What are the responsibilities and job description for the State Policy Lead position at Waymo?
Waymo is an autonomous driving technology company with a mission to make it safe and easy for people and things to get where they’re going. Since our start as the Google Self-Driving Car Project in 2009, Waymo has been focused on building the World’s Most Experienced Driver in hopes of improving the world's access to mobility while saving thousands of lives now lost to traffic crashes. Our Waymo Driver powers Waymo One, our fully autonomous ride-hailing service, as well as Waymo Via, our trucking and local delivery service. To date, Waymo has driven over 20 million miles autonomously on public roads across 25 U.S. cities and conducted over 20 billion miles of simulation testing.
The Waymo Policy and Government Affairs team has a front seat in this exciting moment in the evolution of autonomous vehicle, transportation and tech policy. Successful navigation of the policy landscape is critically important to deploying and scaling our business. Our team works directly with policymakers and third party groups at the national, state and local levels to help advance transportation policy, educate on the safety benefits of the technology, and advance consumer awareness and acceptance. Internally, our efforts support the innovative work of engineering, product, strategy, and partnerships teams, and we work closely with highly-skilled legal and safety experts.
In this role, you’ll:
- Craft Waymo’s state policy strategy, focused on ensuring that state policymakers and regulators are aware of the benefits of the technology and are creating appropriate policy frameworks to help foster the innovation
- Monitor and analyze state and local policy issues relevant to self-driving technology as they arise, and develop our policy positions on such issues
- Develop and implement strategies to communicate policy positions to key constituencies across the U.S, including advocating and lobbying before state legislatures and agencies of Western states for the Waymo team
- Work with trade associations, industry partners, non-profit groups, and other allies to promote and build support for Google self driving-cars policy positions at a state level
- Hire and manage state policy managers and contract lobbyists as necessarySuccessfully balance the relationship building aspect of policy work with substantive policy expertise and advocacy on our mission critical issues
At a minimum we’d like you to have:
- BA/BS degree in law or public policy or equivalent practical experience, Graduate or Law degree beneficial
- At least 10 years of policy experience working on issues relating to transportation and/or advanced technologies, preferably with first-hand experience working with a private sector company
- Direct experience working with or in state government (e.g. state legislature or Governor’s office)
- Expansive multi-state network of elected officials, agency contacts and staff
- Ability to travel to manage state legislative demands
It’s preferred if you have:
- Experience with transportation policy
- Experience advancing legislation and regulation necessary for the success of breakthrough technology
- Experience managing, leading and collaborating with an ability to build and maintain productive internal and external relationships
- Ability to integrate public policy with business strategy
- Direct and meaningful experience with California regulatory processes for autonomous vehicles, specifically the California Public Utilities Commission and the Department of Motor Vehicles
Note: The following is only applicable for roles hired in the US. As we keep the safety of our employees and our communities top of mind, COVID-19 vaccinations continue to be a critical prevention measure to help end the pandemic. Because of this, Waymo requires all US-based employees who perform work onsite for Waymo to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. If you are unable to be vaccinated, Waymo will provide a reasonable accommodation consistent with applicable law.
