Senior Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Simulation

The Waymo Driver is performing well in more and more cities, with our scale rapidly accelerating. Our team’s job is to ensure that we can continue to evaluate safety and service quality across new cities and countries, each with their unique challenges. We need an experienced, technically hands-on engineering manager with strong quantitative skills to lead a small team and work with partners to scale eval and ML development by exploring new methods and delivering tools for mining and sampling data.

In this hybrid role, you will report to the Sr. Staff Manager.

In this role, you will:

• Develop and drive the end-to-end strategy for our next generation of machine learning-based evaluation metrics, championing scientific and statistical rigor across our embodied AI applications.
• Architect and build scalable systems for training and fine-tuning large-scale generative models to produce realistic and evaluate interesting driving behaviors.
• Lead the design, implementation, and iteration of novel RL algorithms, reward functions, and training paradigms tailored for generating high-fidelity and insightful driving behaviors.
• Lead the development of cutting-edge Deep Learning models and Generative AI (LLM/VLM) solutions to enhance human-led triaging, introduce automation for high-volume workflows, and perform nuanced analysis of self-driving behavior to detect critical anomalies.
• Proactively monitor and assimilate best practices from within Alphabet and the broader industry to develop a novel Reinforcement Learning from Human Preference (RLHF) based data collection and evaluation system.
• Provide technical mentorship, guidance, and thought leadership to other engineers within the team and across collaborating groups.
• Guide and align multiple teams—including Driver Understanding, Simulation, System Engineering, Research, and Onboard Software—on a cohesive evaluation strategy, ensuring cross-functional alignment on goals and priorities.

Minimum Qualifications:

• PhD degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 7+ years of hands-on experience in developing and applying Machine Learning models, with a significant focus on Reinforcement Learning.
• Demonstrated expertise in deep learning, sequence modeling, and generative models.
• Strong publication record or history of impactful project delivery in RL or related areas.
• Proficiency in Python and standard ML frameworks (e.g., JAX, TensorFlow).
• Experience with large-scale distributed training and data processing.
• Proven ability to lead complex and ambiguous technical projects from conception to completion.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 10+ years of relevant experience in ML/RL research and application.
• Experience in the autonomous vehicles domain, robotics, or complex simulation environments.
• Deep understanding of state-of-the-art RL techniques, including those used for fine-tuning large models (e.g., from human feedback/preferences).
• Familiarity with large-scale simulation platforms and their integration with ML training workflows.
• Experience designing and using metrics for evaluating complex AI systems.
• Track record of technical leadership, influencing senior stakeholders, and driving innovation across team boundaries.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts clearly.