Waymo Salary

💰 $198K–$280K salary range

Median: $238K  ·  Based on 270 public Waymo job postings  ·  Updated October 7, 2026

This Waymo salary benchmark is built from public job postings — no private placement data. Figures reflect base salary only (equity is separate) and are refreshed as new postings are collected.

📊 Salary breakdown

Highest-paying open roles at Waymo

• Principal Software Engineer, Post Training — $349K–$431K · Planner (7LU)
• Principal Software Engineer, Onboard Field Response — $349K–$431K · Planner (7LU)
• Head of Industrial Design — $323K–$399K · Industrial Design (78N)
• Director, Systems Integration, Diagnostics — $323K–$399K · HW Systems (7SH)
• Tech Lead Manager ML Optimization — $298K–$378K · Sys Intel and Machine Lrng (SQT)
• Senior Staff Machine Learning Engineer, LLM/VLM Model Architecture & Optimization — $298K–$368K · Perception (7LT)
• Sr. Staff Software Engineer, Fleet Orchestration, TLM — $298K–$368K · CSI (7LV)
• Senior Staff Technical Lead Manager, Perception Optimization — $298K–$368K · Perception (7LT)
• Senior Data Science Manager, Driving Quality — $298K–$368K · Data Science (7ZZ)
• Senior Staff Technical Lead Manager, In-Car Experience — $298K–$368K · CSI (7LV)

Waymo salary by department

• sys intel and machine lrng (sqt): $275K median · $378K top base — Tech Lead Manager ML Optimization (view JD) (10 roles)
• data science (7zz): $270K median · $368K top base — Senior Data Science Manager, Driving Quality (view JD) (5 roles)
• simulation (7xw): $270K median · $368K top base — Sr. Staff Software Engineer, DUE Experience (view JD) (30 roles)
• ai foundations (7sj): $270K median · $310K top base — Staff ML Engineer, Foundation Models (view JD) (9 roles)
• systems (78i): $257K median · $336K top base — Senior Staff Regulatory and Compliance Systems Engineer (view JD) (9 roles)
• planner (7lu): $254K median · $431K top base — Principal Software Engineer, Post Training (view JD) (12 roles)
• perception (7lt): $254K median · $368K top base — Senior Staff Machine Learning Engineer, LLM/VLM Model Architecture & Optimization (view JD) (20 roles)
• csi (7lv): $238K median · $368K top base — Sr. Staff Software Engineer, Fleet Orchestration, TLM (view JD) (40 roles)

Waymo engineering & product salary by seniority

• Mid: $195K median · $310K top base — Marketplace Platform, TLM (view JD) (44)
• Senior: $238K median · $378K top base — Tech Lead Manager ML Optimization (view JD) (83)
• Staff: $281K median · $431K top base — Principal Software Engineer, Post Training (view JD) (58)

Waymo salary by location

• Remote: $238K median · $378K top base — Tech Lead Manager ML Optimization (view JD) (73 roles)
• San Francisco: $212K median · $310K top base — Staff Software Engineer, TLM, Quantitative Evaluations (view JD) (17 roles)

Remote work at Waymo

27% of Waymo's disclosed-pay roles are remote-friendly.

What Waymo looks for

Most-required skills across these postings: Python (98) · SQL (45) · PyTorch (34) · TensorFlow (22) · Java (14) · Product Roadmap (12) · Data Pipelines (11) · R (7) · GCP (6) · Kotlin (6).

Benefits & perks at Waymo

Commonly listed: bonus (270) · dental (13) · 401k (13) · pto (13) · parental (13).

About Waymo

Waymo is Series D stage · 1,001–5,000 employees · founded 2009 · HQ Mountain View, California. This context shapes pay: later-stage, well-funded companies tend to anchor base salary higher.

Experience & background at Waymo

Roles typically ask for around 6 years of experience (up to 15+ for the most senior). Most postings don't state a degree requirement; of the 178 that do, Bachelor's and Master's and PhD are most common.

Posted pay vs. total compensation

The figures on this page are the midpoint of each posting's advertised salary range (which, for commission roles, includes on-target earnings). Equity is a separate — and often large — component of total compensation, especially at high-growth and AI-native companies; 100% of these postings reference equity (options). Equity is not included in the medians above.

Waymo total compensation signals

Beyond the posted-range midpoint, postings indicate: 100% of roles list a bonus; common structures: salaried. Bonus, commission, and equity vary by role and are not included in the base medians above.

Waymo hiring activity

Waymo has 270 open roles right now, and this benchmark draws on 270 public job postings with disclosed pay. 51 of these roles were first seen in the last 30 days (132 in the last 90). Mostly full-time, with 12 contract roles in the mix.

💼 Similar companies hiring

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Common questions

What does Waymo pay?
The median pay is $238K, with a typical range of $198K–$280K, based on 270 public job postings (2025–2026). Base only — equity is separate.

What is the highest-paying job at Waymo?
One of the highest-paying open roles is Principal Software Engineer, Post Training, at $349K–$431K base.

Which team pays the most at Waymo?
The sys intel and machine lrng (sqt) team, at a $275K median.

Where does this data come from?
Public job postings on company career pages and public job boards — no private placement or client data.

Methodology

Posted-range midpoints (USD) aggregated from 270 public Waymo job postings (2025–2026). Range = 25th–75th percentile; median = 50th percentile. Roles, departments, skills, and experience are parsed from the postings. Base salary only — equity excluded. Last refreshed October 7, 2026.

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