Lead Technical Program Manager (Data)

Wayve; Greater London; On-site; GBP 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private healthcare

Paid time off

Mental health resources

Community and socials

Competitive compensation

Learning and development

Job summary

Wayve is seeking a Lead Technical Program Manager, Data, to build and lead the TPM function for our Data org. You will drive data platform, ingestion, standardisation, enrichment, curation and labelling that fuel the AI Driver.

You’ll partner with Data leadership and Engineering to land big data programs, setting governance, KPIs and dashboards to ensure quality and throughput while controlling costs. You will coach a small TPM team and align cross-functionally with ML, data and software

Qualifications

• Link data investment to measurable outcomes: quality, throughput, cost.
• Credible with engineers on data platforms, pipelines, and large-scale infrastructure.
• 8+ years delivering data programs as a technical program manager.

Responsibilities

• Lead flagship data programs: data platform, pipelines, enrichment, curation, labelling and dataset management.
• Partner with Data leadership on planning, prioritisation, and execution across the data roadmap.
• Maintain partnership with Engineering leaders to land high-leverage outcomes.

Skills

Strategic impact

Data platforms

Pipelines

Leadership

Cross-functional

ML understanding

Databricks

Kubernetes

Python

Data governance

Tools

Jira

Git

Job description

• As the Lead Technical Program Manager for Data at Wayve, you’ll build and lead the technical program management function for our Data org - the data platform, ingestion, standardisation pipelines, and the enrichment, curation, and labelling that fuel the AI Driver. The data corpus is also critical for teams working on simulation and validation
• You’ll be the delivery partner to engineering leadership for data teams and drive the department wide objective to “make valuable data immediately and reliably usable”
• You will leading flagship programs yourself while supporting and coaching a small, high-impact TPM team. Your impact is measured in data quality, throughput, cost, and how predictably the data that powers every model lands. A successful TPM leader is a force multiplier - helping teams move faster, more effectively, and with purpose
• Lead the function: Build, coach, and grow a small TPM team; hire to fill gaps and raise the bar
• Own data delivery: Partner with Data leadership on planning, prioritisation, and execution across the data roadmap
• Trusted partner for Engineering: You are a leader in the org. You will maintain the partnership with Engineering leaders to land big outcomes, pushing teams to land impact with high leverage and hold leaders to account
• Drive flagship programs directly: Data platform, data pipelines, enrichment & curation, labelling / annotation, and dataset management and quality
• Establish scalable practices: Planning cadences, governance, KPIs and dashboards, escalations and operational reviews
• Align cross-functionally: Work with data, ML, engineering, and external data / annotation suppliers; manage dependencies, risk, and trade-offs
• Connect to outcomes and represent the data org: Tie delivery to data quality, throughput, cost and time-to-insight, and represent the data org in company-level reviews

Benefits

• Private healthcare: Choose our optional health insurance for comprehensive coverage for you and your family.
• Paid time off: Paid vacation plus public holidays and additional leave programs, ensuring you have time to unwind.
• Mental health resources: Through Spill, you can access therapy and mental health support.
• Community and socials: Join clubs or attend team socials to connect over hobbies, sports, or just for fun.
• Competitive compensation: Our compensation package includes cash and equity, making you a true partner in our success.
• Learning and development: Budgets for books, courses, and company-wide training to support your continuous growth.

In order to set you up for success as a Lead Technical Program Manager, Data at Wayve, we’re looking for the following skills and experience. (The first four are our must-haves.)Strategic & business impact: You link data investment to measurable outcomes - quality, throughput, costTechnically strong: Credible with engineers on data platforms, pipelines, and large-scale data infrastructure, even though you won’t write production code. Experience with distributed data platforms at Petabyte scale8+ years in data: Deep, hands‑on experience delivering data programs as a technical program manager - data platform, pipelines, enrichment / curation, labelling - including people and process leadership. You’ve built or scaled a program function and you get things done with ownership and a bias for actionStays neutral and adapts under pressure: Effective in ambiguous, fast-moving environments; you flex your style and bring structure without slowing deliverySolid understanding of Machine Learning, GPUs and training and inference of 500M-20B parameter modelsExperience with data ingestion from raw data to processing through different stages and pipelines. Understands Directed Acyclic Graphs, their usage and challengesProficient with AI Agents to accelerate execution: eg. Cursor, Claude, CodexClear, data-driven communicator: You set direction with clarity and steer with the right metricsExceptional cross‑functional leadership: You align and influence across data, ML, and engineering without relying on authoritySystems thinking: You reason about how the parts of a complex data system fit together, and how a change in one area ripples into othersPeople leadership: You build, coach, and grow high‑performing teams, and raise the bar on the craftGrowth mindset: Open to feedback and always looking to improveProduct‑minded: You focus on outcomes and the people your programs serve - prioritising by impact and defining what good looks like, not just tracking activityProficient with some or all of Databricks, Flyte, Ray, Kubernetes, Azure, Docker, PythonWorking experience with a large scale distributed data platform used by 100s of engineers and researchersWe 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 applyBackground in autonomous vehicles, robotics, or another large-scale data / ML programAn engineering or computer science degree, or experience working as an engineer; fluent with modern delivery tooling (e.g. Jira)