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.
Strategic Partnership Manager
🤝 About our Fleet Operations Partnerships Team
Wayve's Fleet Operations teams enable the safe, reliable operation of our vehicle fleets and the collection of driving data across multiple markets. A growing network of external partners supports this work across the UK, Germany, Japan and the US. This role will own and scale that partner ecosystem globally.
🧠 Your day-to-day
As Strategic Partnership Manager, you will take global ownership of Wayve's fleet operations partner network. You will own partner relationships, commercial terms and performance standards, decide who we work with next, and build the operating model that enables the network to scale. You will also be the fleet operations partnership expert supporting our Robotaxi teams as those services grow.
🧩 What you’ll be working on:
• Own end-to-end relationships with the external partners who deliver Wayve's fleet operations across the UK, Germany, Japan and the US - building trust with partner leadership, navigating disagreements and leading major partner changes.
• Act as the primary link between regional Fleet Operations leads and partners, resolving performance, capacity and operating-model issues.
• Own contract negotiations, commercial terms, renewals and contractual compliance, and lead recurring partner reviews covering hiring, training, KPIs and operations.
• Scan the market, source and evaluate new partners, and bring diligence and proposals to leadership for decision.
• Lead partner onboarding, transitions and offboarding, ensuring operational continuity and carrying learnings across markets.
• Build the global playbook and performance framework for fleet operations partnerships, and support internal change initiatives that depend on partner alignment.
• Provide partnership and commercial support to our Robotaxi operations teams on fleet-related topics as our services scale.
🙌 You should apply if:
• You have a strong ownership mindset, with a proven track record of managing strategic partnerships or outsourced/vendor relationships end-to-end and clear commercial accountability for the outcome.
• You have experience negotiating commercial terms and contracts, and holding partners to KPIs or SLAs - including when performance slips.
• You bring operational depth and have managed partners who deliver a frontline operational workforce, with credibility across hiring ramp, training, utilisation and quality.
• You are comfortable operating across multiple markets and time zones, building trust with partners and stakeholders across different cultures and operating models.
• You can bring structure and momentum to fast-moving, ambiguous situations, particularly where a partner network has outgrown its operating model.
• You are a credible internal partner to operations leaders and work through them rather than around them.
Nice to have
• You have 6+ years of experience in strategic partnerships, vendor or outsourcing management, mobility or operations roles.
• You have experience in mobility, autonomy, logistics or another highly operational or regulated industry.
• You have experience managing partners in Germany, Japan and/or the US.
• You have experience standing up a partnership operating model or playbook from scratch.
🌱 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:
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
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.