People Operations Program Manager, Immigration & Global Mobility

Waymo’s People team recruits and supports the world’s best talent (including, we hope, you). Our HR business partners, program administrators, staffers, and compensation specialists help our employees attain their full potential in a healthy, considerate and supportive environment. We take our role as stewards of Waymo's culture seriously.

This role follows a hybrid work schedule and reports to our Manager, People Operations.

You will:

• As the principal strategic advisor, you serve as the primary, day-to-day point of contact for our Global Immigration Program, through Case Management answering complex immigration inquiries from international employees and candidates with empathy, clarity, and speed.    

• Continually evaluate, iterate, and architect global immigration policies and frameworks. Actively identify operational bottlenecks to streamline scale, enhance the employee experience, and future-proof our talent mobility pipelines. Own the resolution of complex case and escalations, tracking critical timelines, case statuses, and extensions to maintain a seamless, anxiety-free employee experience.    

• Act as a strategic advisor to Recruiters, Hiring Managers, and HR Business Partners (HRBPs), providing expert guidance on hiring timelines, costs, and risk assessments for international talent.    

• Counsel candidates, employees, and managers on immigration policies, setting clear expectations regarding best practices, processes, legal limitations, and timelines.    

• Partner closely with external immigration counsel to initiate, track, and audit non-immigrant and immigrant filings, ensuring high-quality submissions, strict compliance, and adherence to Service Level Agreements (SLAs).    

• Design, build, and deliver internal educational resources, toolkits, and training sessions to demystify immigration timelines and policy updates for cross-functional teams.    

• Analyze intricate immigration matters alongside outside counsel to synthesize clear, actionable, and compliant solutions for internal business stakeholders.    

• Continuously evaluate and iterate on internal immigration policies and workflows, actively identifying opportunities to streamline operations and enhance the overall employee experience.    

• Support the research, setup, and maintenance of work authorization processes globally, ensuring alignment with local labor market impact assessments and residence permit requirements as the company expands its footprint.    

• Manage the end-to-end execution of global employee mobility events (including permanent transfers, temporary assignments, remote work and new hire temporary relocations) ensuring full compliance with company policies, local regulations, and international immigration guidelines.    

You have:

• 10+ years of dedicated experience in corporate immigration, ideally gained either in-house at a fast-growing technology company or within a high-volume, premier corporate immigration law firm.    

• Deep technical knowledge of US non-immigrant and immigrant visa categories (including H-1B, L-1, TN, O-1, E-3, F-1 OPT/STEM) as well as the PERM labor certification and permanent residency processes.    

• Strong fluency with current USCIS, Department of Labor (DOL), and Department of State (DOS) regulations and trends.    

We prefer:

• Empathetic Communicator: Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with a proven ability to translate dense, intimidating legal jargon into warm, easily digestible guidance for anxious employees.    

• High Urgency & Discretion: A heightened sense of urgency and execution, with a track record of meeting strict deadlines while handling highly confidential information with absolute discretion and cultural sensitivity.    

• Ambiguity Navigator: A proactive, solutions-oriented mindset capable of navigating ambiguous legal gray areas and establishing creative, fully compliant pathways for business-critical talent.    

• Systems Familiarity: High proficiency with modern HRIS platforms (e.g., Workday) and specialized immigration case management software.