Director, Technical Program Management — Driver Out

Wayve; Sunnyvale (CA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work policy

Office in Sunnyvale

Job summary

Wayve in Sunnyvale is seeking a Director of Technical Program Management for Driver Out to own the multi-year program to operationalise Wayve's autonomy tech—from first driver-out demo to a scaled on-road service.

You will lead an org-wide TPM function spanning safety, system architecture, V&V, hardware/software, remote assistance, and operations, collaborating with OEMs and partners to deliver safe, credible progress.

Qualifications

• 10+ years delivering complex programs at senior levels.
• Extensive AV/robotics experience toward driver-out / L4.
• Familiar with safety cases, validation, ISO 26262, SOTIF, and safety management.

Responsibilities

• Own the Driver Out program end-to-end from concept to operation.
• Lead the TPM organization and set operating model across workstreams.
• Manage dependencies, risks, and trade-offs across all workstreams.
• Own the safety-critical spine and align safety arguments across teams.
• Partner with engineering, science, safety, product, and operations, plus external partners.
• Establish governance, milestones, dashboards, and risk budgeting.
• Report progress and readiness to executives and steer major decisions.

Skills

Program management

Leadership

AV/robotics experience

Safety-critical delivery

Systems thinking

Cross-functional leadership

Strategic & business impact

Clear communication

Education

Engineering or Computer Science degree

Job description

The role

As Director of Technical Program Management for Driver Out at Wayve, you'll own the multi-year program that takes Wayve's autonomy technology and operationalises it - from our first eyes-off, driver-out demonstration through to a productised, scaled service on public roads. Driver Out is the underlying technology program behind Wayve's robotaxi ambitions: where the robotaxi pilots prove the product in different markets, you own the safety, systems, and delivery foundations that make driver-out real.

You'll lead an org-wide effort spanning driving-model performance and safety, behaviour validation, the safety case, system architecture, functional safety and V&V, vehicle hardware and software, remote assistance, and operations - turning a complex web of "must be true" conditions into a sequenced, credible plan. You'll partner with engineering, science, safety, product, and operations leaders (and external partners such as OEMs and Uber), and build and lead the TPM team beneath the program. Your impact is measured in how safely and predictably Wayve moves from driver-in to driver-out. A successful leader here is a force multiplier - creating clarity across a huge, ambiguous, safety-critical program.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the Driver Out program end-to-end: Define and drive the multi-year plan and milestones - from the first driver-out demonstration to public-road product integration and minimal scaling - from concept to operation.
• Lead the program org: Build, coach, and grow the TPM team across the program; set the operating model and hold workstream leads to account.
• Drive the critical path: Turn a complex set of "must be true" conditions into a sequenced plan; own dependencies, risk, and trade-offs across every workstream.
• Own the safety-critical spine: Bring the safety case, behaviour validation, functional safety (ISO 26262), SOTIF (ISO 21448), cybersecurity, and the Safety Management System together into a credible, signed-off argument for driver-out.
• Partner across the company and externally: Align engineering, science, safety, product, and operations - and external partners (OEMs, Uber) - on scope, sequencing, and readiness.
• Establish scalable practices: Governance, milestone and launch-readiness reviews, KPIs and dashboards, escalations, and risk-budget management.
• Represent Driver Out at the top: Report progress, risk, and readiness to the executive team, and steer the biggest calls.

About you

In order to set you up for success as Director of Technical Program Management for Driver Out at Wayve, we're looking for the following skills and experience.

Essential

• 10+ years delivering complex programs, incl. director-level leadership: You've owned large, multi-year, cross-org technical programs end-to-end and built and led program-management teams. Deep ownership and a bias for action.
• Extensive AV / robotics experience: Deep experience delivering autonomous-vehicle or comparable safety-critical robotics programs - ideally toward driver-out / L4 - with real fluency in the systems, safety, and operational realities involved.
• Safety-critical delivery: Fluent with safety cases, behaviour validation, functional safety (ISO 26262), SOTIF (ISO 21448), and safety management systems; you can hold a credible driver-out safety argument together across many workstreams.
• People leadership: You build, coach, and grow high-performing teams - and develop other leaders - and raise the bar on the craft.
• Technically strong: Credible with engineers and scientists across autonomy, ML, vehicle hardware / software, and systems, even though you won't write production code.
• Stays neutral and adapts under pressure: Effective in ambiguous, fast-moving environments; you flex your style and bring structure without slowing delivery.
• Systems thinking: You reason about how the parts of a complex, safety-critical system fit together, and how a change in one area ripples into others.
• Product-minded: You focus on outcomes and the people your programs serve - prioritising by impact and defining what good looks like, not just tracking activity.
• Exceptional cross-functional leadership: You align and influence engineering, science, safety, product, operations, and external partners at the most senior levels, without relying on authority.
• Strategic & business impact: You link the program to Wayve's commercial path to market - and make the trade-offs that keep driver-out both safe and achievable.
• Clear communicator: You set direction with clarity, steer with the right metrics, and communicate risk and readiness crisply to executives.
• Growth mindset: Open to feedback and always looking to improve.

Desirable

• Experience taking an AV program to eyes-off / driverless operation, or launching a comparable safety-critical service.
• Familiarity with OEM and mobility-partner (e.g. ride-hail) collaboration.
• Background in autonomous vehicles, robotics, or another large-scale safety-critical program.
• An engineering or computer science degree, or experience working as an engineer.

This is a full-time role based in our office in Sunnyvale. At Wayve we want the best of all worlds, so we operate a hybrid working policy that combines time together in our offices and workshops to fuel innovation, culture, relationships and learning, with time spent working from home.