2027 Summer Intern, MS/PhD, Machine Learning Engineer - Simulator Realism Evaluation
Waymo
$70 / hour
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Description
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.
Software Engineering builds the brains of Waymo's fully autonomous driving technology. Our software allows the Waymo Driver to perceive the world around it, make the right decision for every situation, and deliver people safely to their destinations. We think deeply and solve complex technical challenges in areas like robotics, perception, decision-making and deep learning, while collaborating with hardware and systems engineers. If you’re a software engineer or researcher who’s curious and passionate about Level 4 autonomous driving, we'd like to meet you.
Waymo interns partner with leaders in the industry on projects that create impact to the company. We believe learning is a two-way street: applying your knowledge while providing you with opportunities to expand your skill-set. Interns are an important part of our culture and our recruiting pipeline. Join us at Waymo for a fun and rewarding internship!
You will:
- Conduct ML modeling experiments and prototyping to build state-of-the-art evaluation tools.
- Write code within Waymo’s simulator and evaluation systems.
- Design statistical experiments to evaluate the efficacy of ML discriminators.
- Collaborate across organizations to deliver impact to both onboard teams and downstream safety and simulation technology launch stakeholders.
You have:
- Enrolled in a graduate program (Master's or PhD) in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Robotics, or a related technical field.
- Proficiency in software development using C++ or Python.
- Solid foundation in core computer science concepts (data structures, algorithms, object-oriented design).
- Solid foundation in ML and statistics models, algorithms, and libraries.
- Knowledge of software systems, including distributed systems and accelerated computing.
- Interest in autonomous driving, simulation, evaluation, and physical AI.
We prefer:
- Knowledge/prior experience with physical systems (physics, robotics, physical AI).
- Proficiency in SQL.
- Strong written/verbal communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.
Note: This will be a hybrid onsite internship position. We will accept resumes on a rolling basis until the role is filled. To be in consideration for multiple roles, you will need to apply to each one individually - please apply to the top 3 roles you are interested in.
About this role
This internship focuses on building machine learning evaluation tools within Waymo's simulator to assess how well ML models can discriminate between realistic and unrealistic driving scenarios. You'll conduct modeling experiments, write code in C++ or Python across Waymo's simulator and evaluation systems, and design statistical experiments to validate your approaches. The work sits at the intersection of ML, simulation, and autonomous driving safety—you'll collaborate with multiple teams to ensure your tools have real impact on both internal safety validation and the broader simulation technology roadmap.
You'll need to be enrolled in a Master's or PhD program in a technical field like Computer Science, Robotics, or Systems Engineering, with solid foundations in software development, machine learning, statistics, and computer systems. Experience with physical systems, SQL, and strong communication skills are valued. This is a hybrid role based in San Francisco, paying $70/hour for Master's students and $85/hour for PhD students, with access to company benefits.
This role suits someone who wants hands-on experience in a critical part of autonomous vehicle development—the evaluation and validation layer—while working at a company with real-world scale and impact. If you're interested in how simulation and ML combine to make self-driving systems safer, and you have the technical foundation to move quickly, it's worth applying.
How this employer is doing
solid
- News: Growing or Expanding
- H1B: Active Visa Sponsor
- Expanding
- New Product/Innovation
In the news
Elon Musk's Tesla eyes transportation 'domination' as Cybercab expansion heats up competition with Waymo, New York Post
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Pay for this role
$70 per hour
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