Technical Program Manager, Fleet Operations and Commercial

Wayve; London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading tech company is seeking a Technical Program Manager for Fleet Operations & Commercial. This pivotal role involves bridging advanced AI systems with operational execution, ensuring reliable deployment across markets while driving initiatives for geographic expansion and customer satisfaction. The ideal candidate will possess strong technical knowledge and cross-functional leadership experience, focusing on operational excellence in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of driving complex, cross-functional initiatives.
• Experience scaling hardware or fleet-based operations.
• Strong technical foundation to engage with engineers.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with Fleet Operations and Commercial leadership for planning and delivery.
• Own cross-functional program management of geographic launches.
• Drive operational readiness and continuous monitoring for deployment.

Skills

Technical Fluency

Systems Thinking

Cross-Functional Leadership

Execution Excellence

Education

Degree in engineering, computer science or related technical field

Job description

Technical Program Manager, Fleet Operations and Commercial

London

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!

Impact Expected

Wayve’s ambition to deploy autonomous vehicles at scale depends on our ability to seamlessly integrate cutting-edge AI with real-world operations. As the Technical Program Manager for Fleet Operations & Commercial, you will sit at the heart of this effort - engineering the execution engine that transforms technical capability into tangible value on roads around the world.This role is a rare opportunity to bridge the frontier of autonomy with operational excellence and commercial impact. You’ll partner with leaders across Fleet Operations, Engineering, and Commercial teams to ensure that our AV systems aren’t just advanced, but deployable, reliable, and ready to meet the real-world demands of partners and regulators alike.

You’ll be the connective tissue between strategy and execution - driving initiatives that enable geographic expansion, regulatory readiness, fleet reliability, and customer satisfaction. From unlocking new markets to refining the infrastructure that powers daily operations, your work will shape the future of how Wayve systems are delivered, scaled, and commercialised.

Beyond execution, this is a chance to help define what “operational excellence” means in the age of embodied intelligence. If you’re energised by complexity, thrive on orchestration, and are driven to bring transformative technology into the world - this role puts you on the front lines of that mission.

Global Operational Readiness

Ensuring our system is consistently and reliably operable across multiple geographies and deployment contexts (internal and external). Developing global templates for rollout and continuous monitoring.

Orchestrate high-bandwidth coordination between fleet operations and engineering teams. You’ll align priorities, manage system integration timelines, and ensure that field operations and platform development move in lockstep.

Commercial Deployment Enablement

Partnering with Commercial leads to ensure technical readiness for pilot programs and commercial deployments. Acting as a bridge between engineering realities and customer delivery timelines.

Delivery Infrastructure at Scale

Building repeatable processes to deliver complex technical work across cross-functional stakeholders. Embedding agile but durable rhythms into fleet, infra, and vehicle programs.

Delivery Infrastructure at Scale

Build the operating rhythm that powers scaled execution. From team planning to cross-functional governance, you’ll support and embed durable, agile processes into fleet, vehicle, and infrastructure initiatives - making delivery repeatable and reliable.

Operational Insight & Process Evolution

Turn operational data into action. You’ll work with our Fleet Systems and Insights team to drive visibility into fleet performance metrics (like uptime, coverage, failure rates), and work across teams to evolve processes that improve efficiency, reduce manual work, and increase system robustness.

What Success Looks Like

• Smooth, reliable technical deployment of our driver across new fleets and markets
• Increased trust in engineering timelines and execution confidence
• Engineering teams feel supported and unblocked by fleet workflows
• Scaled delivery playbooks are established and reused across geographies
• Cross-functional stakeholders are aligned and escalating less
• Fleet programs and initiatives consistently delivered on time, scoped appropriately, and tracked across functions
• Clear prioritisation mechanisms in place (e.g. for the fleet)

Challenges They Will Own

This is a high-ownership role requiring someone who thrives at the intersection of engineering, operations, and commercial complexity. As a partner to Fleet Operations leadership, the TPM will coordinate across functions that span operational, regulatory, legal, security, and marketing domains - where priorities often shift and definitions of success are nuanced.

Unlike other technical program roles focused on model development or software infrastructure, this TPM will bring systems-level thinking to real-world operational delivery. They will need to create clarity in ambiguity, structure in motion, and progress despite indirect authority.

To start, this is a senior individual contributor role - ideal for someone who thrives on operating at high scope and complexity, and enjoys rolling up their sleeves. They will also be part of a strong, collaborative team of release managers, technical program and product managers who flex across product, program, and execution responsibilities. We value people who are not precious about role boundaries, who collaborate deeply, and who prioritise solving the right problems over defending turf.

Key Responsibilities

• Collaborate with Fleet Operations and Commercial leadership to drive end-to-end cross-functional planning, scoping and delivery
• Partner with the Director of Fleet Operations to establish priorities, unblock delivery, and shape long-term operational planning
• Own cross-functional program management of geographic launches and pilot expansions
• Maintain transparency and accountability across a distributed stakeholder set
• Establish delivery practices and tools that support scale, without adding overhead
• Serve as a connective tissue between Ops, Legal, Security, and Engineering when coordination is complex and timelines are tight
• Create shared visibility and cadence on milestones and operational KPIs
• Develop scalable communication practices for fast-moving stakeholders
• Enable robust risk, escalation and decision-making frameworks
• Act as a multiplier for both fleet, commercial and engineering teams - removing blockers, enabling fast iteration

What We’re Looking For (in our candidate)

Technical Fluency & Systems Thinking

• Strong technical foundation - able to engage credibly with engineers, researchers, and infrastructure teams
• Comfortable navigating complex systems spanning software, hardware, data, and operational workflows
• Skilled at surfacing technical trade-offs and guiding teams through architectural decisions and scaling challenges
• Thinks in systems - connecting tools, people, and processes to accelerate impact, not just ship features/tasks

Execution & Delivery Excellence

• 8+ years driving complex, cross-functional initiatives from inception to impact - owning planning, prioritisation, and delivery
• Brings a data-driven mindset - balances evidence, intuition, and constraints to make high-quality decisions
• Adapts delivery approach to the problem - balancing structure, flexibility, and executional rigour
• Instils a culture of ownership, clarity, and accountability - with meticulous attention to detail across plans, documentation, and comms
• Communicates rationale, trade-offs, and progress clearly to align and unblock stakeholders
• Builds sustainable delivery systems, rituals, and operating models - designs scalable processes and governance frameworks that support iteration and learning
• Experience working with international or distributed teams - comfortable operating across time zones and cultures

Cross-Functional Leadership and Influence

• Aligns diverse stakeholders - uniting research, engineering, operations, and leadership around shared priorities
• Harmonises engineering and field realities - balances legal, operational, and technical needs
• Operates with influence, not authority - builds trust, drives clarity, and navigates ambiguity to move teams forward
• Brings presence and empathy across levels - from ICs to execs - and communicates with structure, consistency, and credibility
• Acts as a strategic partner to leadership - trusted to shape priorities, challenge assumptions, and represent cross-functional perspectives
• Demonstrates self-awareness and a growth mindset - open to feedback, embraces stretch, and accelerates others’ growth through support and fostering resilience
• Hands-on leadership style - willing to jump into the trenches and work alongside team members to solve problems

Strategic & Business Impact

• Brings structure to ambiguity - turning complex, ill-defined problems into clear, actionable plans
• Connects team execution to company priorities - surfaces risks, trade-offs, and impact
• Balances long-term thinking with short-term delivery - aligning vision with measurable outcomes
• Operates with a bias for impact - focuses teams on what moves the needle for the business

Startup Mindset

• Pragmatic and action-oriented - balances shipping fast with diving deep when it matters
• Thrives in ambiguity - brings clarity, confidence, and calm when priorities shift
• Builds lightweight process to unblock teams - avoids bureaucracy, focuses on leverage
• Driven by impact - cares deeply about outcomes and doing the right thing for Wayve
• Degree in engineering, computer science or related technical field
• Experience scaling hardware or fleet-based operations in technology environments
• Demonstrated people leadership - builds high-performing, resilient teams
• Power user of AI tooling - seeks leverage through automation and designs AI-augmented systems that collaborate with humans

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.

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.

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