Technical Business Development Manager

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. Technical Business Development Manager (OEM / Tier-1 / Technology Partners) 🤝 About our Business Development Team As a Technical Business Development Manager at Wayve, you’ll play a pivotal role in scaling strategic OEM partnerships across Europe. You’ll own the front end of major RFQ/RFI and pre-nomination activity, shaping how we position our autonomy and automotive software capabilities with customers. You’ll operate at the intersection of automotive technology and complex commercial partnerships, working closely with Product, Engineering and technical leads to translate technical capabilities into compelling customer outcomes. You’ll have direct exposure to senior customer stakeholders and the opportunity to materially influence commercial momentum in one of Wayve’s priority geographies. 🧠 Your day-to-day You’ll lead early-stage OEM engagements across Europe, taking opportunities from initial conversations through RFQ/RFI, bid development and pre-nomination phases. You’ll be equally comfortable running technical deep dives with engineering teams and aligning executives on strategy, risk and deal structure. Internally, you’ll bring together Product, Engineering and Commercial stakeholders to align on positioning, feasibility and priorities. Externally, you’ll translate those inputs into clear customer commitments, proposals and narratives that move opportunities from early discovery through PoC planning and toward nomination. 🧩 What you’ll be working on: Leading Europe-focused early-stage OEM engagements and driving opportunity strategy from first touch through pre-nomination phases. Owning RFQ/RFI and bid responses end-to-end, including clarifying requirements, coordinating inputs, managing timelines and delivering high-quality submissions. Partnering with Product, Engineering and technical leads to develop customer narratives, proposals and supporting materials, including decks, business cases and GTM content. Presenting confidently to both working-level engineering teams and executive/C-level stakeholders, adapting technical and commercial messaging to the audience. Operating effectively within a matrix organisation, aligning internal stakeholders on positioning, feasibility and priorities to move opportunities forward. Translating product and engineering realities into clear customer commitments while supporting opportunities from early discovery through PoC planning and toward nomination. Acting as a force multiplier across teams by bringing together the right stakeholders, aligning priorities, building conviction around outcomes and accelerating execution against critical goals. 🙌 You should apply if: You have an automotive and/or automotive software background. You have a strong understanding of OEM processes and commercial motions, including RFQ/RFI, Tier 1/OEM dynamics, bidding and pre-nomination workflows. You can understand, translate and credibly present technical materials to both technical and non-technical audiences. You have demonstrated experience driving cross-functional execution in a matrix organisation, aligning Product, Engineering and Commercial stakeholders. You’re comfortable operating at the intersection of deep automotive autonomy technology and complex commercial partnering. Experience working directly with European OEMs and navigating complex enterprise procurement and decision-making environments is a plus. Experience in an adjacent role such as solutions architecture, technical sales or consulting, combined with a willingness to operate hands-on at a detailed level, is a plus. Exposure to autonomy/ADAS, software-defined vehic