2027 Summer Intern, PhD, Learning-Based Behavior for Special Vehicles

Mountain View, CAOnsiteInternshipJunior / Entry-level$85,000–$85,000 /yrPosted 1 month agoVisa sponsorship available

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Required skills

CS
Robotics
ML
Python
PyTorch
JAX
TF
C++

Nice to have

CoRL
RSS
ICRA
Transformer
Autonomous Simulation

Role summary

Waymo is seeking PhD interns for its Software Engineering team to work on autonomous driving technology. Interns will contribute to developing learning-based behavior policies, integrating perception semantics, building simulation benchmarks, and analyzing driving trajectories. This role requires a PhD student in CS, Robotics, or ML with experience in Reinforcement Learning, Imitation Learning, or Trajectory Forecasting, and proficiency in Python and frameworks like PyTorch, JAX, or TensorFlow. C++ skills are also valued. Preferred qualifications include experience with Transformer trajectory generation and autonomous simulation frameworks, along with top publications in relevant conferences.

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:

Prototype learning-based behavior policies

Integrate multi-modal perception semantics

Build simulation benchmarks/counterfactual suites

Inspect 3D driving trajectories

You have:

Currently pursuing a PhD in CS/Robotics/ML

Experience in RL/Imitation learning/trajectory forecasting

Proficiency in Python/PyTorch/JAX/TF

Software skills in C++ or Python

We prefer:

Top publications (CoRL, RSS, ICRA, etc.)

Transformer trajectory generation

Autonomous simulation frameworks

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.

The expected hourly rate for this full-time position is listed below. Interns are also eligible to participate in the Company’s generous benefits programs, subject to eligibility requirements.Hourly PhD Pay$85—$85 USD

Sample Waymo interview questions

1
Design a data ingestion system
system designmedium
2
Design a simulation-based regression detection system for code changes
system designhard
3
Longest Substring with Two Distinct Characters Find the longest substring with at most two distinct characters. Input: s = "ccaabbb" Output: 5 Explanation: The substring "aabbb" contains exactly two distinct characters and has a maximum length of 5.
codingmedium
4
Alien Dictionary Order Derive the alien dictionary order from a sorted list of alien words. Input: words = ["z","x","z"] Output: "" (Empty String) Explanation: The letter 'z' cannot come before 'x' and then suddenly after 'x', creating a cycle and making the dictionary invalid.
codingmedium
5
Palindrome After Deleting One Character Determine if a string can be a palindrome after deleting at most one character. Input: s = "abc" Output: FALSE Explanation: Deleting any single character leaves either "ab", "bc", or "ac", none of which result in a valid palindrome.
codingmedium

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