Major Event Management Lead

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:

• Drive Global Operations Center (GOC) Readiness for Major Events: Own the operational readiness and preparation frameworks to ensure the GOC and cross-functional teams are fully prepared for a successful outcome during large-scale & high-risk pre-planned events, globally.
• Deliver Executive Communications: Lead executive-level communications, delivering structured readiness briefings before major events and ensure clear updates are provided during active events (through our 24/7 teams).
• Establish GOC Preparedness & Mitigation Actions: Develop, audit, and implement operational playbooks, risk mitigation plans, and other preventative actions to ensure GOC resilience during large-scale pre-planned events.
• Lead Internal Planning & Municipal Liaison: Drive robust internal planning and coordination in heavy partnership with our Demand Operations teams and Market Leads to ensure event plans are robust, while simultaneously liaising with governmental organizations to secure seamless municipal coordination for major pre-planned events.
• Cultivate Municipal & Public Sector Partnerships: Act as Waymo’s primary operational liaison to municipal departments of transportation, public transit authorities, event organizing committees, and public safety agencies to align autonomous fleet routing with city transit plans and community objectives.
• Drive Continuous Improvement & Post-Event Retrospectives: Establish a formalized, post-event retrospective framework to analyze operations center performance metrics and execution; synthesize these insights into blameless retrospectives and action items to continuously mature internal playbooks, operational tooling, and municipal coordination models.

You have:

• Extensive Operational Leadership: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience, combined with 10+ years of experience in high-impact operations management, urban transit planning, emergency management, or large-scale event operations.
• Emergency Management Expertise: Deep operational familiarity with Emergency Management frameworks (such as the Incident Command System (ICS) or National Incident Management System (NIMS) and experience applying these to ensure operational readiness.
• Exemplary External Stakeholder Diplomacy: Proven track record of working collaboratively and constructively with public-sector executives, transportation authorities, first responders, and municipal leadership to deliver community-first outcomes.
• Strategic Communication Skills: Excellent written and verbal communication capabilities, with a demonstrated ability to synthesize multi-layered operational approaches into crisp, executive-level presentations and briefings.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with internal teams (i.e. Product, Public Affairs, Mapping) to ensure that our technical capabilities align with the localized needs of the communities we serve.

We prefer:

• AV or Transportation Operations Background: Prior experience in the Autonomous Vehicle (AV) space, high-growth ride-hailing/TNC industry, or complex municipal transit operations.

• Large-Scale Event Logistics & Readiness: Proven experience coordinating preparedness, command structures, or public safety logistics for large city-scale events (sports championships, festivals, or high-visibility summits).

• Strategic Problem Solving in Ambiguity: Background in strategic operations, management consulting, or crisis management with a strong capacity to build structure and operational clarity out of highly ambiguous situations.

• Emergency Management Experience: Deep understanding of emergency management planning, training, and preparing operational teams to de-risk multi-market impacts or unexpected disruptions.

Travel Requirements

• 25%

The expected base salary range for this full-time position across US locations 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. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for the role location or, if the role can be performed remote, the specific salary range for your preferred location, during the hiring process.

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

$190,000—$234,000 USD