Waymo Verified

Autonomous Vehicles, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Automotive

Product Quality Engineer, Vehicle Systems

RemoteRemoteFull Time$210,000–$259,000 /yrPosted 1 month agoVisa sponsorship available

Is this role right for you?

Upload your resume and get a skill-by-skill breakdown — see exactly where you match, where you're close, and what to highlight. Not a mystery percentage.

Get a tailored resume highlighting what this role needs.

Required skills

APQP
PPAP
FMEA
DFMEA
PFMEA
8D
5-Why
Ishikawa diagrams
MSA
SPC

Nice to have

New Product Introduction
Manufacturing Operations
consumer electronics
electronic assembly processes
data forensics
manufacturing assembly quality

Role summary

Waymo is seeking a Vehicle Product Engineer to join their Hardware Engineering team. This on-location role focuses on leading Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) and overseeing the Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) for new vehicle launches. You will ensure compliance with specifications, provide end-to-end lifecycle quality support, and ensure product design processes meet quality standards. Responsibilities include leading investigations into quality issues using problem-solving methodologies, analyzing field data for continuous improvement, and establishing initial quality processes for safe launches. The role requires a Bachelor's degree in Engineering, 10+ years of automotive industry experience in vehicle product development with a focus on quality, and proficiency in core quality tools.

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.

Hardware Engineering is an innovative and collaborative group of electrical, mechanical, reliability, software and vehicle engineers. We design, build, and perfect the products which are the eyes and ears of Waymo's autonomous driving technology, and integrate those products into vehicle platforms. We're seeking curious and talented teammates to keep us moving in the right direction.

This is an on-location role and you will report to the Product Quality Manager.

You will:

Quality Planning: Lead Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) and oversee the Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) for new vehicle launches. Verify & ensure full compliance with the specification matrix to confirm adherence to the Engineering Requirement Specification (ERS). Provide end-to-end lifecycle quality support for Base Vehicle Hardware/Firmware and SDS vehicle components throughout the vehicle Product Development Plan (PDP).

Ensure that the product design process, including activities like DFMEA, design reviews, DFM (Design for Manufacturing), and DFx, meets quality standards and results in a high-quality vehicle.

Collaborate with OEM and cross-functional teams such as OEMs, HW engineering, Vehicle Integration, Supply chain, and other teams during product development to verify compliance with internal and external quality standards and requirements and improve product quality.

Root Cause Analysis: Lead investigations into vehicle quality issues and manufacturing defects using problem-solving methodologies like 8D, 5-Why, and Ishikawa diagrams.

Continuous Improvement: Analyze field warranty data and assembly line defect rates to identify trends and drive corrective actions that improve overall vehicle reliability.

Baseline Requirements & Safe Launch: Establish initial quality processes, FMEAs, and dynamic inspection/testing protocols. Finalize and lock Control Plans, PFMEAs, and inspection SOPs to facilitate hardware freeze. Launch Safe Launch protocols and pinpoint critical systems that need heightened lifecycle monitoring.

You have:

Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Computer, Mechanical Engineering or a related field

10+ years of automotive industry experience in design engineering for vehicle product development, focusing on Vehicle Quality.

Proficiency in evaluating and interpreting complex vehicle specifications to confirm complete compliance during both validation and manufacturing processes.

Proficiency in core quality tools and methodologies: APQP, PPAP, FMEA, MSA (Measurement System Analysis), SPC (Statistical Process Control), DOE and 8D problem-solving.

Experience with data analysis, statistical tools, and quality control systems

Excellent communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills

We prefer:

Master's degree in Electrical, Computer, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field

Exceptional attention to detail and ability to leverage data forensics for resolving complex manufacturing assembly quality issues

Demonstrated experience in one or more of the following areas: New Product Introduction, Design Engineering, or Manufacturing Operations in consumer electronics

Strong understanding of electronic assembly processes. & Solid grasp of statistical analysis and production control processes

Proficient in data analysis and interpretation

Experience collaborating with international contract manufacturers in mass production, including travel to manufacturing sites

Highly motivated self-starter with innovative thinking, integrity, and meticulous attention to detail

Travel requirements:

20% travel as needed

The expected base salary range for this full-time position across US locations is listed below. Actual starting pay will be based on job-related factors, including exact work location, experience, relevant training and education, and skill level. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for the role location or, if the role can be performed remote, the specific salary range for your preferred location, during the hiring process.

Waymo employees are also eligible to participate in Waymo’s discretionary annual bonus program, equity incentive plan, and generous Company benefits program, subject to eligibility requirements.

Salary Range$210,000—$259,000 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

Get started to unlock a personalized interview prep pack for this role.

Ready to apply?

You'll be redirected to Waymo's application page.