Distinguished Software Architect

Wayve • Sunnyvale, CA

17h • $500,000 - $600,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Wayve is building the next generation of embodied AI for autonomous driving. As we move from developing our core technology to deploying it across multiple vehicle platforms, OEM programmes and Robotaxi applications, the complexity of our software systems is growing significantly. We’re looking for a Distinguished Software Architect to help define how our software architecture evolves through this next phase of scale. This is a highly cross-functional individual contributor role, working across our onboard software, AI, simulation, training and inference, product engineering and Robotaxi teams. You’ll work alongside some of our most senior technical and engineering leaders to ensure that the systems we build today can scale across the products and platforms we need tomorrow.

Requirements

• Operated as a Principal, Distinguished or equivalent senior individual contributor and have shaped the architecture of large, complex software systems.
• Track record of leading significant technical or architectural change across multiple teams or engineering organisations.
• Exceptional systems thinker who can understand a broad technical landscape while still going deep where necessary.
• Built or evolved software platforms that needed to operate reliably across significant scale and complexity.
• Comfortable making difficult technical trade-offs and can distinguish between what is right for an individual team and what is right for the broader system.
• Can influence senior engineers and engineering leaders through technical credibility rather than organisational authority.
• Care deeply about software design, engineering quality and creating systems that enable other engineers to move faster.
• Can enter unfamiliar technical domains, learn quickly and develop strong technical judgment.
• Combine architectural thinking with a strong bias towards execution and turning technical direction into real engineering change.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in autonomous driving, robotics or automotive systems
• Solved complex software architecture problems at significant scale and can bring that experience into a new technical domain.

Responsibilities

• Operate across engineering organisations rather than within a single team, developing a deep understanding of how our software systems fit together and where architectural decisions in one area impact another.
• Work closely with senior engineers and engineering leaders to identify architectural challenges, shape technical direction and lead major changes that span multiple teams.
• Act as a trusted technical partner on some of our hardest engineering decisions, helping teams navigate trade-offs between immediate delivery needs and the long-term health and scalability of the overall system.
• Lead through technical credibility and influence, creating alignment across teams and helping raise the bar for software design and engineering practices across Wayve.
• Define architectural direction across Wayve’s software ecosystem as we scale across an increasing number of vehicle platforms and products.
• Create clear software boundaries, interfaces and abstractions that allow teams to develop quickly without introducing unnecessary fragmentation.
• Lead large architectural changes that span multiple engineering organisations.
• Improve how software is developed, integrated, tested and deployed across different vehicle platforms and programmes.
• Work across onboard software, AI, simulation, training and inference, product engineering and Robotaxi systems.
• Help shape the development platforms and engineering systems that underpin how Wayve builds software at scale.
• Partner with teams working with OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers to ensure our architecture can support different production environments and integrations.
• Act as a technical decision-maker and tiebreaker on complex architectural decisions.
• Help establish a strong engineering and design culture for building large-scale, safety-critical software systems.

Benefits

• Salaries benchmarked against the market annually
• Meaningful equity, sharing in the ownership and long term success of Wayve
• Relocation support and visa sponsorship where applicable
• Hybrid working, core hours and the chance to work hands on in vehicle workshops and labs
• Learning and development budgets with support for training, conferences and growth
• Comprehensive benefits including health insurance, dental, enhanced maternity and paternity leave, retirement or pension where applicable, access to therapists, wellbeing partnerships, team socials and more

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal
• Education Level: No Education Listed