Waymo

Staff Tech Lead, Perception, Pre-training & Distillation

Waymo$251K — $310K *
Consumer Technology
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • MS or PhD in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent deep learning experience
  • 5+ years in Machine Learning or Computer Vision
  • Proficient in Python programming
  • In-depth experience with ML frameworks like PyTorch or JAX

Responsibilities

  • Train large-scale spatio-temporal foundation models using multi-billion frame datasets
  • Deliver pre-trained models for production, focusing on real-time applications
  • Develop self-supervised learning methods including image/video encoders and 3D point cloud encoders
  • Create multi-teacher distillation recipes
  • Evaluate the quality of latent representations from pre-training in collaboration with post-training team
  • Curate diverse datasets for effective training use
  • Contribute to the development of technical roadmaps

Benefits

  • Discretionary annual bonus program
  • Equity incentive plan
  • Generous company benefits program
Full Job Description
The Perception team builds the system which learns the spatial-temporal representation and their semantic meanings of the surrounding environment of the self-driving car, i.e., the system that "perceives" the world around the car. We work jointly with downstream teams on the optimization and integration into the Waymo Driver. We conduct our own research to address real-world problems and collaborate with research teams at Alphabet. We have access to millions of miles of driving data from a diverse set of sensors, enabling engineers like you to (1) develop methods for efficiently learning from large scale real-world data, to (2) develop models and model training at scale, to (3) analyze real-world behavior and develop systems for handling the complexities of interacting with the real-world

In this role you will report to a Sr Staff Technical Lead Manager.

You will:
  • Train multi-billion parameter spatio-temporal foundation models on multi-billion frame data sets.
  • Deliver pre-trained models for production usage, ideally for usage in real-time systems.
  • Develop self-supervised learning, including image/video encoder, 3D point cloud encoder, spatio-temporal reconstruction or future prediction, and vision-language contrastive learning.
  • Develop multi-teacher distillation recipes.
  • Develop methods to understand and evaluate the quality of latent representations from pre-training. Collaborate with the post-training team to ensure pre-training delivers the world knowledge representation needed for the multitude of post-training tasks.
  • Develop methods to curate and effectively use diverse datasets in training.
  • Be a key contributor to technical roadmaps.

You have:
  • MS or PhD in Computer Science or a similar discipline, or an equivalent amount of deep learning experience
  • 5+ years experience in Machine Learning and/or Computer Vision
  • Fluent in Python
  • In-depth experience with ML frameworks like PyTorch or JAX

We Prefer:
  • Publications at top-tier conferences like CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, ICLR, ICML, ICRA, RSS, NeurIPS, AAAI, IJCV, PAMI
  • Experience with C++
  • Experience with real-time system design


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

$251,000-$310,000 USD

About Waymo

Waymo LLC is a self-driving technology development company. It is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google. Waymo develops autonomous driving technology and provides ride-hailing services through its Waymo One program. The company has been testing its self-driving technology on public roads since 2009 and has logged millions of miles of autonomous driving. Waymo has partnerships with several automakers and has been working on developing autonomous trucks for use in logistics.
Learn more about Waymo
Size
2,000 employees
Industry
Founded
2009

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