Physical Design 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.

Waymo's Compute Team is tasked with a critical and exciting mission: We deliver the compute platform responsible for running the fully autonomous vehicle's software stack. To achieve our mission, we architect and create high-performance custom silicon; we develop system-level compute architectures that push the boundaries of performance, power, and latency; and we collaborate closely with many other teammates to ensure we design and optimize hardware and software for maximum performance. We are a multidisciplinary team seeking curious and talented teammates to work on one of the world's highest performance automotive compute platforms.

In this hybrid role, you will be reporting to the Head of Compute.

You Will

• Structure and drive custom silicon partnerships
• Audit and collaborate with partners to optimize their PD flows and methodologies
• Work closely with internal, program management, and external teams to ensure PD implementation meets design performance and schedule goals, including adjacent areas such as DFT, power, and reliability
• Review all final PD, timing, electrical, etc. sign-off for tape-out approval
• Escalate program risks or resource gaps
• Manage a small internal team of PD experts

You Have

• Strong team management, leadership, and communication skills, with experience coordinating internal and external activities
• 5+ years of experience leading physical design of high performance SoCs or ASICs
• Expert knowledge and hands-on experience of the entire backend and adjacent flows, including synthesis, P&R, clocking, timing closure, floor plan, power and IO planning
• Experience in designing digital logic and/or Design For Testability (DFT) structures in System Verilog or equivalent

We Prefer

• Track record of successfully driving custom / semi-custom silicon engagements with external partners
• Experience with automotive silicon quality, reliability, and safety requirements and processes
• Mixed signal design and characterization
• Experience drafting and negotiating technical portions of contracts and SoWs
• Familiar with chiplet or multi-chip packaging

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

$281,000—$356,000 USD