Legal Counsel

Wayve's Legal Team enables the business to achieve its goals while identifying and managing legal risk. This role sits within the Commercial Legal team, reports to the Managing Counsel, and is based in London. The role involves a broad range of commercial and cross-border matters, working closely with commercial, procurement, engineering, product, privacy, People and Fleet Operations teams. Wayve is building the leading AI platform for autonomous driving, using an end-to-end AI approach. Some international travel may be required. Interview process: initial recruiter screen (30 mins), competency interviews (90 mins), deep-dive presentation (60 mins), and final interview (30 mins).

Responsibilities

Draft, review and negotiate a broad range of commercial agreements, from supplier, software/SaaS, services and operational contracts to bespoke agreements with OEM customers and Tier 1 suppliers involving significant IP, data, privacy and technology issues; Advise on intellectual property, AI and data usage, including data used for AI development and training; Work through novel and emerging legal questions at the intersection of law and AI; Advise the People team on employment and HR matters relating to the global workforce, working with local counsel where needed; Advise on data protection and privacy, including use and sharing of data in connection with products, commercial relationships and AI development; Support strategic initiatives, international expansion and new product deployments from a commercial legal perspective; Support Fleet Operations and other operational teams in the operation, testing and deployment of the vehicle fleet across international markets; Build and improve scalable legal processes, templates, playbooks and governance structures; Educate and enable stakeholders on commercial risk, contracting best practices and legal processes

Requirements

Qualified solicitor in England and Wales; Trained at a leading law firm with approximately 2–4 years of relevant post-qualification experience (more or less experience considered); Strong experience drafting and negotiating complex commercial agreements, including procurement, supply chain, technology and vendor contracts; Comfortable negotiating directly with commercial counterparties and communicating legal positions clearly and pragmatically; Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, able to explain legal and commercial risk to non-legal stakeholders; Experience supporting strategic commercial transactions and working with business stakeholders in fast-moving, technology-driven environments; Strong commercial judgement and solutions-oriented advice; Experience advising on employment matters affecting a global workforce, or willingness to develop it; Able to operate autonomously on day-to-day matters and exercise sound judgement about when to escalate; Experience partnering cross-functionally with legal and non-legal experts; Strong organisational and prioritisation skills to manage multiple workstreams; Enthusiasm for a broad range of legal matters, including novel questions where precedent may be limited

Nice to have

Experience within automotive, mobility or the broader technology sector, particularly at an OEM, Tier 1 supplier or similar engineering-led organisation; Experience supporting OEM, strategic partnership or large-scale B2B transactions involving hardware, software, data or integrated technology solutions; Exposure to AI, data or autonomous vehicle-related legal issues; Cross-border commercial advisory experience across the UK, US, Europe and Japan; Experience supporting commercial or employment matters in Germany, including familiarity with the German legal and regulatory environment; Experience helping automate and scale legal processes, templates or commercial legal functions; Experience in autonomous vehicles, robotics or AI (valuable but not essential)

Benefits

Salaries benchmarked against the market annually; Meaningful equity; Relocation support and visa sponsorship where applicable; Hybrid working, core hours and hands-on work in vehicle workshops and labs; Learning and development budgets 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 and team socials