Machine Learning Engineer / Applied Scientist, Prediction & Planning

Waymo; Mountain View (CA); Hybrid; USD 175,000 - 215,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary annual bonus

Equity incentive plan

Comprehensive benefits

Job summary

Waymo is advancing autonomous driving through the Predictive Planning team (PrePlan). This role focuses on designing and evaluating state-of-the-art generative models for planning and prediction, and translating real-world driving challenges into solid ML problems while scaling production systems.

Collaboration with researchers, engineers, and PMs is essential to deliver safe, smooth planning behaviors. The role requires a PhD in a related field or equivalent practical experience, with

Qualifications

• PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Robotics or equivalent practical experience.
• Publications in top-tier conferences (NeurIPS, ICML, etc.).
• Proven impact on ML community via open-source projects or industry contributions.
• Hands-on expertise with modern deep learning frameworks (e.g., JAX or PyTorch).
• Proficient programming in Python and/or C++.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and evaluate state-of-the-art generative models for autonomous vehicle planning and prediction.
• Develop next-generation ML-powered systems that scale Waymo Driver and business.
• Translate real-world driving challenges into well-defined ML problems using foundation models and reinforcement learning.
• Write high-quality, scalable, and thoroughly tested code for production deployment.
• Collaborate with researchers, engineers, and product managers to deliver safe, smooth planning behaviors and publish findings at top venues.

Skills

Python

C++

Deep learning

JAX

PyTorch

Debugging

Education

PhD in CS/ML/Robotics

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.

The Predictive Planning team (PrePlan) develops and deploys state-of-the-art machine learning solutions that predict the future state of the world and plan the Waymo Driver’s behavior. Our mission is to transform Waymo's unprecedented scale of driving data into robust, generalizable, and performant deep neural networks. These models enable the autonomous vehicle to navigate complex environments safely and efficiently.

You will:

• Design, implement, and evaluate state-of-the-art generative models for autonomous vehicle planning and prediction
• Develop next-generation, ML-powered systems that enhance the capabilities of the ML driver and accelerate the rapid scaling of Waymo’s business
• Translate open-ended, real-world driving challenges into well-defined machine learning problems, applying cutting-edge techniques, including foundation models and reinforcement learning
• Write high-quality, scalable, and thoroughly tested code to bring cutting-edge research into production
• Partner with world-class researchers, engineers, and product managers to deliver safe and smooth planning behaviors, and publish findings at top-tier academic venues

You have:

• PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Robotics, a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience
• A proven track record of publications in top-tier conferences (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, ICRA, IROS, RSS, CoRL, ACL, or EMNLP)
• Demonstrated impact on the broader ML community through influential research, widely adopted open-source projects, or significant industry contributions
• Hands‑on expertise with modern deep learning frameworks, for example JAX or PyTorch
• Proficient programming skills in Python and/or C++, coupled with strong analytical and debugging abilities

We prefer:

• Specialized research experience in deep learning, reinforcement learning, causal reasoning, or foundation models
• Prior industry experience (e.g. internships) in applied ML research or software development
• Domain expertise in solving motion planning, prediction, or related robotics problems
• Hands‑on experience deploying, evaluating, and maintaining ML-based systems in real-world, production environments

#LI-Hybrid

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

$175,000—$215,000 USD