System Disruption Manager

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:

• Lead as the Incident Commander during cross-functional disruptions – orchestrating response efforts, making decisive real-time decisions, and coordinating all necessary stakeholders to safely and efficiently resolve events.
• Manage and prioritize escalations – ensuring targeted stakeholder representation (e.g., Legal, Ops, Safety, Policy, & Communications) throughout the incident lifecycle.
  Develop robust cross-functional partnerships – to proactively understand stakeholder concerns during events and effectively communicate post-incident outcomes and learning opportunities to a global audience.
• Collaborate closely within global Operations teams – providing critical support and guidance during real-time incident response to maintain seamless 24/7 coverage.
• Drive continuous improvement – by leading thorough incident retrospectives to accurately document events and identify root causes. Define actionable follow-ups and track their implementation to continuously enhance safety, efficiency, and overall incident response capabilities for a distributed team, ensuring lessons learned are integrated back into processes.
• Deliver executive-level communications – on active incidents and present comprehensive analyses of key outcomes, trends, and strategic learnings from past events.

You have:

• 7+ years of direct experience in incident management, having served as an Incident Commander or lead responder for high-severity, cross-functional incidents within a complex operational environment.
• Proven technical expertise & cross-functional leadership, apply technical understanding of complex engineering systems to drive incident response, root cause analysis, and remediation for live operational incidents, coupled with an exceptional ability to build and align diverse stakeholders (e.g., Engineering, Legal, Operations) during critical events.
• Demonstrated capability to remain calm and decisive under pressure, efficiently coordinating response efforts and making sound judgments in rapidly evolving, high-stakes situations.
• Experience briefing senior executives and leadership, in real-time, on complex, fast-moving incidents, articulating technical details, impact, and proposed resolutions clearly and concisely across various communication channels.
• Exceptional attention to detail with a track record of meticulously documenting incident timelines, contributing factors, and post-incident analysis to drive accurate reporting and continuous improvement.
  Willingness and ability to participate in a 24/7 on-call rotation, demonstrating flexibility to cover shifts as part of a global “follow the sun” incident response capability.

We prefer:

• Advanced degree in a relevant field such as Emergency Management, Business, Operations, Law, or a related discipline, demonstrating a deeper theoretical understanding of incident dynamics and organizational response.
• Experience leading crisis and incident response as an Incident Commander in large-scale or high-impact environments.
• Proven ability to effectively interact with and/or report to external stakeholders, including law enforcement, regulatory agencies, and legal counsel, during sensitive or high-profile incidents.
• Experience in highly regulated industries such as Automotive, Maritime, Aviation, or similar sectors, providing familiarity with safety-critical systems, compliance frameworks, and complex operational procedures.
• Certifications/alignment on relevant incident management best practices and frameworks (e.g., NIMS/ICS, ITIL Incident Management, or similar), indicating a structured approach to incident handling and continuous improvement.
• Experience with event mapping initiatives to enhance incident action planning, ensure congruence with response team actions, and promote stakeholder coordination.

Travel requirements:

• 10%