Lead Solution Architect

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.

At Wayve, 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!

The role

We are looking for an experienced and visionary Lead Solution Architect to take a key role in shaping and managing the integration of our autonomous driving technology with automotive OEMs. In this role, you will have the opportunity to define and drive the product roadmap for cutting-edge automotive solutions, while building and leading a new department. The ideal candidate will bridge the gap between product strategy and technical implementation, ensuring our solutions integrate seamlessly with a variety of vehicle systems, helping to shape the future of autonomous mobility.

Key responsibilities:

• Define and manage the technical architecture of our autonomous driving solution, focusing on the interface between our software and vehicle systems
• Collaborate with Product Management to translate product requirements into actionable technical specifications
• Negotiate and define integration boundaries with automotive OEMs, ensuring our product meets industry standards and OEM-specific requirements
• Work closely with Software Architects to ensure the technical feasibility and optimal implementation of product features
• Coordinate with Validation Engineers to define testing requirements and ensure the final product meets all specifications
• Develop and maintain technical documentation, including interface specifications, integration guides, and architectural diagrams
• Stay current with emerging technologies and industry trends in autonomous driving and vehicle integration
• Participate in client meetings and technical discussions to represent our product's capabilities and integration potential
• Critically assess the current technical landscape for SDVs, specially in the area of OS and middleware and be open to challenge it with innovative (for the automotive industry) concepts.

About you

In order to set you up for success as a Lead Solution Architect at Wayve, we’re looking for the following skills and experience.

Essential

• Technical Architecture Expertise: Proven experience in defining and managing technical architecture for autonomous driving or vehicle systems, particularly at the software-vehicle interface i.e. advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS)
• Proven Leadership: At least 5 years in a leadership role within software development or embedded systems, including 3 years directly managing a software development team through all stages of the software lifecycle.
• Automotive: understanding of automotive electronics, communication protocols (e.g., CAN, FlexRay, Automotive Ethernet), and E/E architectures
• OEM Integration & Standards: Experience in negotiating and defining integration boundaries with automotive OEMs, ensuring compliance with industry standards and OEM-specific requirements and regulations (e.g. ISO 26262, AUTOSAR, MISRA)
• Communication: Ability to translate product requirements into detailed technical specifications, ensuring alignment between technical and business objectives.
• Strategic and Analytical Thinking: Ability to conceive and implement strategic technology projects aligned with both immediate and long-term business objectives.
• Leadership and Collaboration Skills: Excellent leadership qualities, capable of leading cross-functional teams and projects. Strong ability to collaborate across divisions and effectively engage stakeholders.
• Mentorship and Cultural Development: Provide mentorship to engineers, guiding them in their professional growth. Actively lead forums such as design reviews and architecture planning to promote a culture of engineering excellence and compliance.

Desirable

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field
• Experience working as a Tier 1 supplier in the automotive industry
• Knowledge of generative AI, LLMs, and transformer architectures
• Familiarity with end-to-end approaches in autonomous driving
• Experience with automotive OEM integration projects

This is a full-time role based in Sunnyvale, CA. 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, and time spent working from home. We operate core working hours so you can determine the schedule that works best for you and your team.

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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.

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.