Operations Manager

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 Fleet Operations Teams

Our Fleet Operations team is responsible for ensuring Wayve’s autonomous vehicle fleet is always safe, reliable, and ready to support all facets of development, testing, and demonstration. As Fleet Operations Manager, you’ll act as deputy to the Head of Fleet Operations (UK), owning the day-to-day execution of Feature Testing delivery and stepping in on their behalf when needed. You’ll run the operational intersection of Feature Testing, Remote Operations, and daily Fleet Operations like a General Manager would run a business unit — translating the Head of Fleet Operations’ strategy into tactical, executable plans, managing a team of Feature Testing Vehicle Safety Operators, and partnering closely with Customer Program Managers, Technical Operations, and Field Engineering to deliver customer programmes safely, efficiently, and to a consistently high standard.

Your day-to-day

• Own the operational delivery of Feature Testing activities in your geography, converting the Head of Fleet Operations’ priorities into detailed execution plans.

• Coordinate customer testing requirements from planning through execution, partnering closely with Customer Program Managers, Technical Operations, and Field Engineering.

• Deputise for the Head of Fleet Operations (UK), stepping in to make day-to-day calls and represent Fleet Operations in their absence.

• Act as the operational bridge between Feature Testing, Remote Operations, and local Fleet Operations

• Ensure vehicles, operators, and technical support are ready and deployed against testing priorities

• Manage and develop a team of Feature Testing Vehicle Safety Operators, holding them accountable to clear standards.

• Drive high standards of safety, quality, and operational performance across all activities

• Support remote testing, roadshows, and out-of-area deployments

• Resolve operational issues quickly, escalating risk to the Head of Fleet Operations as needed.

• Identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency and customer delivery

What you’ll be working on

• Owning the safe and efficient delivery of customer-focused on-road testing programmes, as deputy to the Head of Fleet Operations (UK)

• Leading, mentoring, and developing operations teams

• Ensuring alignment between people, vehicles, and technical requirements for high-quality testing

• Bridging communications and operational needs between Feature Testing, Remote Operations, and Fleet Operations

• Supporting both local and remote/on-road deployments and roadshows

• Continuously seeking opportunities for operational improvement and standardisation

You should apply if

• You have experience leading complex operational teams and are ready to step into a second-in-command role

• You have strong people management and coaching skills

• You have coordinated cross-functional delivery across technical and operational teams

• You excel in operational planning and problem-solving, and are comfortable making calls in someone else’s absence

• You demonstrate strong stakeholder management and communication skills

• You have experience working in safety-critical or operationally complex environments

• You are willing to travel to support customer programmes and operational deployments

Desirable:

• Experience in autonomous vehicles, robotics, automotive, or mobility

• Experience supporting OEM or customer programmes

• Experience leading remote or distributed operations

• Experience with Feature Testing, validation, or release testing

This role is designed as Monday to Friday, overseeing a team that operates seven days a week, and it includes on-call responsibilities at times (occasional evenings and weekends).

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 (2 hours total)

Deep-dive technical interviews (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
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.