Technical Lead Manager, Machine Learning, Maneuvering Tech
Waymo
Listing collected from Waymo's career site. NextChapter is independent of Waymo.
Mountain View, CA · $238k–$302k a year · Posted December 11, 2025
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November 2026
- #1Best cities for AI-skill jobs45% · of 100
- #1Best cities for AI-skill jobs in the West Coast45% · of 71
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- #1Best all-round cities for mid-career professionals in the West Coast85 / 100 · of 39
- #1Best all-round cities for AI careers in the West Coast96 / 100 · of 39
- #2Best cities for finance pay after cost of living$161k · of 35
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How AI is used in this kind of work
Among computer occupations, all other, AI is already used for a large share of the tasks. Measured exposure for computer occupations, all other: 31% (high).
Share of this job’s tasks that AI is already used for at work, from real usage. It is not a forecast of job loss, and a low number means no use seen yet. Source: Anthropic Economic Index.
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About the job
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