Southwest Policy Manager

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 Policy and Government Affairs team has a front seat in this exciting moment in the evolution of autonomous driving technology, transportation and tech policy. Successful navigation of the policy landscape is critically important to deploying and scaling our business. Our team works directly with policymakers and third‑party groups at the national, state and local levels to help advance transportation policy, educate on the safety benefits of the technology, and advance consumer awareness and acceptance.

Internally, our efforts support the innovative work of engineering, product, strategy, and partnerships teams, and we work closely with highly‑skilled legal and safety experts.

The Southwest Policy Manager will be the face of Waymo as we preserve our freedom to operate in Texas and Arizona, particularly as we look to increase our public‑facing service in these states. This role will help us strategize and navigate state and local policy and regulatory challenges particularly as the business faces increasing headwinds from a political environment. Day to day, the Southwest Policy Manager will manage a mix of internal meetings, reporting, strategic advising, managing external consultants and external meetings, and events representing and advocating for Waymo—specifically in state capitals and major metro areas.

The role will require strong emphasis on internal collaboration and cross‑functional teamwork, and strong emphasis on organizational skills.

While this position offers remote flexibility, we request a minimum of two days in the office. You will report to the Regional Head of State & Local Policy, West.

• Engage directly with Southwest state and local policymakers, regulators, industry stakeholders, and key opinion leaders to shape policy and political dialogue and serve as the "face of Waymo" throughout the region.
• Track current and emerging political activity in the region while executing policy strategy that benefits Waymo’s users and business.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with Southwest state and local elected officials, their staff, regulators, and other key external stakeholders.
• Collaborate closely with internal cross‑functional stakeholders including strategic advising.
• Work closely with other teams at Waymo to ensure up to date knowledge of company plans and reporting policy political developments with analysis.
• Collaboratively manage state consultant relationships and represent Waymo in local chambers and trade associations, state organizations, and national political organizations including 501C3 and 527 organizations.

• Reside in the Southwest/ Texas / Austin with ability to frequently travel to state capitols and Southwest cities.
• 5-7 years of experience of public policy experience within government, or relevant nonprofit, public interest groups, companies, lobbying firms or industry associations;
• A well‑developed network of relationships with key figures across the Southwest legislative and policy landscape.
• Skilled and experienced at persuasively and diplomatically advocating complex policy positions before a wide variety of audiences.
• Excellent interpersonal and organizational skills, and exceptional verbal and written communication skills.
• Hands‑on legislative and regulatory analytics experience, including drafting and editing legislation.

• At least 2+ years working specifically on technology or transportation policy issues.
• Bachelor’s degree, MPP/MBA/JD…