Senior ML Engineer - Driver Understanding & Evaluation

Waymo; California (MO); On-site; USD 281,000 - 356,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary annual bonus

Equity incentive plan

Generous benefits program

Job summary

Waymo is building the world’s most trusted driver through advanced machine learning and autonomous driving technologies. The DUE Machine Learning team will develop scalable ML systems, RL-based evaluation metrics, and generative models to evaluate driving behaviors and improve the Waymo Driver.

You will lead cross-functional work across Driver Understanding, Simulation, and Onboard Software, mentoring engineers and shaping a cohesive evaluation strategy.

Qualifications

• PhD or equivalent practical experience in CS/ML/AI.
• 10+ years hands-on experience in ML with a focus on RL.
• 2+ years of people management experience.
• Proficiency in Python and ML frameworks (JAX, TensorFlow).
• Experience with large-scale distributed training and data processing.
• Strong publication record or impactful RL projects.
• Excellent communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Grow end-to-end strategy for next-gen ML-based evaluation metrics.
• Architect and build scalable systems for training large-scale generative models.
• Lead design and iteration of RL algorithms, reward functions, and training paradigms.
• Lead development of Deep Learning models and Generative AI solutions for evaluation workflows.
• Develop RLHF-based data collection and evaluation system.
• Provide technical mentorship and thought leadership across teams.
• Coordinate cross-functional alignment on evaluation strategy and goals.

Skills

Reinforcement Learning

Deep Learning

Sequence Modeling

Generative Models

Distributed Training

Python

ML Frameworks (JAX, TensorFlow)

Leadership / Mentorship

Publication track record

Education

PhD in Computer Science, ML, AI, or related field

Tools

JAX

TensorFlow

Job description

Waymo is building the world’s most trusted driver through advanced machine learning and autonomous driving technologies. The DUE Machine Learning team will develop scalable ML systems, RL-based evaluation metrics, and generative models to evaluate driving behaviors and improve the Waymo Driver.

You will lead cross-functional work across Driver Understanding, Simulation, and Onboard Software, mentoring engineers and shaping a cohesive evaluation strategy.