Principal System Architect

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 Engineering Teams   Product Architecture & Safety (PAS) defines, governs and validates the system and product architecture of Wayve AI Driver across programs, giving OEMs and partners one technical voice. Our growing system architecture team works across assisted driving through L4 driver-out.   🧠 Your day-to-day   • Own end-to-end system architecture, interface contracts, assumptions of use and decision records. • Lead technical discussions with OEMs, Tier 1s and partners, aligning internal architecture owners around a common direction. • Define ECU and sensor requirements, guide system engineers and support integration planning, bring-up, triage and system-level debugging on vehicles and HiL/ViL benches.   🧩 What you’ll be working on   Shape how Wayve AI Driver is deployed across L0–L4, with near-term focus on L3 eyes-off and L4 driver-out. The scope starts where Robotaxi needs are highest and grows with the business.   • Translate use cases, ODD and operational constraints into reusable product, system and integration architecture. • Define sensor and compute topology, vehicle interfaces, safety mechanisms, redundancy, fallback and minimal-risk manoeuvre assumptions with safety engineering. • Define on-board/off-board architecture for connectivity, remote assistance and operation, and fleet operations, including latency, availability and Wayve/OEM/operator ownership. • Distinguish core product changes from partner-specific integration so deployment needs strengthen one common architecture.   🙌 You should apply if   Essential • Strong experience in system architecture, systems engineering or solution architecture for ADAS / AD, robotics or complex safety-relevant embedded systems. • Broad understanding across system and vehicle-level architecture, sensors, compute and hardware, embedded software, vehicle integration and safety. • Experience defining and owning product or integration architecture for complex, cross-functional systems end-to-end. • Ability to translate high-level product or deployment goals into concrete architectural requirements and trade-offs. • Experience working across multiple technical domains and aligning different engineering stakeholders. • Experience leading technical discussions with OEMs, Tier 1s or other external partners. • Working knowledge of ISO 26262 and ISO 21448 (SOTIF) and how they shape system architecture. • Strong written and verbal communication, including architecture documents that others build from. • Hands-on enough to support technical problem-solving, bring-up and integration trade-offs in practice.   Desirable • Experience with L3 eyes-off, L4 or robotaxi systems, including fail-operational and redundancy concepts. • Experience with assisted driving (L0–L2+) functions and their system requirements. • Experience with AI- or ML-based driving systems and their deployment on embedded platforms. • Familiarity with automotive middleware, real-time operating systems, Linux and embedded platform integration. • Experience with vehicle connectivity, remote assistance, remote operation / teleoperation, fleet operations, HMI or other robotaxi application-layer integration. • Experience bridging internal product architecture and external customer integration.   🌱 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 experien