2026 Summer Intern, PhD, Software Engineer, Strategic Selection
Content + Source + Freshness • 12 Dec 2025 • 95% confidence
Offer value
Strong value due to high compensation and engaging projects in software development within the autonomous vehicle industry.
- Hourly pay at $85 for PhD interns
- Work on software projects for autonomous vehicles
- Join a collaborative team of skilled engineers
- Requires substantial technical experience
Pros
- Competitive hourly rate of $85 for PhD interns
- Opportunity to work on impactful software solutions in AV technology
- Collaborate within a highly skilled team of engineers
Cons
- Requires significant prior knowledge in AI and software development
- High level of competition for internship positions
- Workload can be intense given the fast-paced environment
Who it's for
PhD candidates or advanced students • Hybrid
Good fit
- PhD candidates in software engineering or AI
- Individuals interested in developing AV technologies
- Candidates looking for a challenging engineering experience
Not recommended for
- Non-technical students
- Candidates preferring easy, low-effort tasks
- Those without interest in software development
Motivation fit
Key skills
About the job
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.
Strategic Selection is responsible for the component that scores short team routing/maneuver decisions for the ADV. This team handles immediate routing decisions for self-driving cars, looking about a minute ahead.
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:
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Coding
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Debugging
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Triaging
You have:
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Proficiency in Python or C++
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Hands on experience with deep learning frameworks
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Data mining experience
We prefer:
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Proficiency in ML frameworks
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Expertise in research domains of Deep Learning, AI architecture
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Previous Internship of ML related projects
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.
