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 seeking a Sensor Systems Architect within the Product & Delivery (P&D) organisation to own the definition and integration of sensor systems as part of the end-to-end autonomy stack.

This role focuses on system-level sensing requirements and integration, ensuring that sensor configurations are optimised for driving use cases, ODD coverage, and autonomy performance across customer programs.

You will work closely with Hardware teams—who lead component-level benchmarking, sensor evaluation, and base image quality—to translate system needs into production-ready sensor configurations and vehicle integration strategies.

You will act as the owner of the sensor–model–performance boundary at system level, ensuring sensing is defined, integrated, and validated in the context of real-world driving behaviour, not just hardware capability.

Key Responsibilities

System-driven Sensor Architecture

Define sensor system requirements from driving use cases, safety goals, and product constraints
Develop end-to-end sensing concepts (modality, placement, coverage, redundancy) aligned with autonomy performance for mass production
Translate system needs into quantitative KPIs (coverage, FoV, latency, detection range, etc.)
Ensure alignment with Wayve’s AI architecture and overall system design

Sensor Concept Co-Development

Co-develop sensor system concepts with Hardware and core algorithm teams, spanning what matters AV2.0:

Sensor selection and characteristics
Imaging pipeline (exposure, HDR, ISP)
System integration and data interfaces

Contribute system-level requirements while leveraging HW expertise in benchmarking and component evaluation
Ensure a seamless link between:

Component capabilities (HW)
System performance and behaviour

Sensor Integration & Vehicle Architecture

Define sensor layout, placement, and integration strategies for production vehicle platforms
Translate system concepts into vehicle-ready solutions (mounting, placement, synchronisation, calibration)
Ensure integration decisions preserve perception performance and remain consistent from development to production

System-level Validation & Performance Closure

Validate sensor system performance using:

Fleet data
Simulation / replay
Program-specific validation

Establish clear linkage between:

Sensor system design → system KPIs

Identify and resolve gaps between expected and observed system performance

OEM Program Architecture Leadership

Act as technical owner of sensor system architecture in OEM programs
Co-design solutions with OEMs and Tier1s, balancing:

System performance
Vehicle constraints
Cost and scalability

Drive data-backed architectural decisions across stakeholders

Productisation & Development Vehicle Platform Consistency

Ensure sensor systems are designed for seamless transition from development to production, including:

Consistent data characteristics
Stable installation and calibration assumptions

Avoid late-stage rework by aligning sensor architecture with production constraints early
Support sensor bring-up, integration validation, and program readiness

About You

Essential

Strong experience defining sensor systems at system level, beyond component selection, including integration into production vehicle architectures
Proven track record of:

Translating driving use cases → sensor system concepts → validated system performance
Driving architectural decisions through data, measurement, and real-world validation

Experience working across:

System architecture
AI / perception performance
Vehicle integration and product constraints

Solid understanding of:

Camera systems (sensor, exposure, HDR, ISP pipelines, calibration, image artefacts)
Radar and/or LiDAR fundamentals

Experience collaborating across hardware and software domains to co-develop system-level technical concepts
Ability to reason across:

End-to-end autonomy performance
Safety (ISO 26262 / SOTIF)
Production constraints (cost, power, packaging, scalability)

Strong communication skills, with the ability to align and influence cross-functional teams and OEM/Tier1 stakeholders through evidence-based decisions

Desirable

Experience leading or contributing to sensor system architecture in production ADAS/AV programs
Experience working with ML-based perception systems and understanding their implications on sensing
Familiarity with fleet data analysis, simulation, and replay-based validation workflows
Experience in OEM or Tier1 co-development environments, including system-level trade-offs and integration constraints
Experience in camera or sensing system development across Dev → Production transitions
Programming experience for data analysis, prototyping, or validation tooling

This role is a full-time role based in Sunnyvale, CA (hybrid) and the reasonably estimated salary for this role ranges from $252,500 to $298,200, plus a competitive equity package. Actual compensation is based on the candidate's skills, qualifications, and experience. 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.

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.

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.

For more information visit Careers at Wayve.

To learn more about what drives us, visit Values at Wayve

For US candidates only, please visit E-Verify Notice and Participation and Right to Work

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.

System Architect - Sensors

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About the role