SlipstreamJobs tracks this role from the company's public career site. Apply directly on the employer's site.
Waabi, founded by AI researcher Raquel Urtasun, is developing Physical AI technology for autonomous transportation, including commercial autonomous trucks and robotaxis. The company is backed by leaders in AI, automotive, and logistics, with offices in Toronto, San Francisco, Dallas, and Pittsburgh.
This Staff Systems Engineer role bridges AI development and trucking operations, with a focus on safety and operational readiness. You will lead field safety initiatives by establishing escalation processes, responding to fleet issues, and owning incident response protocols. You'll define and conduct operational readiness testing for autonomous vehicle operations and create evidence frameworks demonstrating readiness for deployment.
Key responsibilities include working with operations and software teams to develop protocols for both nominal and off-nominal situations (severe weather, sensor degradation, connectivity outages, trip interruptions). You'll create processes for ongoing field safety monitoring, establish leading and lagging safety indicators, and develop supporting tooling. You'll analyze operational trends and past field events to drive systemic safety improvements across development and operations teams.
You'll support the Operations team in developing incident response training and operational preparedness activities, and interface with regulatory bodies to contribute to industry standards discussions around autonomous vehicle operational safety validation.
Required qualifications include an undergraduate degree in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related field (advanced degree preferred), plus 7+ years in safety-critical system development, validation, or operations. You need strong systems engineering principles knowledge (requirements decomposition, V&V processes, hazard analysis techniques like HAZOP, FMEA, FTA, STPA), familiarity with safety standards (ISO 26262, ISO 21448/SOTIF, UL 4600), and experience monitoring safety metrics and designing test plans for complex autonomous or robotic systems. Excellent technical communication and project management skills are essential, along with a track record of driving high-stakes engineering decisions with incomplete information.
Bonus qualifications include direct autonomous vehicle safety validation or deployment experience, background in trucking/logistics/commercial vehicle operations, operational safety management systems experience, and knowledge of regulatory frameworks (FMVSS, SAE standards, state/provincial regulations).
