Staff Machine Learning Engineer

About the Company

Waymo is an autonomous driving technology company with the mission to be the world's most trusted driver. The Waymo Driver powers Waymo’s fully autonomous ride-hail service and has provided over ten million rider-only trips.

Responsibilities

• Build scalable systems for training and fine-tuning large-scale generative models
• Lead the implementation and iteration of novel RL algorithms and reward functions
• Develop cutting-edge Deep Learning models and Generative AI (LLM/VLM) solutions
• Oversee the production and optimization of machine learning models for fleet assessment
• Develop a novel Reinforcement Learning from Human Preference (RLHF) based data collection system
• Collaborate with Prediction, Planning, and Research teams to deliver strategic efforts

Requirements

• M.S. or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Machine Learning, AI, or related field
• 7+ years of hands-on experience in Machine Learning with a focus on Reinforcement Learning
• Expertise in deep learning, sequence modeling, and generative models
• Strong publication record or history of impactful project delivery in RL
• Proficiency in Python and ML frameworks like JAX or TensorFlow
• Experience with large-scale distributed training and data processing
• Ability to lead complex and ambiguous technical projects

Preferred Qualifications

• 10+ years of relevant experience in ML/RL research and application
• Experience in autonomous vehicles, robotics, or complex simulation environments
• Deep understanding of state-of-the-art RL techniques and fine-tuning from human feedback
• Familiarity with large-scale simulation platforms and ML training workflows
• Experience designing metrics for evaluating complex AI systems
• Track record of technical leadership and influencing senior stakeholders