Senior Staff Tech Lead (Machine Learning Engineer, Perception)

Join Waymo, the leading self-driving technology company. As a Senior Staff Tech Lead in the Perception team, you will be responsible for building the system that perceives the world around the self-driving car. You will set the long-term technical roadmap for next-generation multi-modal perception architectures, architect unified representations combining diverse sensor modalities, and lead cross-functional initiatives. You will also mentor ML engineers and foster an engineering culture of rapid prototyping and rigorous benchmarking. Enjoy a competitive compensation package, generous benefits, and a hybrid work model.

• Set the long-term technical roadmap for next-generation multi-modal perception architectures, driving paradigm shifts in multi-task learning, spatial-temporal modeling, and scene representation.
• Architect unified, scalable representations combining diverse sensor modalities across heterogeneous sensor suites.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives across Perception and Planner and partner with hardware and infrastructure teams to optimize foundational architectures for onboard requirements.

• 8+ years of industry experience in Machine Learning, AI or Computer Vision
• BS or MS in Computer Science, Robotics, Machine Learning, or equivalent practical experience
• Demonstrated experience leading large technical initiatives as a Tech Lead across cross-functional teams
• Proven track record of architecting and shipping large-scale, production-grade machine learning models
• Expert proficiency in Python, C++, and modern ML frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, JAX, TensorFlow)
• PhD with a publication record at top-tier venues
• Strong industrial experience multi-modal foundation models, 3D perception, or end-to-end autonomous driving systems
• Experience designing modular, sensor-agnostic perception frameworks that scale across diverse configurations