Market Operations Lead - San Francisco

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.

As the Market Operations Lead for the San Francisco Bay Area (SFBA), you will be a confident, decisive, and results-oriented leader sitting at the critical intersection of global strategy and hyperlocal execution. You will own the end-to-end performance of the SFBA Ride-hail commercial operations, serving as the primary architect of operational success and the champion of the on-road rider experience. In this role, you act as the commanding presence that inspires cross-functional teams to deliver a safe, reliable, and high-quality autonomous ride-hailing service. You are responsible for ensuring that every ride builds deep customer trust while balancing on-the-ground service reliability with long-term scalability. You will drive innovation through a mindset of continuous improvement, ensuring the Waymo Driver is integrated seamlessly and safely into the fabric of the Bay Area.

In this hybrid role, you will report to a Head of Market Operations - West.

You will:

• Operational Performance & Accountability: Orchestrate daily/weekly market reviews and business-critical stand-ups to align multifunctional teams with ambitious performance targets (e.g., rides, in-service supply); institutionalize rigorous Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA) frameworks to systematically address performance gaps and ensure long-term operational excellence.

• Strategic Market Expansion: Champion the end-to-end execution of market readiness protocols and high-stakes go/no-go reviews for territory expansion and complexities (airports, freeways, urban expansion); ensuring seamless, and high-impact service launches.

• Infrastructure & Depot Orchestration: Oversee depot readiness audits and site enablement milestones (power, layout, staffing); optimize fleet flow and turnaround times within depots to maximize utilization and reduce vehicle downtime.

• Cross-Functional Execution & Stakeholder Diplomacy: Drive weekly syncs with Engineering, Product, and Policy to resolve blockers; manage vendor performance against rigorous SLAs and build strong relationships with external partners to maximize business value.

• Supply/Demand Harmonization: Lead a diverse team to monitor real-time supply-demand mismatch and adjust fleet allocation, hours of operation, or geographic zones to optimize balance, while overseeing local market activations and demand-generation events.

• Strategic Leadership & Cost Optimization: Work cross-functionally to develop and implement a comprehensive market strategy focused on growth and profitability; manage departmental budgets and resource allocation to drive operational efficiencies and sustainable long-term results.

You have:

• Extensive Leadership Experience: Bachelor’s or MBA degree plus 10+ years of experience in operations management, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role overseeing complex, high-stakes environments.

• Strategic Execution: Proven ability to develop and execute market strategies, drive large-scale performance improvements, and lead teams through periods of rapid scaling or volatility.

• Strategic Fiscal Stewardship & P&L Ownership: Demonstrated expertise in overseeing substantial departmental budgets and complex P&Ls, driving high-impact resource allocation strategies that catalyze profitability and advance long-term operational maturity in high-growth environments.

• Multi-Vendor Operations Management: Extensive experience managing highly complex multi-vendor operations, ensuring third-party execution aligns with rigorous safety, quality, and performance standards across the market.

• Communication Excellence: Superior verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to distill complex technical concepts into actionable insights for diverse audiences.

• Decisive Problem Solving: A track record of making high-stakes, data-driven decisions in fast-paced 24/7 operational environments.

We prefer:

• AV & Mobility Domain Expertise: Direct experience within the Autonomous Vehicle (AV) industry or a high-growth TNC/ride-sharing environment.

• Fleet Operations Scaling: Proven experience managing and scaling fleet operations, inclusive of owning the end-to-end lifecycle from fleet repairs to deployment to service the market.

• Stakeholder Mastery: Exceptional ability to build and maintain strategic relationships with internal executives, external partners, vendors, and community leaders.

• Diverse Team Leadership & Development: Proven ability to manage and develop a high-performing team with diverse skill sets and varying learning curves, fostering a culture of continuous growth and inclusive operational excellence.

• Lean/Six Sigma Certification: Proficiency in Lean methodology or Six Sigma frameworks to drive systemic process refinement and operational excellence.

• Crisis Management: Experience leading incident response, Business Continuity Plans (BCP), and large-scale recovery efforts in a public-facing service sector.

Travel requirement:

• 10% of the time

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.