Senior Product Manager, New Platform Discovery and Validation

Waymo•Mountain View, CA

3d•$241,000 - $297,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Waymo is seeking a Senior Product Manager to lead product strategy and execution for new autonomous vehicle platform discovery and validation. The role owns perception evaluation coverage, planning for Simrack capacity and demand, and structured testing strategies that help identify reliability, timing, and fidelity issues earlier in platform development. The position defines the roadmap for New Platform Introduction (NPI) Closed-Course Rider-Only testing and owns RO Deployment ADC as a product, including an autonomous testing mode that exercises depot automation, off-hail behavior, long-duration engagement, fault policies, and fleet response before commercial launch. It also coordinates internal trip delivery to align validation demand with vehicle supply and fleet allocation, and to surface rider experience and driving quality issues early. Working across Hardware, Systems Engineering, Firmware, Diagnostics, Testing Operations, and Commercialization, the Senior Product Manager will build a connected validation funnel spanning HIL Simrack, Car-on-Bench, closed-course testing, RDA, and internal trips. The role follows a hybrid work schedule, reports to the Product Management Lead of New Platform Introductions, and requires occasional travel of up to 10% between Bay Area offices, depots, and closed-course testing facilities in Arizona and California.

Requirements

At least 7 years of product management or technical program/systems leadership experience in autonomous vehicles, robotics, complex hardware-software systems, ML/perception evaluation, or large-scale testing and validation infrastructure.
Demonstrated track record owning complex technical products end-to-end and translating ambiguous system-level validation and operational challenges into clear product requirements, metrics, and multi-quarter roadmaps.
Strong analytical foundation in capacity and demand planning, resource optimization, and operational efficiency for constrained hardware/compute test assets.
Deep systems thinking and ability to reason across the autonomous stack, from sensors, compute, firmware, and base vehicle integration to perception/ML models, onboard software, and fleet operations.
Proven ability to influence and align cross-functional stakeholders across Engineering, Systems Engineering, Testing Operations, and Commercialization without direct authority.
BS/MS in Computer Science, Electrical, Mechanical, or Robotics Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.

Nice To Haves

Direct experience with New Platform Introduction (NPI), vehicle/hardware bring-up, or transitioning autonomous/robotics platforms from prototype validation to commercial rider-only deployment.
Experience with autonomous driving perception and ML model evaluation methodologies.
Hands-on familiarity with Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulation, Car-on-Bench (COB) testing, closed-course structured testing, and public-road autonomous fleet validation workflows.
Experience designing and scaling internal testing programs, operational readiness frameworks, or production-representative testing environments for autonomous fleets.
Experience building S&OP (Supply & Operations Planning) or demand/supply matching processes for physical test fleets, depot operations, or hardware testbeds.
Comfort operating in a fast-paced, multi-platform environment with simultaneous hardware, compute, and software generations in flight.

Responsibilities

Own New Platform Perception Evaluation strategy and coverage across next-generation vehicle, sensing, and compute platforms.
Lead product planning for New Platform Simrack capacity, demand forecasting, and execution efficiency across compute generations; optimize resource allocation and test coverage to shift-left timing, reliability, and fidelity discovery and validation.
Define and execute the New Platform Introduction (NPI) Closed-Course Rider-Only (CC-RO) structured testing strategy and roadmap, partnering with Systems Engineering to shake down new vehicle, hardware, and firmware configurations and accelerate rider-only issue discovery before public-road deployment.
Own RO Deployment ADC (RDA) as a product, defining the vision, requirements, and roadmap for an RO-representative autonomous testing mode that exercises end-to-end depot automation loops, off-hail behaviors, long-duration engagement, fault policies, and fleet response before commercial launch.
Drive NPI ADC Internal trip delivery, aligning validation trip demand with vehicle supply, fleet allocation, and Commercialization and Operations partners to surface rider UX and driving quality issues early.
Partner with Hardware, Systems Engineering, Firmware, and Diagnostics teams to build a cohesive shift-left discovery and validation funnel spanning HIL Simrack, Car-on-Bench, Closed-Course, RDA, and Internal trips, compressing new platform bring-up timelines from prototype to commercial deployment.
Travel occasionally, up to 10%, between Bay Area offices, depots, and closed-course testing facilities in Arizona and California for platform validation milestones.