System Safety Engineer, Strategic Programs & Integration

Waymo LLC; Mountain View (WA); Hybrid; USD 241,000 - 297,000; Full time

Job summary

Waymo is seeking a senior leader to head System Safety, overseeing end-to-end safety programs for autonomous vehicle initiatives. The role drives safety strategy, cross-functional collaboration, and executive reporting to ensure safety across platforms.

The candidate will manage complex programs, align safety goals with product launches, and maintain rigorous risk assessments and compliance with applicable standards. This hybrid role reports to the Head of System Safety.

Qualifications

• BS/MS in Engineering, Robotics, CS, or Systems Engineering with 10+ years in technical program management or safety engineering.
• Strong knowledge of system safety principles and ISO standards (ISO 26262, SOTIF, MIL-STD-882).
• Proven track record managing cross-functional programs from concept through validation.
• Deep understanding of autonomous vehicle systems, release lifecycles, and V&V methods.
• Able to influence diverse teams in fast-paced environments and establish workflows.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end program planning, milestone roadmapping, and OKR alignment for System Safety.
• Spearhead safety workstreams across Onboard SW, Systems Eng, Hardware, Ops Safety, and Product.
• Establish and execute Safety Baseline and Delta for product expansions.
• Monitor safety readiness across vehicle platforms and drive timely resolution.
• Standardize safety processes and dashboards (Jira/TaskFlow) to reduce overhead.
• Interface with executives and stakeholders, delivering clear risk summaries.

Skills

Technical program management

System safety engineering

Risk management

Autonomous vehicle knowledge

Cross-functional leadership

V&V methodologies

Education

BS/MS in Engineering/Robotics/CS/Systems Eng

10+ years experience

Tools

Jira

Buganizer

TaskFlow

Python

SQL

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 Waymo Safety team works to promote and help to continuously improve the safety of Waymo’s fully autonomous driving technology. Our experts develop safety goals and strategies, and conduct safety engineering analyses to ensure safety is being considered throughout the design and development of our vehicles. The team develops and promotes safety strategies and policies for autonomous vehicles for its work with regulatory authorities, lawmakers, law enforcement and public and non-profit organizations. Our Safety Team also helps advise on compliance with applicable environmental, health, and safety regulations.

In this hybrid role, you will report to the Head of System Safety.

You will:

• Lead end-to-end program planning, milestone roadmapping, and OKR definition across the entire System Safety organization, ensuring high-priority safety workstreams align with company-wide product launches
• Spearhead System Safety workstreams for new, strategic programs across Onboard SW, Systems Engineering, Hardware, Ops Safety, and Product, translating high-level vehicle goals into actionable safety deliverables
• Establish and execute the Safety Baseline and Delta approach for product expansions and novel product capabilities
• Track and govern safety readiness criteria across multiple vehicle platforms, identifying critical-path bottlenecks and driving timely resolution
• Partner with team leads to standardize safety processes, develop automated workflows and tracking dashboards (Jira/TaskFlow), and reduce execution overhead for safety engineers
• Serve as the primary safety interface to executive program leadership, Product Management, Systems Engineering, and Fleet Operations, championing safety culture and synthesizing complex risk assessments into clear executive summaries

You have:

• BS/MS in Engineering, Robotics, Computer Science, Systems Engineering, or related technical field (or equivalent practical experience) with 10+ years of technical program management or safety engineering experience in safety-critical domains
• Working knowledge of system safety engineering principles, risk management, and industry standards (e.g., ISO 26262, ISO 21448/SOTIF, ISO 31000/31010, or MIL-STD-882)
• Proven track record of managing complex, cross-functional technical programs from concept through validation, including resource allocation, schedule risk management, and executive reporting
• Strong understanding of autonomous vehicle systems, software/hardware release lifecycles, and systems engineering Verification and Validation (V&V) methodologies
• Demonstrated ability to influence and align diverse engineering, product, operations, and leadership teams in fast-paced, ambiguous environments
• Experience establishing engineering workflows, requirements traceability, and project management frameworks using Jira, Buganizer/TaskFlow, or equivalent systems

We prefer:

• Direct experience working with L4 autonomous driving systems, commercial ADAS platforms, or robotics product commercialization
• Experience driving safety concepts or operational safety for consumer-facing vehicles, human-machine interface (HMI) transitions, or decentralized fleet maintenance
• Hands-on experience with safety case development (Claims-Arguments-Evidence), STPA, HARA, or Probabilistic Risk Assessments (PRA)
• Familiarity with data modeling, scripting (e.g., Python/SQL), and building automated metrics dashboards to monitor safety program health and risk exposure
• Experience supporting regulatory briefings, safety waivers, or compliance documentation for emerging transportation technologies

Travel Requirements:

• This role is expected to travel approximately 5%

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

$241,000 — $297,000 USD