Senior Research Scientist, Foundation Model (AI)

TL;DR

Senior Research Scientist (Foundation Models): Conducting applied foundation model research and development for autonomous driving with an accent on training and evaluating large deep learning models. Focus on designing compelling experiments, implementing LLMs/VLMs, and developing high-quality code for autonomous planning and world modeling.

Location: Hybrid: Must be based in the US (Mountain View, San Francisco, New York City, or Kirkland)

Salary: $204,000—$259,000 USD

Company

Waymo is an autonomous driving technology company developing the Waymo Driver to improve access to mobility and save lives through fully autonomous ride-hailing services.

What you will do

• Conduct applied foundation model research and development for autonomous driving.
• Design and execute compelling experiments by training and evaluating large deep learning models.
• Present research results and findings to technical peers and leadership.
• Write high-quality production code, unit tests, and comprehensive documentation.

Requirements

• Masters or PhD in deep learning, specifically in behavior and agent modeling or simulation.
• Proficiency in Python.
• 3+ years of experience with modern deep learning frameworks (JAX or TensorFlow 2 preferred; PyTorch acceptable).
• Experience in generative modeling and LLMs or VLMs (e.g., Gemini, Llama, GPT).
• Must be eligible to work in the United States.

Nice to have

• Experience with reinforcement learning and post-training.
• Knowledge of distillation.
• Experience with Transformer models.
• Experience with autoencoders and embeddings.

Culture & Benefits

• Comprehensive health, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance.
• Retirement benefits with 401(k) and company match.
• Generous paid time off: 20 days of vacation and 40 hours of sick time per year.
• Extensive parental leave: 28-30 weeks for maternity and 18 weeks for baby bonding.
• 13 paid holidays per year.