Lead, System Disruption Management

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. Waymo Operations exists to deliver the Waymo Driver to the world. We are a global team building and scaling the world's first and leading autonomous fleet and operations platform. From component sourcing to end customer management, we enable and create value for Waymo through scaled and orchestrated deployment of the Waymo Driver. At Waymo, we are dedicated to building a culture that promotes collaboration and celebration. We value our team members' unique backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences and support and encourage all team members to share their ideas to help Waymo better serve the communities in which we operate. 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 and shape the disruption management strategy, mentoring the regional team to ensure operational excellence and seamless 24/7 coverage. Act as the Lead Incident Commander during high-severity, cross-functional disruptions, making decisive real-time decisions to resolve events safely and efficiently. Lead operational roll-outs for disruption management, shaping processes while ensuring playbooks and procedures are fully operationalized and maintained. Ensure strict regulatory compliance, lead thorough incident retrospectives, and integrate emerging regulatory requirements directly into disruption management frameworks. Support partners in sensitive external reporting workflows and interactions with regulatory agencies, Emergency Services, and legal counsel during high-profile incidents. Deliver executive-level communications, briefing senior leadership in real-time on complex, fast-moving incidents, operational impacts, and resolutions. You have: Proven experience leading, mentoring, and shaping operational teams with dedicated regional accountability or global footprints. Experience scaling global operations for emerging technologies within heavily regulated spaces A proven track record partnering with technical teams — demonstrating a history of collaborating closely with technical teams to articulate operational problems, define impacts, and influence engineering priorities. 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. 10+ years of direct experience in incident management, serving as an Incident Commander or lead responder for high-severity, cross-functional incidents. Willingness and ability to shape and participate in a 24/7 on-call rotation, demonstrating flexibility to cover shifts as part of a global "follow the sun" or "in-geo" incident response capability. We prefer: Advanced degree in a relevant field such as Business, Operations, Law, or a related discipline, demonstrating a deeper theoretical understanding of incident dynamics and organizational response. Experience leading an incident response function 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. Deep background in highly regulated industries such as Automotive, Maritime, Aviation, or similar sectors with safety-critical systems. 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. Strong familiarity with complex operational procedures and compliance frameworks in high-stakes environments. ((Remote jobs only - Please note that Waymo may not be able to employ remotely in all locations. Please speak with your recruiter about your preferred location for remote work when you begin the interview process.)) The expected base salary range for this full-time position 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. 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 £118,000—£124,000 GBP