Operations Controller

Waymo LLC; Tempe (AZ); Hybrid; USD 226,000 - 278,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary annual bonus

Equity incentive plan

Benefits program

Job summary

Waymo is seeking a senior operations leader to join the Global Operations Center in a hybrid role. You will report to the Senior Director and serve as the designated authority on shift for Waymo’s network, maintaining end-to-end situational awareness across target markets.

You will evaluate disruptions, triage events, and synchronize regional strategy with cross-functional teams. The role requires real-time decision making, data-driven judgment, and clear communication under pressure.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of real-time decision making in 24/7 ops.
• Data-driven decisions under pressure with high judgment.
• Experience leading cross-functional event response in high-stakes settings.
• Strong systems-thinking to maintain situational awareness.

Responsibilities

• Act as designated authority on shift for Waymo’s network and maintain situational awareness.
• Evaluate disruptions, triage incidents, and stabilize service quickly.
• Synchronize regional strategy with market realities and constraints.
• Balance network priorities with local regulatory and engineering limits.
• Communicate clearly during high-pressure situations to stakeholders.
• Coordinate with Product, Engineering, Operations and other teams on incident response.

Skills

Real-time decision making

Mission-critical operations

Cross-functional leadership

High-stress judgment

Communication skills

Systems thinking

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 Operations exists to deliver the Waymo Driver to the world. We are a global team building and scaling the world's first and leading autonomous fleet and operations platform.

From component sourcing to end customer management, we enable and create value for Waymo through scaled and orchestrated deployment of the Waymo Driver.

At Waymo, we are dedicated to building a culture that promotes collaboration and celebration. We value our team members' unique backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences and support and encourage all team members to share their ideas to help Waymo better serve the communities in which we operate.

In this hybrid role, you will report to the Senior Director, Global Operations Center

You Will

• Exercise Real-Time Operational Authority: Act as the designated authority on shift for Waymo’s network, maintaining end-to-end situational awareness across target markets
• Evaluate and Triage Network Disruption: Exercise operational control during incidents, disruptions and safety-critical events, making timely decisions to stabilize and recover service, and escalating as appropriate
• Synchronize Regional Strategy: Partner closely with Regional Market Leads, ensuring alignment between network-level priorities and market-level realities, representing local impacts, risks, and constraints in network-level decision-making to ensure balanced outcomes.
• Manage Global-Local Balance: Apply a network-first mindset while balancing local conditions and regulatory considerations to maintain compliance and performance.
• Manage Crisis Communications: Communicate with clarity, authority, and a calm demeanor during high-pressure situations to maintain organizational confidence.
• Bridge Cross-Functional Workstreams: Coordinate directly with Product, Engineering, Operations teams and other cross-functional partners to seamlessly execute incident responses.

You Have

• 12+ years of experience making decisions in real-time, mission-critical operational environments in fast-paced, 24/7 environments
• Proven track record of high-judgment decision-making under extreme pressure, with a demonstrated ability to stand by choices using data-driven arguments.
• Experience leading cross-functional event response in high-stakes environments, with clear structure, decision discipline and communication and the ability to provide immediate actionable guidance.
• Strong systems-thinking capabilities with the ability to synthesize live signals to maintain situational awareness across target markets.
• Exemplary communication and presentation skills, with the confidence to deliver crisp briefings to cross-functional leaders and stakeholders.
• Ability to align network priorities with regional market realities and technical engineering constraints.

We Prefer

• Operational experience within emergency services, aviation, or autonomous operations
• 15+ years of experience making decisions in real-time, mission-critical operational environments in fast-paced, 24/7 environments

Travel

• 10% travel

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 $226,000—$278,000 USD