Technical Lead Manager, Machine Learning, Maneuvering Tech
Waymo Open · verified Oct 22, 2026 At a glance
Senior Machine Learning Engineering role at Waymo. Mountain View · $238,000–$302,000 base.
aimlroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Guide technical decisions for onboard motion planning that improve how the vehicle handles low-speed maneuvers
- Strengthen evaluation methods so the team can assess driving performance on public roads
- Review driving logs to trace behavior problems back to their causes
- Coach junior engineers and build core frameworks that advance the vehicle’s capabilities
- Work directly on difficult, uncommon driving scenarios that challenge the system
What you bring
- A graduate degree in computer science, machine learning, robotics or a similar field, or four years of equivalent practical experience
- Strong software engineering skills in C++, including writing efficient, robust code
- At least one year managing a team with five or more direct reports
- The ability to work effectively with people across teams
Who this fits
This senior role suits an engineering manager who can also contribute directly to machine-learning and motion-planning challenges. It is hybrid and based in Mountain View.
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.
Software Engineering builds the brains of Waymo's fully autonomous driving technology. Our software allows the Waymo Driver to perceive the world around it, make the right decision for every situation, and deliver people safely to their destinations. We think deeply and solve complex technical challenges in areas like robotics, perception, decision-making and deep learning, while collaborating with hardware and systems engineers. If you’re a software engineer or researcher who’s curious and passionate about Level 4 autonomous driving, we'd like to meet you.
In this hybrid role you will report to a Technical Lead Manager, Senior Staff Engineer.
You will:
- Provide technical leadership for onboard motion planning systems that improve low-speed maneuvering performance
- Improve evaluation capabilities to better understand on-road performance
- Provide mentorship for junior engineers on the team
- Investigate driving behavior issues from logs and understand the root cause
- Develop foundational frameworks that help advancement of the Waymo Driver's capabilities
- Directly contribute to solving some of the most challenging driving situations in the long tail.
You have:
- MS/PHD in Computer Science, ML, Robotics, similar technical field of study, or 4+ years of equivalent practical experience
- General software engineering experience programming in C++ with robust and efficient code
- Ability to collaborate within and across teams
- 1+ year of management experience years with 5+ reports
We prefer:
- AV or Robotics experience
- Experience with Machine Learning models in production systems
- Experience in graph search, optimization, or path planning algorithms
- 8+ years of Software Engineering experience in complex systems
- Coding proficiency in Python and SQL
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$238,000—$302,000 USD