Senior ML Engineer, Perception Foundation Model Scaling

Waymo is an autonomous driving technology company with the mission to be the 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 One, a fully autonomous ride-hailing service, and can also be applied to a range of vehicle platforms and product use cases. The Waymo Driver has provided over one million rider-only trips, enabled by its experience autonomously driving tens of millions of miles on public roads and tens of billions in simulation across 13+ 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 Research Director.

You will:

• Investigate and develop principled theories and hypotheses for scaling perception foundation models.
• Design controlled experiments to verify hypotheses and draw conclusions.
• Build necessary training and data infrastructure through collaboration with cross-functional teams.
• Explain the motivations and findings with team members through writing up and presentations.

You have:

• 5+ years experience in developing deep learning algorithms such as architecture and optimization.
• Knowledge of deep learning optimization, loss function, and scalable neural network architectures.
• Ability to tackle open challenges.
• Ability to design experiments and draw conclusions from results.

We prefer:

• PhD or background in computer science, statistics, mathematics, physics, or another.
• 3+ years experience in model scaling and/or data scaling & curation.
• 3+ years experience in self-supervised learning and generative modeling for perception.
• 3+ years experience in VLM and LLM.

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.