Staff Tech Lead Software Engineer (Vehicle Realism Platform)

• 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 Simulation Team builds technology that supports the development of the Waymo Driver. It allows the Waymo driver to be tested on millions of miles of traffic before it hits the road. Simulation is crucial to Waymo’s mission of developing the world’s most experienced driver
• The VRP (Vehicle Realism Platform) team builds tools and systems to enable realistic autonomous-driving simulation capabilities across all hardware platforms and diverse driving conditions
• VRP manages the interface between the core Simulator Architecture and the physical representation of the vehicle, which includes platform expression, physics, environment, timing, and hardware models in the Simulator. We ensure that signals we get from simulation reflect real-world driving behavior
• Our team empowers engineers across Waymo to safely iterate, test, and validate autonomous driving at scale, directly supporting autonomous driving software development, evaluation, and deployment worldwide
• Collaborate with onboard and research engineers to expand simulation capabilities and achieve critical Waymo milestones
• Monitor and improve the reproducibility, reliability, and usability of the Waymo simulator
• Design long-term architectures to accommodate a growing number of internal customers and product requirements
• Bridge vehicle subsystems and simulation infrastructure to enhance overall robotic realism
• Partner closely with collaborators from Simulator, Eval, Hardware, and Onboard orgs, integrating the building blocks they provide and turning them into reliable, reproducible simulation solutions

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and dependents
• Employee assistance programs focused on mental health
• Personalized workplace adjustments for diverse needs and abilities, including physical, mental, and neurodivergent considerations
• Access to mental health apps
• Onsite wellness centers
• Counseling services
• Second medical opinion for you and your loved ones
• Support programs including menopause benefit
• Medical advocacy program for transgender employees
• Competitive compensation
• Regular bonus and equity performance grant opportunities
• Generous 401(k) and regional retirement plans
• Annual cross-company compensation review and pay equity analysis
• 1-on-1 financial coaching
• Fertility and growing family assistance
• Parental leave and baby bonding leave
• Backup childcare
• Survivor income benefit
• Elder care and support
• Caregiver leave
• Paid time off, including vacation, bereavement, sick leave, parental leave, disability, and holidays
• Jury duty leave
• Military leave
• Hybrid work model with remote work opportunities also available
• Educational reimbursement
• Peer learning and coaching platform
• Donation matching programs
• Volunteer hours
• Employee resource groups
• Internal community groups and local culture clubs
• Inspiring spaces to work, recharge, and collaborate with fellow Waymonauts
• On-site meals and snacks
• Fitness centers, massage programs, and ergonomic support
• On-demand fitness, wellbeing, and cooking classes
• Commuter benefits

• A strong background in C++
• 6+ years experience in software development
• Experience on backend knowledge such as workflows, databases, SQL, debugging, production monitoring, etc
• Hands-on experience building a popular (internal or external-facing) product
• Experience with the release of software in a highly distributed heterogeneous execution environment
• Experience with systems programming (game engines, database, OS, distributed)
• Experience with robotics or perception systems
• Experience with ML
• Experience with performance optimization in complex backend and infrastructure systems