Material Program 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. 🛠️ About our Supply Chain Teams The Supply Chain team sits within Hardware & Supply Chain and works at the intersection of hardware development, engineering and operations. We are a lean, hands-on, highly cross-functional global team in a fast-paced environment, and we’re building our local capability in Japan as Wayve scales there. 🧠 Your day-to-day As Material Program Manager in Japan, you’ll own end-to-end materials execution for Wayve’s autonomous vehicle and hardware programs: procurement, supplier coordination, CTB (Clear to Build) readiness, receiving, secure storage and outbound shipping. You’ll physically manage prototype material flow in our warehouse while also owning the commercial relationships with our local vehicle outfitters and other local suppliers. You’ll work closely with Engineering, Operations and the global Supply Chain team to keep materials moving from suppliers to workshops and vehicle upfitting locations, with visibility, cost control and compliance. 🧩 What you’ll be working on: Owning and managing the materials programs that enable Wayve’s autonomous vehicle and hardware development in Japan, driving execution across procurement, receiving, storage and shipping to meet aggressive program milestones. Identifying and managing dependencies and blockers across multi-disciplinary teams to keep materials flowing. Owning materials procurement in coordination with sourcing and purchasing teams, and supporting supplier negotiations on pricing, availability and scale readiness. Driving the CTB (Clear to Build) process with suppliers, contract manufacturers, workshop teams and internal stakeholders, with clear visibility of material availability, lead times and build readiness. Working with Engineering to onboard, set up and manage suppliers and partners in the Japanese market, and acting as the primary relationship owner for local vehicle outfitters. Coordinating material receiving, secure storage of high-value, long-lead-time materials and inventory tracking, with accuracy, traceability and proper documentation. Coordinating outbound shipping to workshops, vehicle outfitter facilities and other Wayve sites, in line with Japanese logistics and customs requirements, so retrofit schedules aren’t delayed. Partnering with Engineering, Operations and Product to support design-for-manufacturing and design-for-scale decisions. Acting as the central point of coordination across Engineering, Supply Chain, Operations and external partners, communicating risks, trade-offs and decisions clearly to teams and leadership. 🙌 You should apply if: Experience bringing newly developed products to scale through supplier and part