Lead Technical Program Manager

Who you are

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience
• Leadership Experience: 3+ years of experience directly managing and developing teams of TPMs or software engineers
• ML Domain Expertise: Proven track record of managing complex technical programs involving the Machine Learning platforms (data pipelines, training, evaluation frameworks, or ML infrastructure)
• Program Scale: Experience leading transformational, cross functional programs end-to-end, with a history of managing timelines, risks, and dependencies across senior stakeholders
• Technical Judgment: Strong technical judgment with the ability to contribute to strategic technical direction, analyze architectural trade offs, and balance velocity vs. quality
• TPM Experience: 10+ years of experience as a Technical Program Manager in a software engineering, large scale infrastructure, or ML environment
• Advanced ML Ops: Experience with large scale model evaluation (e.g. Foundation Models, LLMs, VLMs), closed-loop simulation, and correlating offline metrics with online product performance
• Scale Infrastructure: Experience with cloud based ML platforms, high performance computing (TPUs/GPUs), and large scale data management and validation
• ML Based Simulation: Familiarity with advanced simulation technologies, including ML based scene generation (e.g. NeRF, Gaussian Splatting, Diffusion, etc.) and reactive agent modeling
• Developer Platforms: Experience building or managing ML developer platforms or tooling that simplifies complex engineering stacks
• Organizational Transformation: Demonstrated success in driving organizational change, simplifying interfaces between teams, and improving organizational efficiency
• Advanced Degree: Master's degree or PhD in a technical field, ideally related to AI/ML or Robotics

What the job involves

• Waymo’s Technical Program Managers and Program Managers are accountable for Waymo’s roadmap execution by providing thoughtful cross-functional planning, clarity, and proactive risk management
• In the face of complex technical and operational challenges with no established playbooks to follow, we act with thoughtful urgency, driving conversations, discussions, and outcomes
• Our team partners closely with every function of Waymo to structure, own and drive work towards real-world deployments of the Waymo Driver across platforms and geographies
• In this hybrid role, you will report to a TPM Director
• Strategic Leadership & Vision: Partner with Simulation, ML Research (AI Foundations), Perception, and Planner leadership to define and drive the long term vision and strategy for Waymo's Simulation and ML Evaluation platforms
• ML Integration: Drive the execution of programs that integrate simulation deeply into the ML development loop, establishing a seamless, reliable path for model training, offline evaluation, and validation
• Transformational Program Delivery: Lead complex, cross functional programs to platformatize and scale evaluation infrastructure, incorporating ML based simulation and advanced technologies to accelerate developer velocity
• Resource & Capacity Optimization: Own program resourcing, budget allocation, and capacity planning for the Simulation and Evaluation domain, forecasting future compute/infrastructure needs and optimizing utilization
• Influence & Alignment: Navigate ambiguity and manage critical upstream/downstream dependencies across organizational boundaries, serving as a trusted technical partner to Engineering and Product leadership
• Team Development & People Management: Build, mentor, and lead a high performing team of Technical Program Managers, fostering a culture of technical excellence, accountability, and continuous professional growth

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
• Second medical opinion for you and your loved ones
• Medical advocacy program for transgender employees
• Counseling services
• Support programs including menopause benefit
• 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
• Caregiver leave
• Elder care and support
• Backup childcare
• Survivor income benefit
• 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
• Employee resource groups
• Volunteer hours
• 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