Head of Industrial Design

The role

You will lead the Industrial Design studio across vehicle exterior, interior cabin, CMF, and hardware sensor integration programs. You will drive physical design execution from strategic vision through production launch and manage studio operations.

What you will do

• Lead the Industrial Design studio across vehicle exterior, interior cabin, CMF, and hardware sensor integration programs
• Drive physical design execution from strategic vision through Class-A surfacing, physical prototyping, and production launch
• Interface and collaborate directly with automotive design studios to align design vision, vehicle packaging, and hardware integration
• Establish studio standards for physical quality, surfacing excellence, ergonomics, and brand identity across all vehicle programs
• Manage studio operations, resource planning, external vendor engagements, and program schedules
• Mentor and grow a world-class team of industrial designers, CAD modelers, CMF specialists, and Design Engineers

Required qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Industrial Design, Transportation Design, or Automotive Design
• 15+ years of industrial design experience
• 8+ years leading automotive design programs or OEM vehicle studio teams
• Proven track record of delivering production vehicle programs or complex automotive exterior and interior platforms from concept to volume manufacturing
• Deep technical mastery of automotive packaging, Class-A surfacing, CMF processes, and vehicle safety or regulatory compliance
• Demonstrated experience presenting design strategy and technical trade-offs to executive leadership and cross-functional engineering leads
• Strong leadership background with experience managing, mentoring, and scaling multi-disciplinary design teams

Nice to have

• Master's degree in Industrial Design, Transportation Design, or related field
• Experience integrating complex hardware suites, sensors, or perception systems into automotive platforms
• Track record of bridging consumer product design empathy with traditional automotive studio development cycles
• Expertise in modern studio tools, digital visualization, VR design reviews, and high-fidelity prototype fabrication
• Experience managing supplier relationships and studio operational budgets
• Strong passion for autonomous driving technology, public transit innovation, and future mobility

Benefits

• Waymo’s discretionary annual bonus program
• Equity incentive plan
• Generous Company benefits program

About the company

Waymo is an autonomous driving technology company with the mission to be the world's most trusted driver. 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.