Principal Engineer, Wayve
Embedded Vehicle Software
$247.5-457.9k
+ Equity
2-5 days a week in office (Sunnyvale, CA)
Autonomous mobility driven by AI
Be an early applicant
Autonomous mobility driven by AI
501-1000 employees
Be an early applicant
$247.5-457.9k
+ Equity
2-5 days a week in office (Sunnyvale, CA)
501-1000 employees
Company mission
To reimagine autonomous mobility with embodies intelligence, aiming to lead the world into a new era of autonomy.
Role
Who you are
- You are a seasoned systems architect with deep technical roots in embedded software, who still enjoys staying close to the technology
- You’re comfortable diving into system-level details, whether debugging a performance issue, reviewing C++ code, or defining middleware interfaces, while also maintaining the architectural perspective to guide large-scale systems
- You’ve successfully delivered complex, high-performance, or safety-critical software systems into production, and you’re used to operating at the scale and rigor of Big Tech or high-end automotive programs
- 15+ years in software and systems engineering, with strong expertise in embedded systems for robotics, automotive, or similar domains
- Demonstrated hands-on software development experience in C/C++, with familiarity in Python or Rust
- Proven ability to deliver large-scale systems to production, with deep involvement in architecture, design, and code
- Expertise in system performance analysis, optimization, and debugging
- Experience leading through technical influence — shaping teams of 25+ engineers and impacting organizations of 100+ engineers
- Ability to represent the company in external technical discussions with OEMs, chip vendors, and partners
- 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
Desirable
- Automotive or safety-critical software experience
- Familiarity with NVIDIA Drive platforms (Orin, DriveOS, DriveWorks)
- Experience with automotive software frameworks (e.g. AUTOSAR)
What the job involves
- Wayve is building the next generation of autonomous driving technology: intelligent, adaptable, and software-defined
- As Principal Engineer, Embedded Software Architecture, you will be the hands-on technical leader who defines and leads the architecture of our vehicle software platform, powering the AI systems that bring autonomy to life
- You will work with the most advanced embedded compute platforms from NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and other leading partners, defining how our operating systems, middleware, and hardware abstraction layers come together to enable scalable, efficient, and safe vehicle software
- This is a deeply technical role where you’ll stay close to the code, prototype solutions, review critical components, and directly influence system performance and reliability
- You will also shape technical direction across teams and act as a senior representative of Wayve in external technical discussions with OEM and silicon partners
- Design and evolve the embedded software architecture for Wayve’s next-generation autonomy platform
- Develop and guide hands-on prototypes and reference implementations that demonstrate key architectural decisions
- Analyze and optimize system performance, reliability, and scalability across the embedded stack
- Collaborate cross-functionally with internal AI, platform, and vehicle systems teams, and with external partners including NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and OEMs
- Drive the adoption of modern development practices, tools, and standards for high-assurance embedded software
- Mentor senior engineers through technical reviews and joint design work — leading through technical depth and influence, not headcount
- Represent Wayve as the principal technical voice in discussions with partners and customers on software and hardware architecture
Our take
Wayve is developing AI that teaches cars to drive autonomously using reinforcement learning, simulation, and computer vision. Wayve’s core premise is that the big breakthrough in self-driving cars will come from better AI brains rather than more sensors or “hand-coded” rules which it believes are highly restrictive and not at all scalable.
The company said that it trains its autonomous driving system using simulated environments and then transfers that knowledge into the real world, where it emulates how humans adapt to conditions in real time. It ultimately relies on end-to-end deep learning AI rather than hard-engineered AI. This is one of the world's hardest problems to solve, but Wayve has made an exciting start and is taking a very different approach to competitors like Uber and Waymo, who are relying more on sensors.
Following a few years of innovative breakthroughs, Wayve now has backing from high-profile investors such as Microsoft and angels, including Uber's chief scientist Zoubin Ghahramani and Pieter Abbeel, a UC Berkeley robotics professor and pioneer of deep reinforcement learning. The company's strategic partnerships with outfits like Asda and Ocado to test-run autonomous deliveries, as well as publicity through the Minister is a show of confidence in the future of Wayve's solution to autonomous driving.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Company
Funding (last 2 of 9 rounds)
Apr 2026
$60m
SERIES D
Feb 2026
$1.2bn
SERIES D
Total funding: $2.6bn
Company benefits
- Private healthcare: Choose our optional health insurance for comprehensive coverage for you and your family.
- Paid time off: Paid vacation plus public holidays and additional leave programs, ensuring you have time to unwind.
- Mental health resources: Through Spill, you can access therapy and mental health support.
- Community and socials: Join clubs or attend team socials to connect over hobbies, sports, or just for fun.
- Competitive compensation: Our compensation package includes cash and equity, making you a true partner in our success.
- Learning and development: Budgets for books, courses, and company-wide training to support your continuous growth.
Company HQ
London, UK
Leadership
Alex Kendall
(Co-Founder & CEO)Alex has a PhD from Cambridge in Computer Vision & Robotics. Prior to Wayve, he was a Research Fellow at Trinity College, a Scientific Advisor at Scape Technologies, a Research Engineer at Skydio, and a Software Engineer at Beca.
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