio development cycles
• Expertise in modern studio tools, digital visualization, VR design reviews, and high-fidelity prototype fabrication
• Experience managing supplier relationships and studio operational budgets
• Strong passion for autonomous driving technology, public transit innovation, and future mobility

Travel requirements

• Ability to travel domestically and internationally approximately 20% 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

$323,000—$399,000 USD