Staff SoC Design Engineer

Waymo; Mountain View (CA); Hybrid; USD 251,000 - 310,000; Full time

Job summary

Waymo is seeking a seasoned SoC Architect to define the architecture and microarchitecture for next‑generation autonomous vehicle chips. You will lead IP selection and NoC design, collaborating with firmware and software teams to deliver high‑performance, power‑aware solutions.

You will mentor engineers, manage external vendors, and drive tapeout milestones, leveraging extensive ASIC/SoC experience and strong SystemVerilog expertise to ship production-ready hardware.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of ASIC/SoC design and microarchitecture leadership.
• Expert in SystemVerilog for RTL design and integration.
• Strong knowledge of memory systems and NoC/interconnects.
• Proficient in Python/C++ for modeling and debugging.
• Hands-on tapeout experience across multiple projects.
• Technical leadership with end-to-end design ownership.

Responsibilities

• Define architecture and microarchitecture for Waymo's next‑generation autonomous vehicle SoCs, translating system‑level requirements into detailed hardware specifications and RTL implementation.
• Lead microarchitecture and implementation of IPs and subsystems, including for high-performance cache/memory hierarchies, NoC interconnects, and custom accelerators.
• Work with Architects, Firmware and Software teams to drive feature closure and develop microarchitecture specifications.
• Perform power, area and performance exploration and optimization of digital designs.
• Mentor other engineers and guide the technical side of relationships with external vendors, using innovative ideas to solve their design challenges, evaluate and select third‑party IP, and ensure a timely and successful tapeout and product.

Skills

SystemVerilog RTL design

RTL design

Computer architecture

Memory systems

NoC interconnects

Python

C++

Debugging

Technical leadership

Tapeout experience

Education

MS degree in Computer/Electrical Engineering or related field

PhD in Computer/Electrical Engineering or related field

Tools

Chisel (Scala)

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's Compute Team is tasked with a critical and exciting mission: We deliver the compute platform responsible for running the fully autonomous vehicle’s software stack. To achieve our mission, we architect and create high-performance custom silicon; we develop system-level compute architectures that push the boundaries of performance, power, and latency; and we collaborate closely with many other teammates to ensure we design and optimize hardware and software for maximum performance. We are a multidisciplinary team seeking curious and talented teammates to work on one of the world’s highest performance automotive compute platforms.

In this hybrid role, you will report to an Engineering Director.

You will:

• Define the architecture and microarchitecture for Waymo's next‑generation autonomous vehicle SoCs, translating system‑level requirements into detailed hardware specifications and RTL implementation, using your knowledge of how hardware, firmware, drivers, and compilers interact
• Lead microarchitecture and implementation of IPs and subsystems, including for high-performance cache/memory hierarchies, Network-on-Chip (NoC) interconnects, and custom accelerators
• Work with Architects, Firmware and Software teams to drive feature closure and develop microarchitecture specifications
• Perform power, area and performance exploration and optimization of digital designs
• Mentor other engineers and guide the technical side of relationships with external vendors, using innovative ideas to solve their design challenges, evaluate and select third‑party IP, and ensure a timely and successful tapeout and product

You have:

• MS degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
• 10+ years of industry experience in ASIC/SoC digital design, microarchitecture, and integration, including ownership of major design blocks or subsystems
• Proven track record of technical leadership driving design and execution from concept to production, and hands‑on experience with multiple successful ASIC tapeouts
• Deep expertise in SystemVerilog for RTL design, microarchitecture, and integration
• Strong understanding of computer architecture, memory systems, cache coherence, and high-speed on‑chip interconnects
• Fluency in programming/scripting languages (e.g., Python, C++) for architectural modeling, design automation, and debug
• Strong debug and problem‑solving skills, with the ability to root‑cause complex issues across hardware and software boundaries

We prefer:

• PhD degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field
• Experience in hardware/software co‑design, including in mixed hardware/software datapaths, such as in the context of DSPs, GPUs, and ML accelerators
• Knowledge of arithmetic units, processor design, accelerators, bus architectures, fabrics/NoC or memory hierarchies.
• Knowledge of high performance and low power design techniques
• Fluency and comfort with AI tools to accelerate and improve design and debug
• Experience with Chisel (Scala) or other hardware DSLs for RTL generation

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.

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

$251,000—$310,000 USD