Job brief: Staff Tech Lead Software Engineer, Vehicle Realism Platform

What JoRoute checked · Checked by JoRoute

• Listed on Waymo's own job board. JoRoute does not take listings from job ads or recruiters.
• First seen by JoRoute 2026-11-10 (today); last confirmed on the board 2026-11-10.
• The apply link opens careers.withwaymo.com, the address Waymo's board gives for this job.
• The same title for the same place was listed 1 other time on this board in the last 90 days: several openings, or a re-posted job.
• No layoff notices (WARN) under this name in the state files JoRoute reads.

What the listing says · Employer's own words, not checked

• Pay: $251,000 to $310,000 a year
• Job type: Not stated
• Where: Mountain View, CA, USA; San Francisco, CA, USA · Mountain View (US-MTV-EMF680)
• Posted: 2026-01-16 · over 60 days ago

What the job asks · Employer's own words, not checked

Level: Lead / staff. The title says "Staff".

Conditions

• VRP manages the interface between the core Simulator Architecture and the physical representation of the vehicle, which includes platform expression, physics, environment, timing,…

Main duties

• Collaborate with onboard and research engineers to scale simulation and achieve critical Waymo milestones.
• Monitor and improve the reproducibility, reliability, and usability of the Waymo simulator.
• Design long-term architectures to accommodate a growing number of internal customers and product requirements.
• Bridge vehicle subsystems and simulation infrastructure to enhance overall robotic realism.
• You'll partner closely with collaborators from Simulator, Eval, Hardware, and Onboard orgs, integrating the building blocks they provide and turning them int…

Lines copied from the posting, not rewritten. "Preferred" or "nice to have" items are not listed as must-haves.

How it compares · Compared by JoRoute from listings

• Typical listed pay for software engineer jobs in San Francisco, CA: $221k a year (237 listings, 24 employers). This listing is 27% higher.
• Across Waymo's 316 open listings, 50% of those with a posting date were first posted more than 60 days ago. How Waymo hires

What nobody outside the employer knows · Not known

• Whether the role is already filled or on hold: employers often leave listings up.
• How many people applied, and who reads the applications.
• Where in the published range an offer would land.

Ask before you apply

1. Is this role still open, and when do you hope to fill it?
2. How many people are you hiring for this role, and is it a new opening or a re-posted one?
3. Which of the listed places is this role based in?
4. What are the interview steps, and when should I expect to hear back?

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