Head of Application Software Architecture

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 

As Head of Application Software Architecture, you will play a key role in designing the software architecture and integration layers that enable our AI product to operate across a wide range of customer-provided hardware and software environments. You will work closely with the Director of Application Software to define a scalable, portable, and robust software framework for production deployment across different OEM platforms. You will also guide and mentor engineers, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and contribute directly to technical delivery.

Key responsibilities

• Design and maintain the application-level software architecture enabling integration of our AI stack into multiple target environments.
• Develop portable software libraries and adaptation layers for automotive platforms including Linux + hypervisors, QNX, and Adaptive AUTOSAR.
• Define clear APIs and software interfaces that abstract away platform-specific details while maintaining performance and safety.
• Collaborate with systems engineers, ML engineers, and product teams to capture integration and deployment requirements.
• Evaluate customer platform specifications and lead efforts to adapt the product for successful integration.
• Conduct hands-on development and code reviews, ensuring high code quality and alignment with functional safety and cybersecurity standards.
• Act as a technical liaison with OEM and Tier 1 partners during integration, debugging, and validation.
• Support the definition of application-layer safety mechanisms and contribute to safety analysis artifacts (e.g., SW FMEA, safety manual inputs).

About you 

In order to set you up for success as Director of Application Software at Wayve, we’re looking for the following skills and experience.

Essential

• 8+ years of experience in embedded or automotive software development.
• Expertise in C++ (modern C++14/17), Python, and multi-threaded real-time systems.
• Deep experience architecting cross-platform software that runs on heterogeneous automotive platforms (e.g., NVIDIA Drive, Qualcomm Ride).
• Solid understanding of automotive software architectures: Linux (with hypervisor/virtualization), QNX, and Adaptive AUTOSAR.
• Strong knowledge of automotive communication protocols (CAN, Ethernet, SOME/IP) and system-level integration topics (boot-time orchestration, inter-process communication).
• Experience working within ISO 26262 environments and contributing to safety-relevant software design.
• Familiarity with Yocto, build systems (e.g., Bazel, CMake), and containerization tools (Docker, OCI).
• Excellent problem-solving skills and ability to drive architecture decisions from concept to implementation.

Desirable

• Exposure to AI/ML system integration in embedded environments.
• Experience with BSPs, device drivers, and low-level OS configuration.
• Familiarity with OTA, secure boot, and automotive security standards (ISO/SAE 21434).
• Track record of successful integration with Tier 1 or OEM partners.

This is a full-time, office-based role located in either Sunnyvale or London, depending on the candidate's place of residence. 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. 

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 

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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.