Research Scientist, World Model Post-Training
Waymo Open · verified Oct 22, 2026 At a glance
Mid-level AI Research role at Waymo. Mountain View · $213,000–$263,000 base.
aimlroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Research and build world models, then post-train Waymo’s model for its intended use
- Train large generative models and evaluate them through carefully designed experiments
- Share research findings with peers and leadership
- Use AI to produce code, unit tests and documentation, while automating workflows
What you bring
- A master’s or PhD focused on deep learning for generative or world models
- At least three years working with modern deep learning frameworks such as JAX, TensorFlow 2 or PyTorch
- Hands-on experience with diffusion or flow-matching models, reinforcement learning, and training large foundational models
Who this fits
This mid-level research role suits someone with experience spanning generative models, reinforcement learning and large-model training. It is hybrid, based in Mountain View, and reports to a software engineering manager.
From the employer
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 AI Foundations team is to develop machine learning solutions addressing open problems in autonomous driving, towards the goal of 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. AI Foundations areas that we are currently focusing on include reinforcement learning, learning from demonstration, generative modeling, Bayesian inference, hierarchical learning, and robust evaluation.
In this hybrid role, you will report to a Software Engineering Manager.
You will:
- Conduct applied world model research and development
- Post-train Waymo’s world model
- Design compelling experiments by training and evaluating large generative models
- Present results to peers and leadership
- Leverage AI to write high quality code, unit tests, and documentation, and automate workflows
You have:
- Masters or PhD in deep learning in generative / world modeling
- 3+ years of experience with modern deep learning frameworks (e.g., JAX, TensorFlow 2, Pytorch)
- Experience with diffusion / flow matching models
- Experience with reinforcement learning
- Experience training large foundational models
We prefer:
- Experience with post-training of foundational models
- Experience with reinforcement learning for diffusion / flow matching models
- Experience with distillation
- Experience with autonomous vehicles
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$213,000—$263,000 USD