2027 Summer Intern, PhD, Machine Learning Research, Planning/Prediction

Waymo
Mountain View, CA
On-siteCareer-pivot friendly

Who this role is best for

A natural match if you have experience in generative models and deep learning research. This role is based in Mountain View, CA, and involves collaboration with cross-functional teams on planning and prediction systems for autonomous vehicles.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with PhD-level research experience in machine learning and generative models
    — “Research, implement, and evaluate state-of-the-art generative models for planning and predictions using JAX”
  • Individuals with a strong background in reinforcement learning and deep learning frameworks
    — “Experience with deep learning, or reinforcement learning”
  • Those who have contributed to top-tier ML conferences and have a track record of publishing
    — “Publications in top-tier conferences such as: ICML, NeurIPS, CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, ICLR, IROS, CoRL, ACL, or EMNLP”

Things to consider

  • The role requires being based in Mountain View, CA, with hybrid onsite arrangements
    — “This will be a hybrid onsite internship position”
  • Applicants must apply individually for each of the top 3 roles they are interested in
    — “To be in consideration for multiple roles, you will need to apply to each one individually”

How to stand out

  • Emphasize your ability to conduct rigorous machine learning experiments and produce tested code
    — “Conduct machine learning models experiments”
  • Demonstrate your ability to collaborate across research, product, and engineering teams
    — “Collaborate with research, product, and engineering teams to introduce new research concepts”
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · HighAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · Team

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • research and implement generative models
  • evaluate machine learning models
Typical background
PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Robotics

Skills & requirements

Required

Machine LearningDeep LearningReinforcement LearningJAXPythonC/c++

Preferred

Publications In Top-tier ConferencesIndustry Experience

Stack & domain

Machine LearningDeep LearningReinforcement LearningJAXTensorFlowPyTorchPythonC/c++Analytical SkillsDebuggingResearchImplementationEvaluationExperimentationCode TestingCollaborationProduct DevelopmentProblem-solvingCommunicationTeamworkLeadershipCuriosityAdaptabilityInnovationAutonomous DrivingPlanningPrediction

About the role

Original posting from Waymo

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.

Software Engineering builds the brains of Waymo's fully autonomous driving technology. Our software allows the Waymo Driver to perceive the world around it, make the right decision for every situation, and deliver people safely to their destinations. We think deeply and solve complex technical challenges in areas like robotics, perception, decision-making and deep learning, while collaborating with hardware and systems engineers. If you’re a software engineer or researcher who’s curious and passionate about Level 4 autonomous driving, we'd like to meet you. 

The subteam for this role will be:

The Predictive Planning team (PrePlan) develops and deploys state of the art machine learning solutions that predicts the future state of the world and plans the Waymo Driver's Behavior. Our mission is to transform Waymo's unprecedented scale of driving data into robust, generalizable, and perform at deep neural networks. These models enable the autonomous vehicle to navigate complex environments safely and efficiently.

Waymo interns partner with leaders in the industry on projects that create impact to the company. We believe learning is a two-way street: applying your knowledge while providing you with opportunities to expand your skill-set. Interns are an important part of our culture and our recruiting pipeline. Join us at Waymo for a fun and rewarding internship!

You will:

Research, implement, and evaluate state-of-the-art generative models for planning and predictions using JAX

Conduct machine learning models experiments

Produce high-quality, thoroughly tested code

Collaborate with research, product, and engineering teams to introduce new research concepts

You have:

Currently pursuing a PhD degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Robotics, or related field

Experience with deep learning, or reinforcement learning

Hands-on experience with modern deep learning libraries (eg: TensorFlow, JAX, Pytorch) with basic programming skills (eg: Python, C/C++)

Strong analytical and debugging skills

We prefer:

Publications in top-tier conferences such as: ICML, NeurIPS, CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, ICLR, IROS, CoRL, ACL, or EMNLP

Prior software development or research industry experience (including internships)

General Perks

Competitive compensation packages with a housing/relocation bonus (if applicable)

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

Fun intern events and networking opportunities

Onsite Perks

Free breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks 

Free access to Google shuttles

Onsite gym

Note: This will be a hybrid onsite internship position. We will accept resumes on a rolling basis until the role is filled. To be in consideration for multiple roles, you will need to apply to each one individually - please apply to the top 3 roles you are interested in.

The expected hourly rate for this full-time position is listed below. Interns are also eligible to participate in the Company’s generous benefits programs, subject to eligibility requirements.Hourly PhD Pay$85—$85 USD

Source: Waymo careers

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