Software Engineer, Perception (Multi-Platform)

Company: Waymo
Location: US (Specific location details for salary range provided, exact role location may vary)
Work Schedule: Hybrid

About Waymo

Waymo is an autonomous driving technology company with the mission to be the world's most trusted driver. Since its inception as the Google Self-Driving Car Project in 2009, Waymo has focused on developing the Waymo Driver™, the world's most experienced driver. Our technology powers our fully autonomous ride-hail service and can be applied to various vehicle platforms. The Waymo Driver has accumulated over ten million rider-only trips and driven over 100 million miles autonomously on public roads across 15+ U.S. states.

The Perception Team

The Perception team builds the technology that enables the Waymo Driver to perceive its environment, make decisions, and ensure safe transportation. We conduct research, collaborate with Alphabet teams, and leverage vast amounts of driving data to develop advanced multi-modal models. Our mission is to create a stable foundation for the Perception pipeline and the overall self-driving system, acting as a key interface between hardware and software engineering teams.

The Multi-Platform Team

This team abstracts hardware differences, encapsulating sensor-specific logic to ensure Perception software is portable and maintainable across multiple platforms. We enable a single, parameterized Perception software stack to run efficiently on all sensor hardware, reducing maintenance effort and facilitating rapid adaptation to new platforms. We are responsible for bringing up the Perception software stack on new sensor and vehicle platforms.

What You Will Do

• Collaborate with a creative team responsible for bringing up Perception SW on new hardware platforms (vehicles, sensors, compute).
• Evolve existing SW to abstract hardware differences and encapsulate hardware-specific logic, involving design documentation, feedback gathering, implementation, testing, and ongoing maintenance.
• Rapidly prototype and conduct de-risking experiments for next-generation Perception SW stacks designed for greater portability.
• Maintain and run evaluations of existing or hypothetical new sensor hardware to inform sensor selection decisions, producing analyses with high-level recommendations.

What You Have

• Education: BS in Computer Science, Robotics, a similar technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Programming: Strong C++ programming experience with a focus on robust and efficient code.
• Architecture: Strong software architecture skills.
• Sensor Data: Experience with sensor data processing (Lidar, camera, or Radar).
• ML Systems: Experience building, integrating, debugging, and evaluating ML-based systems.

We Prefer

• Advanced Education: MS or PhD in Computer Science, Robotics, a similar technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Autonomous Vehicles: Experience with autonomous vehicles (L4) or ADAS systems (L2/L3).
• Hardware Bring-up: Experience with the bring-up of new sensors or vehicle platforms.

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary Range: $213,000—$263,000 USD (base salary range; actual pay depends on factors like location, experience, and skills).
• Additional Benefits: Eligibility for Waymo’s discretionary annual bonus program, equity incentive plan, and generous company benefits.