Head of US Public Policy

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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.

In our fast-paced environment 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

Wayve is hiring a Senior Public Policy Lead to own our US public policy program. This person will be the senior Wayve policy representative for state and federal engagement, with an initial focus on California. This new leader will also support the design and execution of an adaptable multi-state engagement that supports Wayve’s evolving commercial strategy. You will define and deliver regulatory wins that enable testing, pilots and commercialization, while partnering closely with Commercial, Product, Engineering, Safety and Legal to support Wayve’s GTM in the US.

Key responsibilities:

• Develop and own Wayve’s US public policy strategy, developing a multi-state playbook, ensuring seamless alignment with global policy objectives and commercial goals.

• Build and lead the U.S. public policy function.

• Lead Wayve’s engagement with federal agencies (e.g., USDOT, NHTSA, EPA where relevant), Congressional offices, federal rulemaking and agency consultations, and national standards bodies.

• Advocate for regulatory approaches, guidance and funding that enable safe AV testing and deployment at scale.

• Own engagement with California state agencies (e.g., DMV, CPUC and relevant state agencies), governors’ offices, state legislators and city/municipal agencies.

• Establish ROI and build coalitions with industry partners, trade associations, think tanks, academic institutions and civil society to accelerate constructive, risk-based policy outcomes.

• Draft and deliver regulatory submissions, technical briefings, testimony, consultation responses and policy whitepapers tailored for U.S. federal and state audiences with support from our agency.

• Develop U.S.-facing policy communications and thought leadership to raise Wayve’s profile and shape public debate.

• Prepare and coach senior spokespeople for Congressional hearings, agency briefings and public testimony as needed.

Essential skills

• Location & language: Flexible in US but CA preferred. Fluent English; excellent written and oral communications.

• 8+ years of professional experience in public policy, government affairs, regulatory affairs, or external affairs — with senior/leadership experience and a record of delivering U.S. federal and state policy outcomes.

• Deep knowledge of the U.S. federal regulatory landscape for transportation and emerging mobility, and of California’s regulatory and political environment (DMV, CARB, CPUC, state legislature).

• Demonstrated success influencing national and state policy outcomes through direct engagement with federal agencies, Congressional staff, state agencies, governors’ offices and local governments.

• Strong technical literacy in autonomous vehicles, AI, data and safety — comfortable working with engineering teams and translating technical issues for non-technical audiences.

• Track record designing and running multi-state engagement programs that can be scaled up/down and reallocated quickly as commercial strategy changes

Desirable

• Experience working with international automotive regulatory fora e.g. UNECE

• Knowledge of Type Approval and/or other international automotive regulation

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

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Wayve is committed to creating an inclusive interview experience. If you require any accommodations or adjustments to participate fully in our interview process, please let us know

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

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.