Staff Vehicle Controls Engineer, Steering
About The Position
Waymo is seeking a Staff Vehicle Controls Engineer focused on steering to develop and integrate safety-critical steering systems for the Waymo Driver. The role owns steering system requirements for electric power steering (EPS) and steer-by-wire systems throughout their lifecycle, including tracking performance, redundancy, and safe behavior under faults. It drives steering architecture and fault-tolerance decisions to support fail-operational steering, and partners with Functional Safety on ISO 26262 safety concepts. The engineer serves as the technical lead with steering suppliers and vehicle OEM partners, leads investigations of steering issues across HIL, track, and fleet testing, and defines verification strategy and approval criteria for driverless operation. The role is hybrid and reports to a Vehicle Systems Architecture Lead. Travel may be required for partner implementation and test-site verification, for up to eight weeks domestically and internationally.
Requirements
- At least 7 years of experience developing and integrating safety-critical systems in automotive, autonomous vehicle, aerospace, robotics, or related industries, with at least part of that time focused on steering systems.
- Demonstrated ownership of system-level requirements, architecture, or control strategy for an automotive steering system (EPS, steer-by-wire, or rear-wheel steering) at an OEM, Tier 1 supplier, or AV company.
- Working knowledge of steering hardware and physics, including rack, column and pinion EPS layouts, BLDC/PMSM motors and inverters, torque and angle sensing, rack force, and tire and vehicle dynamics basics.
- Strong foundation in systems engineering, including requirements definition and traceability, verification and validation, and HIL or vehicle-level testing.
- Proficiency in Python or MATLAB for data and log analysis, and ability to read C/C++.
- Bachelor's degree in a relevant engineering or related field, including ME, EE, CS, Robotics, Controls, or Aerospace, or equivalent practical experience.
Nice To Haves
- Experience with redundant or fail-operational steering (dual-channel EPS or steer-by-wire), especially on L4 self-driving platforms.
- Experience applying ISO 26262 to steering, including ASIL D safety concepts, FMEA/FTA, and supplier implementation of microcontroller safety mechanisms such as lockstep cores, built-in self-tests, and runtime reset limits.
- Technical supplier management experience, including authoring Statements of Work or Requirement Specifications, leading technical design reviews, and managing firmware releases for safety-critical ECUs.
- Hands-on experience with Vector CANoe/CANalyzer, dSPACE, and vehicle-dynamics tools such as CarSim or IPG CarMaker.
- Experience with standard automotive development and production release processes for ECUs and firmware, such as APQP, phase gates, and A/B/C/D samples.
- Proficiency in Korean or Japanese to support technical reviews with partners.
Responsibilities
- Own EPS and steer-by-wire steering system requirements through their full lifecycle, including tracking performance, redundancy, and safe behavior under faults.
- Drive steering architecture and fault-tolerance trade studies to deliver fail-operational steering.
- Define and review steering fault monitors and the self-driving system's responses to faults, including detection thresholds, debounce, latching, and minimal-risk maneuvers.
- Partner with Functional Safety on ISO 26262 (ASIL D) safety concepts.
- Serve as technical lead with steering suppliers and vehicle OEM partners; review specifications, firmware release content, and CAN/CAN-FD interface definitions, and drive supplier defects to closure across sample phases.
- Lead root-cause investigations of steering issues found in HIL, on the test track, and in the fleet; analyze vehicle logs and CAN traces and build Python tools to automate fleet-data analysis.
- Define verification strategy and sign off steering for driverless operation, covering steering performance, thermal and endurance cases, and evidence from HIL, track, and fleet testing.
- Travel to support requirement implementation with partners or verification at test sites, domestically and internationally, for up to eight weeks.
Benefits
- Discretionary annual bonus program
- Equity incentive plan
- Company benefits program
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
