Technical Lead Manager, Collision Avoidance Testing
Waymo· Autonomous Driving· Sep 25, 2026 · 1mo ago
Mountain View, CA, US · San Francisco, CA, US
In office
Full-time
Lead
$141K–$219K est.
4+ years exp
Job description
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.
You will:
Lead and manage the Behavior Test Engineering’s Collision Avoidance Testing Team, including hiring, setting OKRs, guiding work, and developing your report's careers
Interface with key stakeholders from Planner, Perception, Systems Engineering and Safety Engineering executives on the Collision Avoidance Testing framework and desired AV behavior
Work with Waymo’s simulation team on the latest cutting-edge sim technology and how it can be integrated into collision avoidance testing
Lead technical work — work with your team, and simulation and tooling teams to develop and set the technical direction and architectural guidelines for Waymo's long-tail behavioral testing suite, ensuring it is scalable, maintainable, and extensible
You have:
A Bachelor's degree in a relevant field
Strong leadership and communication skills, with experience navigating a critical space
The ability to lead a technical engineering team and deliver impact while managing the team effectively
4+ years of management experience
10+ years of industry experience in a related field
Demonstrated ability to build testing programs that scale
Basic fluency in Python or C++
We prefer:
MS or PhD Degree in Engineering, Robotics, Computer Science or a similar discipline
Strong engineering fundamentals in Physics (mechanics) and/or Computer Science
Prior AV Experience
Experience with safety critical systems
A passion for robotics or autonomous vehicles
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 $230,000 — $284,000 USD
Application prep
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