Waymo

System Disruption Manager

Waymo$159K — $196K *
Tempe, AZ 85281In-Person
Information Technology
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 7+ years of incident management experience as an Incident Commander in high-severity situations.
  • Technical expertise in complex engineering systems for effective incident response and root cause analysis.
  • Ability to remain calm under pressure, making decisive judgments during critical events.
  • Experience communicating complex incidents clearly to senior executives in real-time.
  • Exceptional attention to detail in documenting incident timelines and analyses.

Responsibilities

  • Lead cross-functional incident response as the Incident Commander, coordinating efforts to resolve disruptions.
  • Manage incident escalations, ensuring appropriate stakeholder representation throughout the process.
  • Develop cross-functional partnerships for proactive communication and post-incident analysis.
  • Collaborate with global Operations teams to support a continuous 24/7 incident response capability.
  • Drive continuous improvement through incident retrospectives and implementation tracking.

Benefits

  • Participation in Waymo's discretionary annual bonus program.
  • Eligibility for equity incentive planning and generous company benefits.
  • Flexible 24/7 coverage with on-call rotation.
  • Collaborative work environment with cross-functional teams.
  • Opportunity to influence incident management practices on a global scale.
Full Job Description
System Disruption Management, within the Global Operations Center, serves as the control point for disruptions across Waymo, orchestrating operations-driven cross-functional coordination to ensure rider safety, fleet resilience, and business performance remain uncompromised as we scale.

This role will report to the Head of System Disruption Management.

You will:
  • Lead as the Incident Commander during cross-functional disruptions - orchestrating response efforts, making decisive real-time decisions, and coordinating all necessary stakeholders to safely and efficiently resolve events.
  • Manage and prioritize escalations - ensuring targeted stakeholder representation (e.g., Legal, Ops, Safety, Policy, & Communications) throughout the incident lifecycle.
    Develop robust cross-functional partnerships - to proactively understand stakeholder concerns during events and effectively communicate post-incident outcomes and learning opportunities to a global audience.
  • Collaborate closely within global Operations teams - providing critical support and guidance during real-time incident response to maintain seamless 24/7 coverage.
  • Drive continuous improvement - by leading thorough incident retrospectives to accurately document events and identify root causes. Define actionable follow-ups and track their implementation to continuously enhance safety, efficiency, and overall incident response capabilities for a distributed team, ensuring lessons learned are integrated back into processes.
  • Deliver executive-level communications - on active incidents and present comprehensive analyses of key outcomes, trends, and strategic learnings from past events.


You have:
  • 7+ years of direct experience in incident management, having served as an Incident Commander or lead responder for high-severity, cross-functional incidents within a complex operational environment.
  • Proven technical expertise & cross-functional leadership, apply technical understanding of complex engineering systems to drive incident response, root cause analysis, and remediation for live operational incidents, coupled with an exceptional ability to build and align diverse stakeholders (e.g., Engineering, Legal, Operations) during critical events.
  • Demonstrated capability to remain calm and decisive under pressure, efficiently coordinating response efforts and making sound judgments in rapidly evolving, high-stakes situations.
  • Experience briefing senior executives and leadership, in real-time, on complex, fast-moving incidents, articulating technical details, impact, and proposed resolutions clearly and concisely across various communication channels.
  • Exceptional attention to detail with a track record of meticulously documenting incident timelines, contributing factors, and post-incident analysis to drive accurate reporting and continuous improvement.
    Willingness and ability to participate in a 24/7 on-call rotation, demonstrating flexibility to cover shifts as part of a global "follow the sun" incident response capability.


We prefer:
  • Advanced degree in a relevant field such as Emergency Management, Business, Operations, Law, or a related discipline, demonstrating a deeper theoretical understanding of incident dynamics and organizational response.
  • Experience leading crisis and incident response as an Incident Commander in large-scale or high-impact environments.
  • Proven ability to effectively interact with and/or report to external stakeholders, including law enforcement, regulatory agencies, and legal counsel, during sensitive or high-profile incidents.
  • Experience in highly regulated industries such as Automotive, Maritime, Aviation, or similar sectors, providing familiarity with safety-critical systems, compliance frameworks, and complex operational procedures.
  • Certifications/alignment on relevant incident management best practices and frameworks (e.g., NIMS/ICS, ITIL Incident Management, or similar), indicating a structured approach to incident handling and continuous improvement.
  • Experience with event mapping initiatives to enhance incident action planning, ensure congruence with response team actions, and promote stakeholder coordination.


Travel requirements:
  • 10%


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

$159,000-$196,000 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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