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.
🛠️ About our Fleet Operations Team
Our Fleet Operations Team is responsible for maintaining the safety, performance, and operational readiness of Wayve's autonomous vehicle fleet — from routine servicing and diagnostics to urgent repairs and vehicle readiness for high-visibility events. The team keeps our fleet in peak condition to support testing, demonstrations, and real-world deployment, working closely with engineering, drivers, and operations teams to keep autonomy moving forward, every single day.
🧠 Your day-to-day
Shift Leads are frontline operational leaders responsible for the safe, efficient, and high-performing execution of Wayve’s autonomous driving operations in Japan. You’ll ensure daily operations are conducted with the highest levels of safety and efficiency, and play a crucial role in fostering an inclusive working environment where Vehicle Safety Operators (VSOs) feel their ideas are valued and can voice safety concerns without fear. You’ll work directly within a cutting-edge autonomous vehicle testing environment, partnering with engineering, fleet operations, and automotive stakeholders to support real-world AI development.
We currently have two operational sites in Japan for on-road testing and development: one in Yokohama and one at Tokyo Ryutsu Centre, near Haneda Airport. This role will be mainly based in Tokyo Ryutsu Center, with occasional visits to Yokohama, offering exposure to a wide range of testing and operational activities.
This is a dedicated shift role with two shifts: morning (06:30–15:30) and night (14:30–23:30). We’ll do our best to accommodate your shift preferences, but we can’t always guarantee your first choice. Flexibility outside standard hours may occasionally be required to support testing activities, customer operations, or critical operational events. As Wayve scales in Japan, the role offers a pathway into broader operations, program management, and leadership responsibilities.
Operations run 7 days a week, so depending on your shift, you may need to work weekends and holidays. To compensate, we provide additional special paid leave for employees on the shift schedule.
🧩 What you’ll be working on
You’ll lead a team of VSOs to deliver safe, high-quality, and efficient on-road testing operations.
Leadership and supervision: Lead and support a growing team of VSOs during live testing operations, driving high standards of professionalism, communication, safety, and execution, working closely with Fleet Management, Quality Assurance, and Office Management.
Operational management: Own shift execution across active fleet operations, coordinating people, vehicles, schedules, and priorities in real time, including managing work schedules, assigning tasks, and monitoring performance against company standards and goals.
Performance management: Line manage a group of VSOs working across a rostered shift pattern, with face-to-face, documented contact with each member at least monthly.
Customer engagement: Act as an operational point of contact for selected OEM and partner activities, ensuring smooth execution and professional stakeholder coordination.
Safety and compliance: Ensure all operations comply with company policies and legal regulations, and promote a safe work environment by enforcing safety protocols.
Quality control: Support high-quality data collection and testing execution by identifying operational issues, escalating risks, and maintaining testing standards.
Problem solving: Make real-time operational decisions in fast-moving environments, balancing safety, efficiency, and testing priorities.
Communication: Serve as the operational lead during shift hours, ensuring clear communication and coordination across Fleet Operations and cross-functional teams.
Reporting and documentation: Maintain accurate operational reporting, incident documentation, and shift handovers to support continuous improvement and operational visibility.
Incident management: Be the initial point of contact for an on-road incident and initial “Operations Officer” under the company Major Incident Management Plan.
Training and development: Coordinate individual and collective training and development events with the Quality Assurance team.
Continuous improvement: Identify opportunities to improve operational processes, utilisation, and team effectiveness as Wayve scales in Japan.
🙌 You should apply if
Essential:
You’re fluent in English and Japanese.
You stay calm, decisive, and professional in fast-paced operational environments, with sound judgement under high pressure.
You’re open to feedback and continuously seek to improve your performance and leadership skills.
You enjoy working with people and thrive in a team environment.
You have proven experience as a team coordinator or similar role in fast-moving environments (mobility, logistics, transportation, aviation, hospitality, field operations, etc.).
You have strong communication and stakeholder management skills across frontline teams and cross-functional partners.
You can work under pressure and manage multiple priorities, with excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
You’re proficient in Google Workspace or Microsoft Office.
Additional requirements:
All applicants are required to disclose any second job as part of the application process.
All applications are subject to a health check before/after.
Employment is contingent on passing training, pre-employment checks and ongoing drug/alcohol testing, in accordance with our policy.
🌱 Not ticking every box? That’s totally okay! If you’re passionate about autonomy and keen to learn, we encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet every requirement.
More about Wayve:
🚀 Wayve is building the leading AI platform for autonomous driving. We are pioneering an end to end AI approach that enables vehicles to learn directly from real world experience, developing the ability to adapt, generalise and improve at scale. Instead of relying on hand coded rules or pre mapped environments, our AI Driver learns to drive by understanding the world around it. The result is technology that navigates complex urban environments with intelligence, precision and natural flow, unlocking meaningful advances in both safety and efficiency. We believe autonomy represents a once in a generation transformation in how people and goods move, comparable to the shift from horses to cars, and from human driven vehicles to intelligent machines.
Our ambition is to make autonomy universal. Wayve’s mapless and hardware agnostic AI platform integrates with global OEM partners, enabling continuous software evolution and unlocking advanced levels of automation from L2 plus through to L4 as our core AI model scales. In a race increasingly defined by intelligence and real world learning, Wayve is taking a distinct approach, building a generalisable driving intelligence that can power any vehicle, anywhere. By combining embodied AI with scalable deployment, we are creating technology that can be shaped to each OEM brand and driver experience, accelerating the transition to a safer, more intelligent future of mobility.
🔍 The Interview Process:
Our process is clear and respectful of your time:
Recruiter interview (30 mins, online)
Competency interview with the hiring manager (60 mins, online)
Deep-dive interview (60 mins, presentation; exercise given in advance)
Final interview: mission and values alignment (60 mins, online)
We’ll always explain the format and work around your availability.
What’s in it for you:
💰 Salaries benchmarked against the market annually
📈 Meaningful equity, sharing in the ownership and long term success of Wayve
✈️ Relocation support and visa sponsorship where applicable
📚 Learning and development budgets with support for training, conferences and growth
🩺 Comprehensive benefits including health insurance, dental, enhanced maternity and paternity leave, retirement or pension where applicable, access to therapists, wellbeing partnerships, team socials and more
🤝 Inclusive & Fair Recruitment
Wayve is committed to providing a fair and respectful recruitment process for all candidates, free from harassment and discrimination. The Company has zero tolerance for sexual harassment against job applicants or similar individuals.
All communications relating to recruitment activities are conducted through the Company's recruitment system or using an email address with the Company's domain. Employees do not use their personal email addresses or social media accounts for recruitment-related communications.
Employees do not engage in private communications unrelated to recruitment activities, invite applicants to private meals, request or seek a personal or romantic relationship, or otherwise initiate private contact with applicants.
Sexual remarks or conduct, physical contact, questions concerning sexual matters, and any other conduct constituting harassment are prohibited.
If you have any concerns, you can contact our consultation desk at peoplepartners@wayve.ai. All consultations are treated with strict confidentiality, your privacy will be protected, and no one will be subject to any disadvantageous treatment for raising a concern or cooperating with an inquiry.
A quick, honest note before you apply.
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.
If that sounds like the kind of problem you want to spend your time on, we’d really like to hear from you.
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.
For more information visit Careers at Wayve. To learn more about what drives us, visit Values at Wayve
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.