Product Quality Engineer
US$210,000 – US$259,000 / yr base salary
Posted 22 Sep 2026
Advertised as “Product Quality Engineer, Vehicle Systems ”
BranchFactor Summary
The original posting with the fluff stripped out
- Expected experience
- 10+ yrs
- Management level
- Individual contributor
- Employment
- On-Site
| Base salary | US$210,000 – US$259,000 / yr |
|---|
Field of studyComputer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering (or related)
Study levelBachelor's
Field of studyComputer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering (or related)
Study levelMaster's
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.
Hardware Engineering is an innovative and collaborative group of electrical, mechanical, reliability, software and vehicle engineers. We design, build, and perfect the products which are the eyes and ears of Waymo's autonomous driving technology, and integrate those products into vehicle platforms. We're seeking curious and talented teammates to keep us moving in the right direction.
This is an on-location role and you will report to the Product Quality Manager.
You will:
- Quality Planning: Lead Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) and oversee the Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) for new vehicle launches. Verify & ensure full compliance with the specification matrix to confirm adherence to the Engineering Requirement Specification (ERS). Provide end-to-end lifecycle quality support for Base Vehicle Hardware/Firmware and SDS vehicle components throughout the vehicle Product Development Plan (PDP).
- Ensure that the product design process, including activities like DFMEA, design reviews, DFM (Design for Manufacturing), and DFx, meets quality standards and results in a high-quality vehicle.
- Collaborate with OEM and cross-functional teams such as OEMs, HW engineering, Vehicle Integration, Supply chain, and other teams during product development to verify compliance with internal and external quality standards and requirements and improve product quality.
- Root Cause Analysis: Lead investigations into vehicle quality issues and manufacturing defects using problem-solving methodologies like 8D, 5-Why, and Ishikawa diagrams.
- Continuous Improvement: Analyze field warranty data and assembly line defect rates to identify trends and drive corrective actions that improve overall vehicle reliability.
- Baseline Requirements & Safe Launch: Establish initial quality processes, FMEAs, and dynamic inspection/testing protocols. Finalize and lock Control Plans, PFMEAs, and inspection SOPs to facilitate hardware freeze. Launch Safe Launch protocols and pinpoint critical systems that need heightened lifecycle monitoring.
You have: