SMS - Safety Policy and Culture Lead

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.The Waymo Safety team works to promote and help to continuously improve the safety of Waymo’s fully autonomous driving technology. Our experts develop safety goals and strategies, and conduct safety engineering analyses to ensure safety is being considered throughout the design and development of our vehicles. The team develops and promotes safety strategies and policies for autonomous vehicles for its work with regulatory authorities, lawmakers, law enforcement and public and non-profit organizations. Our Safety Team also helps advise on compliance with applicable environmental, health, and safety regulations. In this hybrid role, you will report to our Head of Safety Management and Best Practices. You will: SMS Policy Maintenance: Support the SMS Lead in the development, periodic review, revision, and version control and implementation support for enterprise-level safety policies and governance documentation. Culture Management & Promotion: Design and spearhead closed-loop processes for maintaining a positive safety culture, and other internal initiatives (e.g., Safety Month, newsletters, town halls) to promote safety awareness and reinforce a positive safety culture. Governance Support: Assist in the management of safety committees and working groups, ensuring alignment between policy objectives and effective departmental implementation. Stakeholder Engagement: Act as a primary point of contact for internal teams to interpret safety policies and gather feedback on how to improve all aspects of the SMS and the "lived" safety culture. Goals & Metrics: Develop and track SMS-related goals and Safety Performance Indicators (SPIs) related to the SMS broadly, safety culture maturity, and policy compliance. Training Collaboration: Partner with Learning & Development teams to ensure safety policies are effectively integrated into onboarding and continuous training programs. You have: Minimum 5 years of experience in Safety Management Systems (SMS), Organizational Development, or Corporate Governance within safety-sensitive industries (AV, aviation, nuclear, automotive, or similar). Demonstrated experience in technical writing and maintaining complex policy frameworks. Proven track record of leading culture-change initiatives or internal communication programs. Strong understanding of inclusive culture principles and ability to succeed in a diverse and dynamic environment. Exceptional interpersonal and influence skills, with the ability to engage stakeholders at all levels of the organization. We prefer: Experience with ISO 31000 or similar safety standards Experience in a high-growth technology environment or the autonomous vehicle industry. Familiarity with safety culture assessment tools and survey methodologies. Travel: The Safety Management and Best Practices team is spread across multiple regions. Travel is required for team onsites as well as for project-based activities such as audits. 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$190,000—$241,000 USD