Shift Lead

Wayve; Leonberg; On-site; EUR 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working model

Equity in Wayve

Learning budgets

Health insurance

Wellbeing support

Job summary

Wayve is seeking a Shift Lead for the German Fleet Operations team in Leonberg. You will supervise Vehicle Safety Operators (VSOs), manage shifts, and ensure safety and quality standards across daily fleet activities.

The role requires a full German driving licence and strong leadership, with English/German fluency and a collaborative, results-driven mindset. The position is onsite at the Leonberg office with a hybrid approach described for global hubs, and offers opportunities to influence

Qualifications

• Full clean German driving licence and at least 5 years' driving experience in Europe.
• Proven leadership and team coordination experience.
• Fluency in English and German.
• Willing to undergo health check and pass random drug testing.

Responsibilities

• Lead and supervise VSOs during shifts, providing guidance and support.
• Oversee shift operations, schedules, tasks, and KPIs.
• Line manage VSOs with monthly face-to-face contact.
• Ensure compliance with safety policies and regulations.
• Coordinate training and development with QA team.

Skills

Leadership

Team coordination

Communication

Driving licence

Bilingual

Tools

Google Workspace

Microsoft Office

Job description

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.

About our German Fleet Operations Team

German Fleet Operations is at the core of Wayve’s on-road testing and deployment. Our team ensures daily operations are conducted with the highest levels of safety and efficiency. We foster an inclusive working environment where Vehicle Safety Operators (VSOs) are encouraged to contribute their ideas and raise safety concerns freely. Shift Leads are a pivotal layer of management for this team, entrusted with maintaining operational excellence on every shift.

Your day-to-day

• Lead and supervise a team of Vehicle Safety Operators (VSOs) during your shift, providing guidance, support, and direction to ensure tasks are completed efficiently and effectively
• Oversee the day-to-day operations within the shift, managing work schedules, assigning tasks, and monitoring performance to ensure company standards and KPIs are achieved
• Line manage a group of VSOs, ensuring regular monthly face-to-face documented contact with each team member, fostering high performance and addressing any issues
• Ensure all operations comply with company policies and legal regulations, promoting a safe work environment by enforcing safety protocols
• Monitor the quality of on-road testing during your shift, addressing issues or discrepancies and escalating them to the Quality Assurance team
• Serve as the initial ‘Operations Officer’ for on-road incidents, following company Major Incident Management Plan procedures
• Prepare and submit shift reports, including performance metrics, incident reports, and any deviations from SOPs
• Coordinate individual and collective training and development events with the Quality Assurance team
• Identify operational problems and challenges, developing and implementing solutions to ensure minimal disruption
• Serve as the primary point of contact for the operations team during your shift, ensuring effective communication between team members, management, and other departments
• Drive continuous improvement by implementing process enhancements and best practices

What you’ll be working on

• Leading and developing a high-performing team of VSOs, ensuring operational success and safety
• Driving adherence to safety and quality standards across all daily fleet activities
• Managing incident responses and reporting accurately and efficiently
• Supporting team development through coaching, regular feedback, and training coordination
• Working collaboratively with Quality Assurance and other stakeholders to raise the bar on operational excellence

You should apply if

• You hold a full clean German driving licence and have at least 5 years' driving experience in Europe
• You remain calm and controlled in pressured environments
• You take on board feedback and learn from your mistakes, employing a growth mindset
• You enjoy working with people and thrive in a team environment
• You know how to manage your wellbeing, including fatigue and stress, with proven personal strategies
• You have proven experience as a team coordinator or in a similar role
• You bring strong leadership and communication skills in 1:1, team, and cross-functional contexts
• You are highly organised, able to work under pressure and manage multiple priorities
• You demonstrate excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail
• You are proficient with Google Workspace or Microsoft Office suite
• You possess strong and developing driving skills
• You are comfortable disclosing any second job as part of the application process
• You are willing to undergo a health check, and disclose any conditions that may affect your ability to safely operate a vehicle
• You understand employment is contingent on passing random drug and alcohol testing, per company policy
• Fluency in both English and German

Desirable

• Experience leading vehicle testing, AV environments, or technical demonstrations
• Knowledge of AV technology or autonomous systems
• T1 and T2 Bertha certification

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.

Shift Details

• This is a dedicated rotating shift-based role requiring onsite presence at our Leonberg office during operating hours
• Remote working from other locations is permitted only by exception, with potential requirement to attend the office at short notice
• Shift patterns include early (6:30–15:00) and late (14:30–23:00) shifts, including weekends and public holidays

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

• Initial call / recruiter screen (30 mins)
• Competency Interviews (1 hours total)
• Deep-dive technical interviews (2 hours total)
• Final interview: mission & values alignment (2 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.