# Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Driver Refinement & Validation Source: https://realanalystjobs.com/job/staff-machine-learning-engineer-driver-refinement-and-validation-waymo-f7335a30 Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Driver Refinement & Validation at Waymo, an on-site role based in Mountain View, California, USA. Experience level: 8+ Years. Pay stated in the posting: $251,000 to $310,000. Posted on 11 June 2026, read from Waymo's own careers page (Greenhouse), which RealAnalystJobs re-checks daily and removes the role when it closes. Waymo has approved H-1B petitions on USCIS record (employer-wide, not a promise for this role). Updated 15 November 2026. ## Key facts - Company: [Waymo](https://realanalystjobs.com/companies/waymo) - Location: Mountain View, California, USA - Work mode: On-site - Pay stated in the posting: $251,000 to $310,000 - Posted: Jun 11, 2026 - Employment type: Full time - Experience level: 8+ Years - Source: Waymo's careers page (Greenhouse), re-checked daily Skills: [Python](https://realanalystjobs.com/skills/python) ## Visa sponsorship The posting does not say. Waymo had H-1B petitions approved for 271 workers in fiscal year 2026 (USCIS). That is history, not a promise for this role. [See the record](https://realanalystjobs.com/companies/waymo#h1b-record) ## About this role 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. Driver Refinement and Validation’s (DRV) mission is to build upon the high-quality ML Driver developed by Driver Intelligence, refining its performance to improve autonomous driving in specific, complex real-world contexts and problem areas (e.g., Ride-Hailing contexts). It aims to ensure that the Waymo Driver always computes safe, compliant, comfortable, and useful plans. As an Engineer in DRV, you will bridge the gap between cutting-edge machine learning and real-world vehicle performance, engineering the validation and onboard systems that ensure the autonomous vehicle reliably executes intelligent and predictable maneuvers. You will: • Develop next-generation, ML-powered systems that enhance the capabilities of the ML driver and accelerate the rapid scaling of Waymo’s business • Fine-tune, adapt, and benchmark state-of-the-art generative models to improve autonomous vehicle perception, motion prediction, and trajectory planning • Write high-quality, scalable, and thoroughly tested code to bring cutting-edge ML into production • Partner with world-class engineers and product managers to deliver safe and smooth autonomous vehicle behaviors You have: • MS in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Robotics, or related technical field, or equivalent practical experience • 8+ years of industry experience deploying, evaluating, and maintaining ML-based systems in real-world, production environments • Proficient programming skills in Python and/or C++, coupled with strong analytical and debugging abilities • Expertise with modern deep learning frameworks, such as JAX or PyTorch We prefer: • Experience in deep learning, reinforcement learning, and ML systems • Domain expertise in solving prediction, behaviors, motion planning, or related robotics problems • ML post-training experience • Prior industry experience (e.g. internships) in applied ML or software development • Publications in top-tier conferences (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, ICRA, IROS, RSS, CoRL, ACL, or EMNLP) The expected hourly rate for this full-time position is listed below. Interns are also eligible to participate in the Company’s generous benefits programs, subject to eligibility requirements. Hourly PhD Pay $251,000 - $310,000 USD Description from Waymo's public careers feed, reproduced so you can read the role here. Apply on the company's own site; Real Analyst Jobs never submits anything for you. ## How to apply Open [this role on Real Analyst Jobs](https://realanalystjobs.com/job/staff-machine-learning-engineer-driver-refinement-and-validation-waymo-f7335a30) and use Apply now there to reach the employer's application. The listing is re-checked against Waymo's careers page daily and removed when it closes. ## Waymo 4 open analyst roles on Real Analyst Jobs. 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