Senior Safety Researcher, Computational Behavior Modeling

Waymo is hiring a Senior Safety Researcher, Computational Behavior Modeling in London, United Kingdom. It pays £113k-£119k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Waymo.

Level's read on this job

Level rates this role Builds AI ●●●●: the job is building AI systems.
The posting mentions computational modeling, behavioral science and simulation among its tools and skills.
Level classes it as a senior role.
Waymo has 371 other open roles on Level.

AI in this role

Research and develop computational models of road user behavior and cognition for autonomous driving simulation at Waymo.

computational-modelingbehavioral-sciencesimulationcognitive-science

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.

The Waymo Safety team works to promote and help to continuously improve the safety of Waymo’s fully autonomous driving technology. Our experts develop safety goals and strategies, and conduct safety engineering analyses to ensure safety is being considered throughout the design and development of our vehicles. The team develops and promotes safety strategies and policies for autonomous vehicles for its work with regulatory authorities, lawmakers, law enforcement and public and non-profit organizations. Our Safety Team also helps advise on compliance with applicable environmental, health, and safety regulations.

In this hybrid role, you will report to the Senior Staff Safety Researcher, Human Behavior.

You will:

Be a technical leader in the area of computational road user behavior modeling
Research and develop metrics and computational models of road user cognition and behavior for use in Waymo's safety evaluation methodologies
Work closely with other Waymo teams, in particular the the Simulation and AI Foundations teams, to productionize behavioral metrics/models in Waymo’s simulation infrastructure
Explore and innovate novel modeling concepts and ideas in research projects with external academic partners
Publish your work in scientific journals and conferences

You have:

A doctoral degree in a field that involves a combination of computational/mathematical modeling and cognitive science/ behavioral science
At least 5 years of experience, and a strong publication record, in computational modeling of human and/or animal cognition and behavior
Strong coding and mathematical skills
Strong collaboration and communication skills

We prefer:

Experience in active inference-based modeling
Experience in modern AI-based modeling (world models, learning paradigms etc.)
Experience in traffic safety research

Travel:
Travel is required for this role and can be up to 10%. Travel would consist of attending global academic conferences and traveling to Waymo's headquarters.

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£113,000—£119,000 GBP

How we rate this

Senior Safety Researcher, Computational Behavior Modeling at Waymo rates 85 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Builds AI (AI Level 4 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.

Classification

Builds AI. The job is building AI systems.

●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
●○○○ Little AI0 to 39

Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.

Key facts

Senior Safety Researcher, Computational Behavior Modeling is an open job at Waymo.
Level rates this role AI Level 4 of 4: Builds AI.
The listed salary is £113k-£119k a year.
The role is based in London, England, United Kingdom.
The job was posted on May 13, 2026.
Seniority: senior.
Applications are handled by Waymo. Apply on Waymo

Prepare for this job

Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.

Skills and AI tools this role asks for

Computational ModelingBehavioral ScienceSimulationCognitive Science

Questions you could be asked

Tell me about a project where computational modeling was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where behavioral science was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where simulation was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where cognitive science was part of your work. What did you do?
How would you decide a model or AI system is ready to ship?

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: Computational Modeling, Behavioral Science, Simulation, and Cognitive Science. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.
Lead with what you built, trained or shipped. This role is judged on the AI system itself, not the tools around it.

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