Technical Director, Safety Case

As Technical Director, Safety Case, you'll own the architecture, strategy and integrity of Wayve's safety cases for our first products. The role sits independently from Engineering and Product and reports into Safety Management & Assurance, providing senior expert safety oversight while working closely with the teams responsible for designing, developing, validating and releasing our products. You'll act as the architect of the safety case, defining the top-level claims, argumentation structure, evidence strategy and assurance approach that connect product intent, system behaviour, AI performance, engineering controls, validation and operational deployment into a coherent safety argument.

Responsibilities

Own the safety case strategy and architecture for Wayve's robotaxi and OEM ADAS products; Define top-level safety claims, argumentation, evidence structures and traceability from safety requirements through validation and deployment decisions; Develop safety arguments for AI-enabled autonomous driving, incorporating functional safety, SOTIF, AI safety, cybersecurity, validation, operational safety and post-deployment monitoring; Evolve reusable safety case approaches as products, vehicle platforms and evidence base mature; Partner with Product, Systems Engineering, AI/ML, Validation, Vehicle Engineering, Software, Hardware and Operational Safety to define safety requirements and evidence expectations; Identify gaps, assumptions and weaknesses in the safety argument early and drive their resolution with accountable teams; Ensure product requirements, architecture, validation plans and release criteria remain aligned with the safety case; Support technical and programme leaders in making proportionate, evidence-based safety decisions; Provide independent technical challenge of safety cases and supporting evidence; Assess whether safety arguments are coherent, complete, evidence-backed and sufficient to support release or deployment; Highlight material gaps, uncertainties, dependencies, residual risks and safety red lines, and provide clear recommendations to safety governance forums and senior leadership; Build a common understanding of safety case principles across Wayve and coach Engineering and Product leaders on structured safety argumentation, evidence quality and traceability; Represent the safety case perspective in internal governance, customer and technical discussions; Contribute to Wayve's broader safety strategy and assurance capability

Requirements

Deep experience developing or owning safety cases for complex safety-critical systems, ideally within autonomous vehicles, ADAS, robotics, aerospace, defence or another software-intensive domain; Strong systems engineering background spanning requirements, architecture, verification, validation and safety assurance; Demonstrated ability to translate complex technical evidence into structured safety claims and arguments; Strong understanding of autonomous driving and AI/ML safety, including model performance, data, uncertainty and the limitations of conventional verification approaches; Experience partnering with AI/ML, Engineering, Systems and Product teams on safety-critical products; Strong knowledge of relevant standards, including ISO 26262, ISO 21448, ISO/PAS 8800 and ISO 3450x; Excellent technical communication and stakeholder-management skills; Architect and systems thinker who can move between top-level safety strategy and detailed technical evidence; Pragmatic, able to distinguish between what is essential to a safety argument and what is merely desirable; Intellectually rigorous, curious and comfortable challenging assumptions; Able to operate independently of Engineering and Product without becoming detached from them; Comfortable operating with uncertainty and making clear recommendations based on the strength of available evidence; Open to challenge and willing to change position when better evidence emerges; Able to clearly articulate where a safety red line exists, why it matters and what evidence or mitigation would be required to move it

Nice to have

Safety case experience with L2+/L3 ADAS or L4 ADS products; Experience with GSN or equivalent structured assurance methods; Safety evidence experience for end-to-end or foundation-model-based autonomous driving; Experience working with OEMs, regulators, assessors or independent safety reviewers; Familiarity with operational and post-deployment safety monitoring

Benefits

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