Senior Manager - Customer Programs - US
Wayve
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.
About us
Founded in 2017, Wayve is the leading developer of Embodied AI technology. Our advanced AI software and foundation models enable vehicles to perceive, understand, and navigate any complex environment, enhancing the usability and safety of automated driving systems.
Our vision is to create autonomy that propels the world forward. Our intelligent, mapless, and hardware-agnostic AI products are designed for automakers, accelerating the transition from assisted to automated driving.
In our fast-paced environment big problems ignite us—we embrace uncertainty, leaning into complex challenges to unlock groundbreaking solutions. We aim high and stay humble in our pursuit of excellence, constantly learning and evolving as we pave the way for a smarter, safer future.
At Wayve, your contributions matter. We value diversity, embrace new perspectives, and foster an inclusive work environment; we back each other to deliver impact.
Make Wayve the experience that defines your career!
The role
In this role, you will be responsible for leading a team that overssees multiple customer engagements, spanning from early-stage advanced development initiatives to full-scale production programs. You will collaborate closely with the customer to define and manage project plans, ensuring that requirements are seamlessly integrated into the internal development pipeline and delivered on schedule. A deep understanding of the automotive industry and the development of embodied AI systems is essential to effectively guide your team in delivering these programs, identify and report potential risks, and implement a robust change management. You will be leading efforts to bring innovation to life for OEMs, integrating Wayve’s L2+ and higher autonomy stack into real-world vehicle platforms.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead and empower a team of Customer Program Managers, providing strategic direction, mentorship, and support to ensure high performance and professional growth.
- Oversee the execution of complex, cross-functional customer programs, ensuring successful delivery of program objectives across multiple stakeholders.
- Establish, scale, and continuously improve program management frameworks, including processes for planning, risk management, change control, and execution excellence.
- Act as the senior point of contact for key customer relationships, engaging with stakeholders to deeply understand their technical and programmatic needs and ensuring alignment with internal delivery.
- Partner cross-functionally with Product, R&D, and Operations teams to translate customer requirements into actionable technical deliverables and align on roadmap priorities.
- Drive effective communication and reporting, ensuring transparency and consistency across customer interactions and internal leadership updates.
- Champion operational excellence, aligning customer commitments with internal milestones, resources, and dependencies.
- Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement within the program management function and across the wider organisation.
About you
To succeed as a Senior Manager - Customer Programs at Wayve, you will bring both strategic oversight and operational depth.
Essential
- Proven experience leading and developing program management/ product or SW teams in complex, multi-stakeholder environments.
- Extensive background in automotive software development and end-to-end program delivery.
- Proficiency with program management tools (e.g., Jira, Confluence) to drive efficiency, visibility, and process alignment.
- Strong technical acumen with a deep understanding of automotive systems and software development lifecycles.
- Exceptional stakeholder management and communication skills, able to influence across all levels of the organisation and with external partners.
- Demonstrated ability to build scalable processes and frameworks that support sustainable program growth.
- A proactive, analytical, and solutions-oriented mindset.
- Willingness to travel as needed.
Desirable
- Knowledge of AI and autonomy technologies, including Generative AI, AV 2.0, and Large Language Models (LLMs).
- Hands-on experience in software development (Python, C++, Rust, etc.).
- Master’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
This is a full-time role based in our office in Sunnyvale. At Wayve we want the best of all worlds so we operate a hybrid working policy that combines time together in our offices and workshops to fuel innovation, culture, relationships and learning, and time spent working from home.
We understand that everyone has a unique set of skills and experiences and that not everyone will meet all of the requirements listed above. If you’re passionate about self-driving cars and think you have what it takes to make a positive impact on the world, we encourage you to apply.
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.