Strategy & Ops Manager, Critical Venues

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 inclusivity and celebration. We value diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences; recognize that inclusive actions lead to equitable outcomes; and support and encourage all team members to share their ideas to help Waymo better serve the communities in which we operate.

The Demand Operations team keeps the pulse on community sentiment and service quality. The core function of the Demand Ops Program Manager is to ensure that Waymo maintains a positive presence in the community by minimizing disruptions to events, reporting on market health to internal stakeholders, partnering with Engineering and Product to optimize pickup and dropoff experience at top locations, and build relationships with community members.  

This role follows a hybrid work schedule and reports to the Head of Demand & Service Quality Ops.

You will:

• Own the Venue Playbook: Create the end-to-end global framework for identifying, engaging, and launching operations at venues. Build a standard playbook for regional teams to use when partnering with stadium operators, airport authorities, hotels, universities, shopping districts, hospitals, and transit hubs.

• New Market Launch Readiness: Own venue preparation and readiness ahead of market launches, including venue planning timelines, cross-functional alignment and executive signoff on venue needs, process governance, and readiness oversight.

• Oversee Venue Metrics: Define and monitor KPIs for venue performance and top pickup/dropoff locations. Manage processes to report on and mitigate venue issues while understanding vehicle performance impacts to venue requirements.

• Manage Critical Venues: Serve as the Operational Leader for critical and high-priority venues to ensure seamless execution.

• Drive Airport Operations: Lead the operational plans and execution for airport partnerships, monitoring key metrics, partnering cross-functionally on the roadmap, and enabling execution within regions.

• Drive Cross-functional Improvements: Act as the leader for the Venue strategy. Identify gaps in current processes and partner with Regional Ops, Marketing, BD, Policy, and Product/Engineering to build scalable processes and tooling solutions.

You have:

• Professional Experience: 6+ years of experience in Strategy & Operations, Consulting, or high-growth Operations.

• Mastery of Scalability: Proven track record of taking manual processes and turning them into repeatable, documented frameworks. You build the playbook and the tool so problems stay solved across 10+ markets.

• Strategic Communication: Ability to communicate with both executives and vendor teams, and lead large-scale, cross-functional project teams through high-pressure situations.

• Technical Literacy: Comfort working with Product and Engineering teams to define requirements for internal tools and data visualization.

• Analytical Rigor: Proficiency in data analysis to interpret complex datasets and drive operational improvements.

• Risk Management: Experience identifying and mitigating operational risks in physical environments or public-facing operations.

• Educational Background: Bachelor’s degree in Business, Operations, or a related field.

We prefer:

• Major Venue Experience: Direct experience managing logistics or operations for massive-scale venues such as airports, concert venues, or universities.

• AV/Mobility Expertise: Previous experience in autonomous vehicles, mobility technology, urban planning, or transportation.

Travel Requirements:

• 20%