---
title: 'Staff Systems Engineer - Operational Readiness and Field Safety at Waabi'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/staff-systems-engineer-operational-readiness-and-field-safety-waabi-united-ww24dedpeqtv'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-07'
---

# Staff Systems Engineer - Operational Readiness and Field Safety at Waabi

- **Company:** Waabi
- **Location:** United States
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2026-08-27
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/waabi/1bee72f9-6b1e-4042-8723-d0bd387c56c6

## Job description

Waabi, founded by AI visionary Raquel Urtasun, is the leader in Physical AI. With a world-class team, we're unlocking the next era of autonomous transportation with technology that's powering commercial autonomous trucks and robotaxis. Waabi is backed by and partners with world leaders in AI, automotive, logistics, and deep tech. With offices in Toronto, San Francisco, Dallas, and Pittsburgh, Waabi is growing quickly and looking for diverse, innovative and collaborative candidates who want to impact the world in a positive way. To learn more visit: www.waabi.ai

At the heart of our mission is an unwavering commitment to safety. We are seeking a practical and decisive systems engineer to bridge the gap between our AI development and  trucking operations. You will lead the definition of operational procedures, deep-dive investigations into field events, and inform when and where our autonomy is ready to deploy.

You will...

- Lead Field Safety at Waabi by proactively establishing processes to escalate issues, reacting to any fleet issues in the field and owning Waabi's incident response.
- Define and conduct operational readiness testing for Waabi's autonomous vehicle operations and create the necessary evidence in the readiness framework.
- Work with operations and software teams to define protocols for nominal and off-nominal situations (e.g., severe weather response, sensor degradation, connectivity outages, and trip interruptions).
- Create processes for ongoing field safety monitoring and support the establishment of leading and lagging safety indicators and tooling needed.
- Analyze operational trends and past field events to drive systemic safety enhancements across both development and operations.
- Support the Operations team in developing and executing incident response training and operational preparedness activities.
- Interface with regulatory bodies and contribute to industry standards discussions around AV operational safety validation approaches.

Qualifications:

- Undergrad in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related technical field; advanced degree preferred.
- 7+ years of experience in safety-critical system development, validation, or operations.
- Strong understanding of systems engineering principles including requirements decomposition, V&V processes, and hazard analysis techniques (HAZOP, FMEA, FTA, STPA, etc.).
- Familiarity with relevant safety standards (ISO 26262, ISO 21448/SOTIF, UL 4600).
- Experience monitoring safety metrics and designing/executing test plans for complex autonomous or robotic systems. Excellent technical communication skills with ability to present complex safety arguments to diverse stakeholders.
- Strong project management skills and ability to coordinate across multiple technical teams.
- Track record of driving high-stakes engineering decisions with incomplete information.

Bonus:

- Direct experience with autonomous vehicle safety validation or deployment.
- Previous work in trucking, logistics, or commercial vehicle operations.
- Experience with operational safety management systems.
- Knowledge of regulatory frameworks for autonomous vehicles (FMVSS, SAE standards, state/provincial regulations).

The US yearly salary range for this role is: $189,000  - $242,000 USD in addition to competitive perks & benefits. Waabi US Inc. and Waabi Canada Inc.'s yearly salary ranges are determined based on several factors in accordance with the Company’s compensation practices. The salary base range is reflective of the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position across all US and Canada locations.  Note: The Company provides additional compensation for employees in this role, including discretionary equity incentive awards and discretionary annual performance bonus.

Perks/Benefits: Waabi provides a competitive benefits package that includes: Competitive compensation and equity awards. Health and Wellness benefits that include Medical, Vision and Dental coverage. Unlimited Vacation. Flexible hours and Work from Home support. Daily drinks, snacks and catered meals (when in office). Regularly scheduled team building activities and social events. As we grow, this list continues to evolve!

Waabi is a technology start-up building technologies to transform the way the world moves. Join our talented team to be a part of the future and to make an impact!

Waabi is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating a supportive, inclusive, and accessible workplace for all our employees. We seek applicants of all backgrounds and identities, across race, color, ethnicity, national origin or ancestry, age, citizenship, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military or veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or parental status, caregiver status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law. We make workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process please let our recruiting team know.

## About Waabi

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Waabi is pioneering Physical AI for autonomous vehicles, starting with self-driving trucks and expanding into robotaxis, using a breakthrough interpretable AI model and the industry's most realistic neural simulator.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series C, $1B total funding)
- **Headquarters**: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- **Founded**: 2021
- **Founders**: Raquel Urtasun

## Core Business
- **Primary industries**: Autonomous vehicle technology, truck transportation, logistics, robotaxi services
- **Target customers**: B2B – trucking fleets, logistics providers, and eventually ride-hailing operators; enterprise partnerships with OEMs and transportation companies
- **Mission**: To empower humanity to build a better tomorrow by fundamentally rethinking how autonomous vehicles are developed, deployed, and scaled – safely and efficiently.

## Products & Services
- **Waabi Driver**: An end-to-end, interpretable and verifiable AI system that enables self-driving capabilities for trucks and, soon, robotaxis. The system is designed to be scalable and safe by leveraging a next-generation neural simulator (Waabi World) for validation before deployment on public roads.
- **Waabi World**: The industry’s most realistic neural simulator, used for testing and training the Waabi Driver in millions of scenarios, dramatically reducing the time and resources needed to bring autonomous vehicles to market.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private company)
- **Key Metrics**: Annual Revenue: $11.2M (est., from private data providers); Total Funding: ~$1B across four rounds; Headcount: 271 employees (+51% YoY)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Khosla Ventures (lead in Series B & C), Uber, Volvo Group Venture Capital, Radical Ventures, NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture arm)
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - Raised $750M Series C in January 2026 (led by Khosla Ventures)
  - Expanding from autonomous trucks into robotaxi market (hired Ryan Wallace as GM of Robotaxi in Sept 2026)
  - 52 active job postings (+62% YoY job posting growth)
  - Talent influx from Cruise, Aurora, Uber, Waymo, TuSimple, NVIDIA

## Competitive Advantages
- **Interpretable & verifiable AI**: Unlike black-box systems, Waabi’s end-to-end model is designed to be transparent and auditable, increasing trust and regulatory viability.
- **Neural simulator (Waabi World)**: Enables massive-scale virtual testing that accelerates development while maintaining safety – a key moat over rivals that rely on costly real-world miles.
- **Founder-led**: Raquel Urtasun is a world-renowned AI researcher (former Uber ATG chief scientist) with deep expertise in computer vision and autonomous systems.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale the Waabi Driver** for commercial trucking operations and simultaneously **enter the robotaxi market**.
- **Deepen OEM and strategic partnerships** (e.g., with Volvo and Uber) to integrate technology into production vehicles.
- **Continue aggressive hiring** of AI researchers, software engineers, systems engineers, and policy experts across North America.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Values safety, efficiency, data-driven decision-making, and a "virtuous cycle of innovation." Emphasis on real-world impact and personal growth.
- **Remote/Hybrid**: Offers remote flexibility with 5 offices across North America (Toronto, San Francisco, Dallas, Phoenix, Pittsburgh). Many roles are hybrid or remote.
- **Engineering culture**: Technical stack includes Python, PyTorch, TensorFlow, CUDA, ROS, Linux, Kubernetes, and proprietary simulation tools. 43% of employees are in technical roles, 15% in research.
- **Perks**: Not explicitly listed, but strong employer rating (4.6/5 on third-party reviews) and high compensation (e.g., Staff Software Developer median ~$151K USD, Systems Engineer ~$124K).
- **Growth opportunities**: 51% YoY headcount growth, many leadership hires; career progression from intern to director roles is common.

## Sources
1. [waabi.ai/careers](https://www.waabi.ai/careers)
2. [waabi.ai/company](https://waabi.ai/company)
3. [jobs.lever.co/waabi](https://jobs.lever.co/waabi)
4. [linkedin.com/company/waabi](https://www.linkedin.com/company/waabi)
5. [cbinsights.com/company/waabi](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/waabi)

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