Before the detail, here's the challenge you'd help us solve.
We build the embodied intelligence that moves real vehicles safely, and the ecosystem a billion machines will run on in the future. Very few people in AI can say this. Every role here, whatever the team, plugs into that.
Here’s what this particular role covers.
🛠️ About our Engineering Teams
We’re looking for an exceptional technical leader to spearhead our new Japan-based Application Engineer team, a self-sufficient and high-impact group focused on localising and advancing our autonomous driving technology for the Japanese market. This is a unique opportunity to shape Wayve’s AV capabilities in Japan from the ground up.
🧠 Your day-to-day
As the founding manager, you’ll lead a small but mighty team of engineers working across robotics, machine learning and systems integration. You’ll drive development of autonomy features tailored to Japan’s road infrastructure, cultural driving behaviours and regulatory landscape, so that our AV stack performs safely and effectively in this distinctive environment. Given the distance and time zone difference from our London HQ, your team will operate with significant autonomy, so we’re looking for someone who thrives in self-directed, startup-like conditions: able to set a vision, execute fast and make robust decisions independently, while staying aligned with global engineering efforts. This role requires breadth. Strong experience across AV systems, including robotics and autonomy, is essential, and deep expertise in machine learning is a major plus.
🧩 What you’ll be working on:
Essential
A strong background in robotics and autonomy, with experience building and deploying systems that operate in real-world environments.
Demonstrated ability to lead and grow high-performing engineering teams, ideally in geographically distributed or independent settings.
Comfortable with ambiguity: you can define goals, carve out roadmaps, and deliver high-impact work with minimal supervision.
Broad technical fluency: capable of reviewing and guiding work across software engineering, ML, controls, and systems integration.
Excellent communication skills: you’re able to clearly convey technical context and strategic vision across cultures and time zones.
Strong product sense and stakeholder management skills: you’re comfortable interfacing directly with OEM customers and representing engineering in external-facing conversations.
Desirable
Prior experience in autonomous vehicles or robotic systems operating at scale.
Familiarity with Japan’s road environment, driving behaviour, or AV regulatory landscape.
A strong foundation in machine learning and its application to real-time decision-making or perception systems.
Japanese language proficiency (not required, but useful for day-to-day coordination).
🙌 You should apply if:
Essential
A strong background in robotics and autonomy, with experience building and deploying systems that operate in real-world environments.
Demonstrated ability to lead and grow high-performing engineering teams, ideally in geographically distributed or independent settings.
Comfortable with ambiguity: you can define goals, carve out roadmaps, and deliver high-impact work with minimal supervision.
Broad technical fluency: capable of reviewing and guiding work across software engineering, ML, controls, and systems integration.
Excellent communication skills: you’re able to clearly convey technical context and strategic vision across cultures and time zones.
Strong product sense and stakeholder management skills: you’re comfortable interfacing directly with OEM customers and representing engineering in external-facing conversations.
Desirable
Prior experience in autonomous vehicles or robotic systems operating at scale.
Familiarity with Japan’s road environment, driving behaviour, or AV regulatory landscape.
A strong foundation in machine learning and its application to real-time decision-making or perception systems.
Japanese language proficiency (not required, but useful for day-to-day coordination).
🌱 Not ticking every box? That’s totally okay! If you’re passionate about autonomy and keen to learn, we encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet every requirement.
More about Wayve:
🚀 Wayve is building the leading AI platform for autonomous driving. We are pioneering an end to end AI approach that enables vehicles to learn directly from real world experience, developing the ability to adapt, generalise and improve at scale. Instead of relying on hand coded rules or pre mapped environments, our AI Driver learns to drive by understanding the world around it. The result is technology that navigates complex urban environments with intelligence, precision and natural flow, unlocking meaningful advances in both safety and efficiency. We believe autonomy represents a once in a generation transformation in how people and goods move, comparable to the shift from horses to cars, and from human driven vehicles to intelligent machines.
Our ambition is to make autonomy universal. Wayve’s mapless and hardware agnostic AI platform integrates with global OEM partners, enabling continuous software evolution and unlocking advanced levels of automation from L2 plus through to L4 as our core AI model scales. In a race increasingly defined by intelligence and real world learning, Wayve is taking a distinct approach, building a generalisable driving intelligence that can power any vehicle, anywhere. By combining embodied AI with scalable deployment, we are creating technology that can be shaped to each OEM brand and driver experience, accelerating the transition to a safer, more intelligent future of mobility.
How we work 💻- Locations & Flexible Working:
Our main hubs are in London, Sunnyvale, Yokohama, Herzliya, Vancouver and Leonberg. We operate a hybrid working model that combines in-person collaboration in our dedicated office spaces with focused time working remotely. This gives our teams the connection and energy of working together, alongside the flexibility to do their best work in a way that fits their lives.
🔍 The Interview Process:
Our process is clear and respectful of your time:
Initial call / recruiter screen (30 mins)
Competency Interviews (Leadership and management, and applied ML; 2 hours total)
Deep-dive technical interviews (Python programming and system design for autonomy; 2 hours total)
Final interview: mission & values alignment (1 hour).
We’ll always explain the format and work around your availability.
What’s in it for you (Location dependant):
💰 Salaries benchmarked against the market annually
📈 Meaningful equity, sharing in the ownership and long term success of Wayve
✈️ Relocation support and visa sponsorship where applicable
✅ Hybrid working, core hours and the chance to work hands on in vehicle workshops and labs
📚 Learning and development budgets with support for training, conferences and growth
🩺 Comprehensive benefits including health insurance, dental, enhanced maternity and paternity leave, retirement or pension where applicable, access to therapists, wellbeing partnerships, team socials and more
Wayve is committed to providing a fair and respectful recruitment process for all candidates, free from harassment and discrimination.
The Company has zero tolerance for sexual harassment against job applicants or similar individuals.
- All communications relating to recruitment activities are conducted through the Company's recruitment system or using an email address with the Company's domain. Employees do not use their personal email addresses or social media accounts for recruitment-related communications.
- Employees do not engage in private communications unrelated to recruitment activities, invite applicants to private meals, request or seek a personal or romantic relationship, or otherwise initiate private contact with applicants.
- Sexual remarks or conduct, physical contact, questions concerning sexual matters, and any other conduct constituting harassment are prohibited.
If you have any concerns, you can contact our consultation desk at peoplepartners@wayve.ai. All consultations are treated with strict confidentiality, your privacy will be protected, and no one will be subject to any disadvantageous treatment for raising a concern or cooperating with an inquiry.
A quick, honest note before you apply.
Wayve is not a mature, fully-structured place with the playbook already written. Much of how we work is still being written, and if you join, you’ll help write it. That suits people who want real ownership more than people who need a settled structure from day one.
If that sounds like the kind of problem you want to spend your time on, we’d really like to hear from you.
At Wayve we're committed to creating a diverse, fair and respectful culture that is inclusive of everyone based on their unique skills and perspectives, and regardless of sex, race, religion or belief, ethnic or national origin, disability, age, citizenship, marital, domestic or civil partnership status, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, pregnancy or related condition (including breastfeeding) or any other basis as protected by applicable law.
For more information visit Careers at Wayve. To learn more about what drives us, visit Values at Wayve
DISCLAIMER: We will not ask about marriage or pregnancy, care responsibilities or disabilities in any of our job adverts or interviews. However, we do look to capture information about care responsibilities, and disabilities among other diversity information as part of an optional DEI Monitoring form to help us identify areas of improvement in our hiring process and ensure that the process is inclusive and non-discriminatory.