Commercial & Ops Partnership Manager

As a key local team member in Japan, you will play a critical role in enabling Wayve’s operations and strategic initiatives on the ground. You will work cross-functionally with internal teams and external partners to ensure smooth execution, clear communication, and alignment with Wayve’s standards. Your responsibilities will include:

Key responsibilities:

• Ensure Operational Excellence with Local Partners. Partner with Ops team to work closely with Wayve’s local operations partners to support day-to-day execution, ensuring services are delivered to the required quality and safety standards.
• Support Data Collection and Partnerships. Collaborate with the data partnerships team to facilitate the rollout of data collection activities in Japan. Engage with local data providers to establish and maintain strong working relationships that align with Wayve’s technical and commercial goals.
• Provide AV & Remote Operations Support. Contribute to the daily operation of local and remote AV operation in Japan. Provide hands-on assistance to ensure safe and reliable performance in the field.
• Act as the Local Point of Contact (POC) for Policy Engagement. Serve as the primary liaison with local authorities and stakeholders, including import agents, police departments, and other local contacts to support compliance, permissions, and regulatory alignment.
• Provide Onsite & Facility Operations Support. Assist Office Manager in preparing and maintaining local facilities and sites, including setup for workshops, vehicle charging infrastructure, and network connectivity for testing and operational needs.
• Act as the Language and Cultural Bridging. Facilitate smooth communication between local Japanese stakeholders and Wayve’s global team and partners. Provide translation (written and verbal) and cultural context to support clear understanding and effective collaboration.

In order to set you up for success as a Commercial & Ops Partnership Manager at Wayve, we’re looking for the following skills and experience.  

Essential 

• Strong sense of ownership with a proactive approach to leading projects from ideation to delivery, ensuring outcomes are achieved effectively.
• Action-oriented mindset with a focus on driving meaningful impact through effective stakeholder engagement.
• Resilience in the face of ambiguity and adversity, maintaining optimism and proactively addressing challenges when plans change.
• Ability to collaborate across internal and external cross-functional teams, bringing in the right people to resolve issues and maintain progress.
• Clear and effective communication skills to ensure alignment on goals and enable productive solutions.
• Humility to approach setbacks or incorrect assumptions as opportunities for growth and learning.
• Big-picture perspective to align long-term goals with near-term operational tasks.
• Experience working in fast-paced start-up environments with the ability to adapt to dynamic conditions.
• Fluent in Japanese and English at working level with local Japanese and international partners and a global team 

Desirable 

• Passionate and curious about AI, AV and Robotics industry
• Experience working with Japanese government on AV/ADAS

This is a full-time role based in our office in Japan.  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.