Senior Machine Learning Engineer (Predictive Planner, Systems Architect)

Waymo; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Mental health support

401(k) retirement plan

Equity/performance bonus

Parental leave

Job summary

Waymo is hiring for a senior ML/AV planning role focused on designing and deploying state-of-the-art ML models to predict and plan vehicle behavior. You will build architectures, pipelines and evaluation systems on vast data infrastructure and collaborate with researchers, engineers, and product owners to deliver safe, efficient planning for all road users.

Expect to work across data, modeling, metrics, and planner stack, with hybrid work options.

Qualifications

• 4+ years in ML modeling or autonomous vehicle systems
• Hands-on with modern deep learning libraries (TensorFlow, JAX, PyTorch)
• Proficient programming skills (Python, C/C++)
• Experience deploying ML systems in production environments
• Publications or PhD in related field preferred

Responsibilities

• Design and build ML models and deploy them on production vehicles
• Develop architectures, algorithms, pipelines, and evaluation systems
• Collaborate with researchers, product owners, and engineers to ensure safe planning behavior
• Work across the ML planning stack from data to deployment

Skills

Deep learning libraries

Analytical skills

Python

C/C++

ML production systems

Robotics software

Education

Bachelor's in CS/ML/Robotics

PhD in CS/ML/Robotics or related

Tools

TensorFlow

JAX

PyTorch

Performance profiling tools

Job description

• 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
• The system architecture team handles the onboard contract of the model with the system, including kinematics, interfaces and representations
• Our team’s mission is to work across the stack, building the best setup for the model to drive
• We tackle this through projects in data, modeling, metrics, and the overall planner system
• In this role, you will report to a Technical Lead Manager
• Tackle challenging real-world problems with ML and engineering solutions
• Use state of the art techniques to design and build ML models, deploy them in the real world on production vehicles
• Design and build the necessary architectures, algorithms, pipelines and evaluation systems on Google’s extensive data infrastructure
• Collaborate with researchers, product area owners and engineers to develop safe, smooth planning behavior for all road users & deliver product requirements

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and dependents
• Employee assistance programs focused on mental health
• Personalized workplace adjustments for diverse needs and abilities, including physical, mental, and neurodivergent considerations
• Access to mental health apps
• Onsite wellness centers
• Second medical opinion for you and your loved ones
• Support programs including menopause benefit
• Medical advocacy program for transgender employees
• Counseling services
• Competitive compensation
• Regular bonus and equity performance grant opportunities
• Generous 401(k) and regional retirement plans
• Annual cross-company compensation review and pay equity analysis
• 1-on-1 financial coaching
• Fertility and growing family assistance
• Parental leave and baby bonding leave
• Survivor income benefit
• Elder care and support
• Backup childcare
• Caregiver leave
• Paid time off, including vacation, bereavement, sick leave, parental leave, disability, and holidays
• Jury duty leave
• Military leave
• Hybrid work model with remote work opportunities also available
• Educational reimbursement
• Peer learning and coaching platform
• Donation matching programs
• Volunteer hours
• Employee resource groups
• Internal community groups and local culture clubs
• Inspiring spaces to work, recharge, and collaborate with fellow Waymonauts
• On-site meals and snacks
• Fitness centers, massage programs, and ergonomic support
• On-demand fitness, wellbeing, and cooking classes
• Commuter benefits

• 4+ years of experience in Machine Learning modeling and/or Autonomous Vehicles systems
• Hands-on experience with modern deep learning libraries (eg: TensorFlow, JAX, Pytorch)
• Strong analytical and problem solving skills
• Bachelors in Computer Science, ML, Robotics, similar technical field of study, or equivalent practical experience
• Proficient programming skills (eg: Python, C/C++)
• Experience with performance optimization of deep models, including with respect to specific hardware architectures
• Experience applying or evaluating ML-based systems in production environments
• General software engineering experience solving motion planning or related robotics problems
• Prior software development or ML research industry experience (including internships)
• Publications in top-tier conferences such as ICML, NeurIPS, CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, ICLR, IROS, CoRL, ACL, or EMNLPMS or PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Robotics, or a related field