Senior Machine Learning Engineer, AI Foundations

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Waymo is hiring a Senior Machine Learning Engineer for its AI Foundations team in London to advance applied foundation model research and the development of robust production-grade AI for autonomous driving. The role focuses on designing rigorous experiments to train and evaluate large deep learning models, writing clean code, tests and documentation, and partnering with cross-functional teams to deploy models into production. The role follows a hybrid work schedule. Key credentials include a Masters or PhD in deep learning, strong ML theory, Python proficiency, and 3+ years with modern frameworks (JAX, TensorFlow, PyTorch). While not required, C++ experience, a track record of production deployment, and expertise in generative models, RL/imitation learning, transformers, or autonomous driving will be highly valued. Salary base £120,000 to £130,000 plus discretionary annual bonus, equity incentive plan, generous benefits, subject to eligibility.

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.

The mission of the Waymo AI Foundations team is to develop machine learning solutions addressing open problems in autonomous driving, towards the goal of safely operating Waymo vehicles in dozens of cities and under all driving conditions. As part of our work, we also initiate and foster collaborations with other research teams in Alphabet. AI Foundations areas that we are currently focusing on include reinforcement learning, learning from demonstration, generative modeling, Bayesian inference, hierarchical learning, and robust evaluation.

This role follows a hybrid work schedule and you will report to a Staff Research Scientist.

You will:

• Conduct applied foundation model research and development
• Design compelling experiments by training and evaluating large deep learning models
• Write high quality code, unit tests, and documentation
• Collaborate with other teams to deploy models to production

You have:

• Masters or PhD in deep learning
• Strong statistical / ML knowledge
• Proficiency in Python
• 3+ years of experience with modern deep learning frameworks: JAX, TensorFlow/PyTorch

We prefer:

• C++ experience
• Proven track record of deploying ML models to production environments
• Deep learning experience, especially with generative models, e.g., LLMs/VLMs, and/or reinforcement learning or imitation learning, transformer models, autoencoders and embeddings
• Autonomous driving experience

The expected base salary range for this full-time position 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.  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.