Staff Systems Engineer, Hardware Architecture

Job description

Job responsibilities

• Lead and conduct complex, multi-attribute trade studies to define the architecture of the next-generation Waymo Driver, balancing performance, reliability, cost, and other key factors
• Develop and analyze architectural options for the overall Self-Driving System, with a strong emphasis on safety via robust fallback systems and high reliability
• Collaborate with and drive alignment across diverse engineering teams (Software, Hardware, Sensing, Compute, Safety, Reliability) to make holistic and informed architectural decisions
• Define key system interfaces and behaviors, ensuring a cohesive and well-integrated system design
• Create and present clear and compelling technical recommendations to senior leadership and stakeholders, justifying architectural choices with data and analysis
• Work closely with systems engineering to decompose architectural decisions into clear requirements for subsystem development
• Manage and guide architectural change across current and future SDS generations, ensuring consistency and a clear evolution path

Job requirements

• A bachelor's degree in Engineering (e.g., EE, ME, CS, Aerospace) or a related technical field
• 5+ years of experience in systems architecture, systems engineering, or complex system design, preferably in autonomous vehicles, aerospace, or robotics
• Proven ability to lead and execute complex technical trade studies involving multiple disciplines and competing objectives
• Strong understanding of the underlying principles for design for high availability and safety-critical applications
• Deep understanding of autonomous system components and their functionality in at least one major area (Sensing, Compute, Software, Networking/ interconnections, Cleaning)
• Exceptional cross-functional communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence without direct authority