Machine Learning Manager, Application Software

Role details

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 r