Software Engineer, Operational/ Process Efficiency

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

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus program

Equity incentive plan

Company benefits program

Job summary

Waymo in Mountain View, CA seeks a senior engineer to drive automation of the hardware lifecycle for sensors and compute modules, and to develop agentic systems and foundation models that streamline workflows with internal teams and contract manufacturers.

You will apply AI to manufacturing, installation, and troubleshooting, translate physical requirements into technical specs, and bridge experiments with production environments, collaborating with hardware design, failure analysis, and

Qualifications

• Master's or PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, or related field.
• Proven track record delivering working engineering solutions balancing scientific rigor with production needs.
• Experience in training, evaluating, and deploying machine learning models at scale.
• Strong communication and collaboration across multidisciplinary teams.

Responsibilities

• Drive automation of the hardware lifecycle for sensors and compute modules.
• Develop and deploy agentic systems and foundation models to streamline workflows between internal teams and contract manufacturers.
• Identify opportunities to apply AI to manufacturing, installation, and troubleshooting processes to increase operational velocity.
• Interface with hardware design engineers, failure analysis engineers, and diagnostic teams to translate physical requirements into technical specifications.
• Bridge the gap between experimental ML models and high-scale production environments.

Skills

ML Expertise

Model Training & Evaluation

Production ML Systems

Communication Skills

Education

Master's/PhD in ML/CS

Tools

Agentic Tools

Foundation Models

Fine-tuning LLMs/VLMs

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.

This role follows a hybrid work schedule and reports to a Director, Hardware and Sensors.

You Will

• Drive the automation of the hardware lifecycle for critical sensors (lidar, radar, cameras) and compute modules.
• Develop and deploy agentic systems and foundation models to streamline workflows between internal teams and contract manufacturers.
• Identify opportunities to apply AI to manufacturing, installation, and troubleshooting processes to increase operational velocity.
• Interface with a diverse set of stakeholders, including hardware design engineers, failure analysis engineers, and diagnostic teams, to translate physical requirements into technical specifications.
• Bridge the gap between experimental ML models and high-scale production environments.

You Have

• A Masters or PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, or a related technical field.
• A proven track record of delivering working engineering solutions, balancing scientific rigor with production needs.
• Experience in training, evaluating, and deploying machine learning models at scale.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to collaborate across multidisciplinary teams (from field technicians to hardware designers).

We Prefer

• Hands-on experience or deep familiarity with agentic tools and frameworks.
• Experience working with large-scale foundation models (LLMs, VLMs) and fine-tuning them for specialized domains.
• Background in automating industrial or hardware-centric workflows.
• Familiarity with hardware diagnostics, failure analysis, or manufacturing processes.

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