ZipRecruiter

Log In

1

New Graduate Engineer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

previous page

Showing results 41-60

All JobsNew Graduate Engineer JobsNew Graduate Engineer Jobs in California

New Graduate Engineer information

See California salary details

$30.1K

$67.7K

$114K

How much do new graduate engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 9, 2026, the average yearly pay for new graduate engineer in California is $67,718.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $51,300.00 and $73,500.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is the difference between New Graduate Engineer vs Junior Engineer?

AspectNew Graduate EngineerJunior Engineer
Required CredentialsTypically a recent engineering degree; may include internshipsSame as New Graduate Engineer; often entry-level
Work EnvironmentTraining-focused, supervised, entry-level projectsSupervised, supporting ongoing projects, gaining experience
Employer & Industry UsageCommon in engineering firms, construction, manufacturingUsed interchangeably in many industries for entry-level roles

The main difference is that a New Graduate Engineer is often a recent graduate just starting their career, focusing on training and learning. A Junior Engineer may have some work experience but remains in an entry-level position, supporting projects while developing skills. Both roles are similar in credentials and work environment, but 'New Graduate Engineer' emphasizes recent graduation, while 'Junior Engineer' indicates some practical experience.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a new graduate engineer?

To thrive as a New Graduate Engineer, you need a solid understanding of engineering fundamentals, problem-solving abilities, and a relevant bachelor's degree in engineering. Familiarity with industry-specific software (such as AutoCAD, MATLAB, or SolidWorks) and basic project management tools is often expected. Strong communication, teamwork, and a willingness to learn help new engineers adapt quickly and contribute effectively. These skills and qualities are crucial for successfully transitioning from academic settings to solving real-world engineering challenges and collaborating within multidisciplinary teams.

What is a new graduate engineer?

A New Graduate Engineer is someone who has recently completed an engineering degree and is beginning their professional career in the engineering field. These individuals typically have little to no full-time work experience in engineering, but they possess the foundational knowledge and skills acquired through their academic studies. New Graduate Engineers often start in entry-level positions, where they receive training, mentorship, and opportunities to work on projects to further develop their technical and professional abilities. Their roles may vary depending on the engineering discipline and employer, but they generally focus on learning the practical aspects of their chosen field.

What are some common challenges new graduate engineers face when transitioning from academia to their first engineering job?

New graduate engineers often find the transition from academia to the workplace challenging due to differences in expectations, pace, and collaboration. Unlike academic projects, real-world engineering roles require balancing multiple tasks, meeting tight deadlines, and working as part of a multidisciplinary team. Communication and adaptability are key, as you'll frequently need to explain technical concepts to non-engineers and quickly adjust to new tools or processes. Seeking feedback, proactively asking questions, and embracing a learning mindset can help ease the adjustment and set you up for long-term success.
What are popular job titles related to New Graduate Engineer jobs in California? For New Graduate Engineer jobs in California, the most frequently searched job titles are:
What job categories do people searching New Graduate Engineer jobs in California look for? The top searched job categories for New Graduate Engineer jobs in California are:
What cities in California are hiring for New Graduate Engineer jobs? Cities in California with the most New Graduate Engineer job openings:
New Graduate Engineer jobs near you
Infographic showing various New Graduate Engineer job openings in California as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 3% As Needed, 75% Full Time, 19% Part Time, and 3% Contract. Highlights an 97% Physical, and 3% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $67,718 per year, or $32.6 per hour.

Machine Learning Engineer Perception LLM/VLM (PhD, New Grad)

Waymo

Mountain View, CA • On-site

$170K - $216K/yr

Full-time

Re-posted 17 days ago

Job description

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 builds the system which learns the spatial-temporal representation and their semantic meanings of the surrounding environment of the autonomously driving vehicle (ADV), i.e., the system that "perceives" the world around the car. We work jointly with downstream teams on the optimization and integration into the Waymo Driver. We conduct our own 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 engineers like you to (1) develop methods for efficiently and continuously learning from large scale real-world data, to (2) develop models and model training at scale, to (3) analyze real-world behavior and develop systems for handling the complexities of interacting with the real-world, and (4) optimize models for our onboard and offboard hardware.
You will:
  • Design, implement, and optimize large-scale continual pre-training pipelines for cutting-edge VLM foundation models.
  • Conduct research and development on novel pre-training techniques, focusing on efficiently integrating new, diverse, and multimodal data streams (e.g., visual data from different sensors) into existing models.
  • Develop and rigorously evaluate metrics and methodologies for measuring the performance, and transferability of continually pre-trained foundation models in the context of autonomous driving.
  • Stay current with the latest advancements in large language models, vision-language models, and continual learning, and translate relevant research into production-ready systems.

You have:
  • 5+ years of experience in Machine Learning, with a focus on large-scale model development (LLM, VLM, or similar foundation models).
  • Proven expertise in LLM/VLM pre-training, continual learning with large scale datasets.
  • Strong coding proficiency in Python and deep learning frameworks (e.g., Jax, TensorFlow, PyTorch).
  • Hands-on experience with model training, evaluation, and deployment in a production environment.
  • Master's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

We prefer:
  • Experience in fine-tuning foundation models for autonomous driving or robotics applications
  • Familiarity with large-scale data curation and quality assurance processes for multimodal datasets.
  • Background in autonomous vehicle perception, motion planning, or decision-making systems.
  • Publications in top-tier machine learning or computer vision conferences (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, CVPR, ICCV, ECCV).
  • PhD in a relevant field.

The expected base salary range for this full-time position across US locations is listed below. Actual starting pay will be based on job-related factors, including exact work location, experience, relevant training and education, and skill level. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for the role location or, if the role can be performed remote, the specific salary range for your preferred location, during the hiring process.
Waymo employees are also eligible to participate in Waymo's discretionary annual bonus program, equity incentive plan, and generous Company benefits program, subject to eligibility requirements.
Salary Range
$170,000-$216,000 USD

Apply