Strategic Partnership Manager

Wayve; London (KY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Wayve is hiring a Strategic Partnership Manager to own global partnerships for fleet operations across markets. You will set commercial terms, performance standards and manage relationships with external partners to scale our operations.

You will lead onboarding, renewals and due diligence, build playbooks, and drive improvements across markets. The role has high visibility across Fleet Operations, Safety, Legal and Finance teams.

Qualifications

• Proven track record in managing strategic partnerships end-to-end.
• Experience negotiating commercial terms and KPIs/SLAs.
• Operational depth with frontline partner delivery and hiring ramps.
• Comfort working across multiple markets and time zones.
• Ability to structure and drive momentum in ambiguous settings.
• Credible partner to operations leadership.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end relationships with external partners delivering fleet operations across multiple regions.
• Act as the primary link between regional Fleet Operations leads and partners, resolving issues.
• Own contract negotiations, commercial terms, renewals and compliance; lead partner reviews.
• Scan the market, source and evaluate new partners, and bring diligence and proposals to leadership.
• Lead partner onboarding, transitions and offboarding, ensuring operational continuity and learning transfer across markets.
• Build the global playbook and performance framework for fleet operations partnerships, supporting internal change initiatives.
• Provide partnership and commercial support to Robotaxi operations teams as services scale.

Skills

Strategic partnerships

Contract negotiations

Vendor management

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

The role

Wayve is building the AI Driver to power autonomous mobility at global scale. We have launched in London, are preparing for Tokyo and are building toward the US — and none of it scales without fleet operations. Our fleet operations run through a network of external partners who deliver vehicle operations and driving data collection across the UK, Germany, Japan and the US, and that network has grown quickly.

We are hiring a Strategic Partnership Manager to take global ownership of this partner network. You will own the relationships, the commercial terms and the performance standards, decide who we work with next, and build the operating model that lets the network scale. You will also be the fleet operations partnership expert our Robotaxi teams turn to as those services grow. This is a newly created role with real commercial accountability and high visibility across Fleet Operations, Safety, Legal, Finance and company leadership.

Key responsibilities

• Own end-to-end relationships with the external partners who deliver Wayve’s fleet operations across the UK, Germany, Japan and the US — building trust with partner leadership, navigating disagreements and leading major partner changes
• Act as the primary link between regional Fleet Operations leads and partners, resolving performance, capacity and operating-model issues
• Own contract negotiations, commercial terms, renewals and contractual compliance, and lead recurring partner reviews covering hiring, training, KPIs and operations
• Scan the market, source and evaluate new partners, and bring diligence and proposals to leadership for decision
• Lead partner onboarding, transitions and offboarding, ensuring operational continuity and carrying learnings across markets
• Build the global playbook and performance framework for fleet operations partnerships, and support internal change initiatives that depend on partner alignment
• Provide partnership and commercial support to our Robotaxi operations teams on fleet-related topics as our services scale

About you

In order to set you up for success as a Strategic Partnership Manager at Wayve, we’re looking for the following skills and experience.

Essential

• Strong ownership mindset, with a proven track record of managing strategic partnerships or outsourced/vendor relationships end-to-end and clear commercial accountability for the outcome
• Experience negotiating commercial terms and contracts, and holding partners to KPIs or SLAs — including when performance slips
• Operational depth: you have managed partners who deliver a frontline operational workforce, and you are credible on hiring ramp, training, utilisation and quality
• Comfortable operating across multiple markets and time zones, building trust with partners and stakeholders in different cultures and operating models
• Able to bring structure and momentum to fast-moving, ambiguous situations, particularly where a partner network has outgrown its operating model
• A credible internal partner to operations leaders — you work through them rather than around them

Desirable

• 6+ years in strategic partnerships, vendor or outsourcing management, mobility or operations roles
• Experience in mobility, autonomy, logistics or another highly operational or regulated industry
• Experience managing partners in Germany, Japan and/or the US
• Experience standing up a partnership operating model or playbook from scratch