Technical Program Manager, Robotaxi

Wayve; United States; Hybrid; USD 114,000 - 152,000; Full time

Job summary

Wayve is seeking a Technical Program Manager for Robotaxi based in Yokohama/Tokyo. You’ll own programs from vehicle readiness to launch and in-market scaling, coordinating across autonomy, software, hardware, operations and local partners.

You’ll bridge Wayve's global R&D with local delivery in Japan as the only TPM on the ground. You’ll drive delivery rhythms, manage dependencies and risks, and align execution with business goals.

Qualifications

• 5+ years leading complex, multi-team programs.
• Credible with engineers across autonomy, vehicle software, and hardware.
• Able to operate in ambiguity and safety-critical environments.
• Strong planning, prioritisation and risk management.
• Excellent written and oral communication across time zones.
• Comfortable working across geographies and cultures; Japanese a plus.

Responsibilities

• Drive program delivery: Own the lifecycle of robotaxi programs from readiness to launch and in-market scaling.
• Manage dependencies & risk: Track and elevate options with clear trade-offs.
• Coordinate across functions & geographies: Align engineering, fleet ops, safety and local partners in Japan.
• Support launch & operations on the ground: Hands-on TPM support in Yokohama.
• Support local vehicle programs: Flex to assist vehicle hardware/software as needed.
• Run delivery rhythms: Plan, stand-ups, reviews and retros for multi-team delivery.
• Keep stakeholders aligned: Communicate progress and risk to engineers, partners and leaders.

Skills

Bias for action

Software & hardware

Neutral under pressure

Strong project management

Excellent communicator

Cross-cultural & on-ground

Generalist range

Data-driven

Growth mindset

Systems thinking

Product-minded

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.

Here’s what this particular role covers.

The role

As a Technical Program Manager for Robotaxi at Wayve, you'll own the programs that bring our robotaxi service to life - from vehicle and fleet readiness to on-the-ground launch and scaling in market. Based in Yokohama, you'll work across autonomy, vehicle software, hardware, operations, safety, and local partners to turn Wayve's AI Driver into a safe, reliable robotaxi service - keeping complex, multi-team, cross-geography delivery predictable in a fast-moving, ambiguous environment. You'll often bridge Wayve's global R&D with local delivery in Japan. As the only TPM on the ground in Japan, this is a generalist role: alongside robotaxi delivery, you'll help support local vehicle programs across hardware and software as needed.

Your impact will be measured by your ability to deliver programs, drive efficiency, manage risk, and align execution with business goals. A successful TPM is a force multiplier - helping teams move faster, more effectively, and with purpose.

Key responsibilities:

• Drive program delivery: Own the lifecycle of robotaxi programs - from vehicle and fleet readiness to launch and in-market scaling - improving delivery through structured execution and coordination.

• Manage dependencies & risk: Track and manage dependencies, risks, and trade-offs across autonomy, vehicle, operations, and safety - and elevate early with clear options.

• Coordinate across functions & geographies: Keep engineering, fleet operations, safety, and local partner teams aligned - bridging Wayve's global R&D with local delivery in Japan.

• Support launch & operations on the ground: Provide hands‑on program support for robotaxi launch and in-market operations, on the ground in Yokohama.

• Support local vehicle programs: As the only TPM in Japan, flex to support local vehicle hardware and software programs as needed.

• Run delivery rhythms: Run planning, stand‑ups, reviews, and retros that keep multi‑team delivery predictable and reliable.

• Keep stakeholders aligned: Communicate progress and risk to engineers, partners, and senior leaders, tailoring updates to each audience.

• Champion continuous improvement: Improve tooling, processes, and ways of working, and share patterns across the TPM org

About you

In order to set you up for success as a Technical Program Manager for Robotaxi at Wayve, we're looking for the following skills and experience.

Essential

• Bias for action: 5+ years leading complex, multi-team programs (or a strong record at this level). You lead high‑complexity work across teams and get things done.

• Technically strong across software and hardware: Credible with engineers across autonomy, vehicle software, and vehicle hardware; you reason about how the AI Driver runs as a robotaxi service on real vehicles - and can support vehicle hardware / software programs too - even though you won't write production code.

• Stays neutral and adapts under pressure: Effective in ambiguous, safety‑critical environments; you flex your style and bring structure without slowing delivery.

• Strong project management: Skilled at planning, prioritising, and managing risk and dependencies across teams.

• Exceptional communicator & collaborator: Operating from a remote office, you keep distributed teams aligned across time zones - communicating with clarity, proactively and in writing - and influence without authority across all stakeholders.

• Cross‑cultural & on the ground: Comfortable working across geographies and cultures, and hands‑on with vehicles and operations in Japan; Japanese language skills a plus.

• Generalist range: As the only TPM in-country, comfortable flexing beyond robotaxi to support vehicle hardware and software programs; happy wearing multiple hats.

• Data‑driven: Comfortable defining and using metrics to steer delivery and decisions.

• Growth mindset: Open to feedback and always looking to improve.

• Systems thinking: You reason about how the parts of a complex 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.

Desirable

• Robotaxi / AV operations, fleet, mobility, ride‑hailing, or automotive experience; experience launching or scaling a service in market.

• Exposure to ML, autonomy, or other compute‑heavy / safety‑critical domains; experience working across global and local teams. Japanese language skills and/or based in (or willing to relocate to) Yokohama / Tokyo.

• An engineering or computer science degree, or experience working as an engineer.

This is a full-time role based in our office in Yokohama / Tokyo, Japan. 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.

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.