Senior Research Scientist, Foundation Model for Simulation

Waymo; Mountain View (CA); Hybrid; USD 204,000 - 259,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

401(k) match

Paid time off

Sick leave

Maternity leave

Holidays

Job summary

Waymo is seeking a research-oriented engineer for a hybrid role in Mountain View to advance the Waymo Driver through applied foundation model research. You will design experiments, train large DL models, and present results to peers and leadership.

The role requires a Masters or PhD in deep learning related to behavior/agent/world modeling, fluency in Python, and 3+ years with modern DL frameworks. Remote work options are limited to hybrid arrangements in the US.

Qualifications

• Masters or PhD in deep learning related to behavior/agent/world modeling/simulation.
• Fluency in Python.
• 3+ years of experience with modern deep learning frameworks (e.g., JAX, TensorFlow 2, PyTorch).
• Experience with generative modeling and LLMs/VLMs.

Responsibilities

• Conduct applied foundation model research and development.
• Design experiments by training and evaluating large deep learning models.
• Present results to peers and leadership.
• Write high quality code, unit tests, and documentation.

Skills

Python

Deep learning frameworks

Generative modeling

LLMs or VLMs

Education

Masters or PhD in deep learning (behavior/agent/world modeling or simulation)

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 mission of the Waymo Applied Research team is to develop machine learning solutions addressing open problems in autonomous driving, towards the goal of the safely operating Waymo vehicles in dozens of cities and under all driving conditions. As part of our work, we also initiate and foster collaborations with other research teams in Alphabet.

In this hybrid role you will report to a Technical Lead Manager.

You will:

• Conduct applied foundation model research and development
• Design compelling experiments by training and evaluating large deep learning models
• Present results to peers and leadership
• Write high quality code, unit tests, and documentation

You have:

• Masters or PhD in deep learning in behavior / agent / world modeling or simulation
• Fluency in Python
• 3+ years of experience with modern deep learning frameworks (e.g., "JAX, TensorFlow 2, Pytorch")
• Experience with:
  • Generative modeling (e.g., image / video diffusion, autoregressive models)
  • LLMs or VLMs (e.g., Gemini, Llama, GPT)

We prefer:

Experience with:

• Image / video diffusion for building generative world models
• Post-training, incl. reinforcement learning
• Distillation
• Transformer models
• Autoencoders and embeddings

In accordance with Washington state law, we are highlighting our comprehensive benefits package, which is available to all eligible US based employees. Benefits for this role include:

• Health, dental, vision, life, disability insurance
• Retirement Benefits: 401(k) with company match
• Paid Time Off: 20 days of vacation per year, accruing at a rate of 6.15 hours per pay period for the first five years of employment
• Sick Time: 40 hours/year (statutory, where applicable); 5 days/event (discretionary)
• Maternity Leave (Short-Term Disability + Baby Bonding): 28-30 weeks
• Baby Bonding Leave: 18 weeks
• Holidays: 13 paid days per year

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

$204,000 — $259,000 USD