Entry Level Perception Engineer Jobs
New grad perception engineer jobs welcome recent graduates and entry level candidates with zero to two years of experience, where a strong portfolio of robotics or autonomous systems projects can matter more than a long resume. Most openings are on-site roles across Science & Research, Manufacturing, and Technology & Software, with employers like WeRide, Waymo, and Ghost Robotics hiring at this level now.
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See related jobsWaymo 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 Perception team at Waymo builds technology that powers the Waymo Driver. Our software allows the Waymo Driver to perceive the world around it, make the right decision for every situation, and deliver people safely to their destinations. We conduct research to address real-world problems and collaborate with research teams at Alphabet. We have access to millions of miles of driving data from a diverse set of sensors, enabling software engineers like you to develop multi-modal models and techniques at scale.
Our mission is to build a stable foundation for a high-level Perception pipeline and the overall self-driving system. We act as the crucial interface between Waymo's hardware teams and the rest of the self-driving engineering organization, defining sensor requirements, providing critical feedback to hardware teams, and abstracting away system complexities.
The Sensor Health team's job is to make sure that sensors "just work" for the entire self-driving car software stack. We make sure that all sensors are properly calibrated and consistently monitored at all times. We are often the firsts to algorithmically process data from next-generation sensors on next-generation vehicle platforms and work closely with both hardware and software teams to provide the best possible sensor data from our many sensors perfectly aligned to our upstream customers. To this end, we develop sensor data alignment and calibration algorithms, a growing sensor health backend, and deploy our systems both into the Waymo Driver and our log processing backend.
In this hybrid role, you will report to a Technical Lead Manager.
You will:
- Dive deep into the Waymo Driver's perception stack and build a deep understanding of its capabilities in various driving conditions
- Help set the perception development direction to allow the stack to scale to new driving environments, platforms, and sensors
- Collaborate across world-class engineering teams to influence the roadmap for next-generation perception technology
- Architect high-scale, mission-critical automation and evaluation frameworks that establish the "ultimate truth" for the safety, performance, and reliability of the Waymo Driver
- Innovate simulation tools for advanced sensor emulation, rigorously testing vehicle performance against complex impairments and edge-case faults
- Support sign-off process for all stages of sensing system development and software releases. Present results at milestone sign-off reviews
You have:
- BS in Computer Science, Robotics, similar technical field of study, or equivalent practical experience
- 2+ years of experience in industrial AI applications involving the creation, maintenance, and evaluation of ML products
- Experience developing and conducting eval for large ML software systems
- Strong experience programming in C++ with robust and efficient code
We prefer:
- MS or PhD in Computer Science, Robotics, similar technical field of study, or equivalent practical experience with at least 2 years of industry experience
- Experience with autonomous vehicles (L4) or ADAS systems (L2/L3)
- Strong software architecture skills
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 Perception team at Waymo builds technology that powers the Waymo Driver. Our software allows the Waymo Driver to perceive the world around it, make the right decision for every situation, and deliver people safely to their destinations. We conduct research to address real-world problems and collaborate with research teams at Alphabet. We have access to millions of miles of driving data from a diverse set of sensors, enabling software engineers like you to develop multi-modal models and techniques at scale.
Our mission is to build a stable foundation for a high-level Perception pipeline and the overall self-driving system. We act as the crucial interface between Waymo's hardware teams and the rest of the self-driving engineering organization, defining sensor requirements, providing critical feedback to hardware teams, and abstracting away system complexities.
The Sensor Health team's job is to make sure that sensors "just work" for the entire self-driving car software stack. We make sure that all sensors are properly calibrated and consistently monitored at all times. We are often the firsts to algorithmically process data from next-generation sensors on next-generation vehicle platforms and work closely with both hardware and software teams to provide the best possible sensor data from our many sensors perfectly aligned to our upstream customers. To this end, we develop sensor data alignment and calibration algorithms, a growing sensor health backend, and deploy our systems both into the Waymo Driver and our log processing backend.
In this hybrid role, you will report to a Technical Lead Manager.
You will:
- Dive deep into the Waymo Driver's perception stack and build a deep understanding of its capabilities in various driving conditions
- Help set the perception development direction to allow the stack to scale to new driving environments, platforms, and sensors
- Collaborate across world-class engineering teams to influence the roadmap for next-generation perception technology
- Architect high-scale, mission-critical automation and evaluation frameworks that establish the "ultimate truth" for the safety, performance, and reliability of the Waymo Driver
- Innovate simulation tools for advanced sensor emulation, rigorously testing vehicle performance against complex impairments and edge-case faults
- Support sign-off process for all stages of sensing system development and software releases. Present results at milestone sign-off reviews
You have:
- BS in Computer Science, Robotics, similar technical field of study, or equivalent practical experience
- 2+ years of experience in industrial AI applications involving the creation, maintenance, and evaluation of ML products
- Experience developing and conducting eval for large ML software systems
- Strong experience programming in C++ with robust and efficient code
We prefer:
- MS or PhD in Computer Science, Robotics, similar technical field of study, or equivalent practical experience with at least 2 years of industry experience
- Experience with autonomous vehicles (L4) or ADAS systems (L2/L3)
- Strong software architecture skills
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Entry Level Perception Engineer Jobs: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get an entry level perception engineer job?
Entry level perception engineer roles typically look for candidates with hands-on experience in computer vision, sensor fusion, or machine learning, usually demonstrated through capstone projects, internships, or personal builds. A GitHub portfolio showing working perception pipelines, familiarity with ROS or SLAM, and Python or C++ fluency gives new candidates a clear edge over those with only coursework on a resume.
Which companies hire entry level perception engineers?
Companies hiring entry level perception engineers right now include WeRide, Waymo, and Ghost Robotics, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. Hiring at this level comes from a mix of autonomous vehicle startups, robotics manufacturers, and technology companies building sensor-driven products.
Are there remote entry level perception engineer jobs?
Yes, though most entry level perception engineer openings require on-site access to hardware and sensor rigs. About 25% of entry level perception engineer openings are remote or hybrid as of November 2026, with remote-eligible positions more common at software-focused companies working on perception algorithms rather than physical robotics systems.
Are these new grad perception engineer jobs?
Yes, many of the perception engineer roles listed here are new grad friendly, including junior and recent graduate positions that explicitly welcome zero to two years of experience. A posting is typically new grad friendly when it accepts internship work or academic projects in place of full-time experience and does not require prior professional deployment of a perception system.
Which industries hire the most entry level perception engineers?
Entry Level perception engineer roles concentrate in Science & Research, Manufacturing, and Technology & Software, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. These sectors drive the most entry level hiring because they are actively scaling autonomous systems, lidar and camera pipelines, and real-time object detection products that require engineering talent at every experience level.