Waymo is seeking a Head of Industrial Design to lead their design studio, focusing on vehicle design and innovation in autonomous driving technology.
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. Passionate about aesthetics and product innovation, Waymo’s Industrial Design Team is responsible for envisioning the future of mobility and autonomous driving technology. The Design Team develops and applies cohesive design language to the Waymo Driver, delivering an exceptional customer experience with best-in-class product quality. The Industrial Design Team creates smart and elegant solutions that pave the future of mobility while prioritizing our riders’ needs & safety. We are involved in every step of the engineering and product development process to optimize Waymo’s technology and delight the rider’s journey. The team is a unique fusion of creatives and innovators with the opportunity to pioneer a new industry.
- Lead the Industrial Design studio across vehicle exterior, interior cabin, CMF, and hardware sensor integration programs
- Drive physical design execution from strategic vision through Class-A surfacing, physical prototyping, and production launch
- Interface and collaborate directly with automotive design studios to align design vision, vehicle packaging, and hardware integration
- Establish studio standards for physical quality, surfacing excellence, ergonomics, and brand identity across all vehicle programs
- Manage studio operations, resource planning, external vendor engagements, and program schedules
- Mentor and grow a world-class team of industrial designers, CAD modelers, CMF specialists, and Design Engineers
- Bachelor's degree in Industrial Design, Transportation Design, or Automotive Design
- 15+ years of industrial design experience, including 8+ years leading automotive design programs or OEM vehicle studio teams
- Proven track record of delivering production vehicle programs or complex automotive exterior and interior platforms from concept to volume manufacturing
- Deep technical mastery of automotive packaging, Class-A surfacing, CMF processes, and vehicle safety or regulatory compliance
- Demonstrated experience presenting design strategy and technical trade-offs to executive leadership and cross-functional engineering leads
- Strong leadership background with experience managing, mentoring, and scaling multi-disciplinary design teams
- Full-time position
- Salary Range: $323,000 — $399,000 USD
- Eligible for Waymo’s discretionary annual bonus program, equity incentive plan, and generous Company benefits program, subject to eligibility requirements
- Ability to travel domestically and internationally approximately 20% of the time