Waymo

Systems Engineering Lead, New Product Initiatives

Waymo · Mountain View, CA
Mountain View, CA $272K–$336K Posted 2026-07-17
Salary
$272K–$336K
Type
Full-time
Experience
5+ yr

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.

Waymo's Systems Engineering team works together to blend software and hardware systems in groundbreaking new ways. We set the high performance standards that ensure our vehicles run smoothly and keep passengers safe, then design and perform the tests that validate that performance. We're looking for talented teammates who’ll help us maintain strong teamwork and are passionate about driving results.

This role follows a hybrid work schedule and you will report to Systems Engineering Leadership.

You will:

  • Lead cross-functional strategies to accelerate development for new product initiatives
  • Translate new, complex use cases into actionable system requirements
  • Execute trade studies and investigation to influence cross-functional priorities and product roadmaps
  • Partner with Systems Engineering and Test teams to develop and execute robust verification strategies that demonstrate critical requirements are met
  • Innovate solutions for technical challenges within integrated hardware and software autonomous systems, covering the full day-in-the-life
  • Define concept of operations for new product initiatives

You have:

  • Bachelor's Degree in relevant Engineering or related field (including ME, EE, CS, Robotics, Controls, Aerospace, etc.) or equivalent practical experience
  • 10 or more years of engineering experience with demonstrated delivery of hardware / software integrated vehicle or robotic systems
  • Experience across full product lifecycle, from concept or pilot through transition into operations in a fast paced environment
  • Strong foundation in systems engineering fundamentals such as requirements definition, formal verification and validation methods
  • Data analysis and related script development skills (e.g. using Python, SQL, etc)
  • Cross-functional technical leadership and mentorship

We prefer:

  • Advanced Degree in relevant Engineering or related field
  • Experience testing and deploying production-level safety critical systems, especially at scale
  • Experience influencing product strategy and user flows through iterative launches
  • Although not the focus of this role, some software development experience and understanding of SW development process is helpful
  • Autonomous vehicle industry experience

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
$272,000 — $336,000 USD

Python
$110K — 10th pctl $260K — 90th pctl
This role’s midpoint $304K vs. market median $180K for Engineering roles
+70%
above median
Based on 17,000+ Engineering roles with disclosed salary ranges tracked on NewJob.
Waymo

Waymo

Autonomous Vehicles · Private · Mountain View, USA

Stage & Valuation
Private · $110B
Key Investors
Alphabet, Dragoneer Investment Group, Sequoia Capital
Open roles on NewJob
Most hiring in
Engineering (193) · Operations (51) · Data & ML (41)
Waymo is an autonomous driving technology company that develops self-driving vehicles and operates a commercial ride-hailing service called Waymo One.
Autonomous Vehicles AI Transportation
O
Director, Foundation Model Data Recipes
Mountain View, CA Hybrid
Operations
$349K–$431K
E
Principal Software Engineer, ML System Architect
Mountain View, CA Hybrid
Engineering
$349K–$431K
E
Principal Software Engineer, Onboard Field Response
Mountain View, CA
Engineering
$349K–$431K
See all 390+ roles at Waymo →
T
AI Engineering Lead, New York
Turing Enterprises New York, NY
Engineering
$240K–$260K
A
Senior Software Engineer - Product Engineering
Abnormal AI San Francisco, CA Hybrid
Engineering
$179K–$258K
A
Senior Engineering Lead, Chem-Bio
AI Security Institute London, UK
Engineering
$65K–$75K
A
Data Engineering Manager, Product
Anthropic San Francisco, CA
Engineering
$405K–$485K
See all Engineering roles →

Interested in this role?

Apply directly on the company site — no recruiter middleman, no account required.

Apply now →
Apply on company site