Material Program Manager
Wayve · Yokohama, Kanagawa
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.
THE ROLE
The Purchasing Manager (Japan) is responsible for end-to-end materials execution for Wayve’s autonomous vehicle and hardware programs in Japan. This includes materials procurement, supplier coordination, CTB readiness, material receiving, secure storage, and outbound shipping, in close partnership with Engineering, Operations, and the global Supply Chain team.
This role ensures that materials flow efficiently from suppliers through receipt, storage, and delivery to workshops or vehicle upfitting locations, while maintaining visibility, cost control, and compliance. The role operates in a fast-paced, Agile environment and plays a critical part in taking early-stage hardware development toward scalable execution.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
MATERIALS PROGRAM OWNERSHIP & EXECUTION
- Own and manage materials programs enabling Wayve’s autonomous vehicle and hardware development in Japan
- Drive execution across procurement, receiving, storage, and shipping to meet aggressive program milestones
- Identify and manage dependencies and blockers across multi-disciplinary teams to ensure smooth materials flow
MATERIALS PROCUREMENT & CTB READINESS
- Own materials procurement activities in coordination with sourcing and purchasing teams
- Drive and manage the CTB (Clear to Build) process with suppliers, contract manufacturers, workshop teams, and internal stakeholders
- Ensure clear visibility into procurement strategy, material availability, lead times, and build readiness
- Support supplier negotiations on pricing, availability, and scale readiness
SUPPLIER & PARTNER MANAGEMENT
- Work closely with Engineering to onboard, set up, and manage suppliers and partners within the Japanese market
- Own tracking of supplier progress, deliverables, and handoffs
- Build strong working relationships with suppliers across a broad range of industries
- Support escalation management and issue resolution, acting as the primary local point of contact
MATERIALS RECEIVING, STORAGE & SHIPPING
- Coordinate and oversee material receiving in Japan, ensuring accuracy, traceability, and proper documentation
- Manage secure storage of high-value, long-lead-time materials, including inventory tracking and access controls
- Coordinate outbound shipping of materials to workshops, vehicle upfitting locations, or other Wayve sites
- Work with local Japanese logistics and customs requirements and internal teams to ensure compliant and timely shipments
ENGINEERING COLLABORATION & DESIGN SUPPORT
- Partner with Engineering, Operations, and Product teams to embed strong engineering and manufacturing practices
- Support design-for-manufacturing and design-for-scale decisions
- Help guide early-stage designs toward scalable, cost-effective production solutions
CROSS-FUNCTIONAL COORDINATION & COMMUNICATION
- Act as a central point of coordination across Engineering, Supply Chain, Operations, and external partners
- Drive alignment and decision-making across stakeholders with competing priorities
- Clearly communicate risks, tradeoffs, and decisions to both working-level teams and leadership
SUCCESS METRICS
- On-time materials procurement and readiness aligned to program milestones
- Clear CTB visibility with reduced last-minute procurement escalations
- Accurate material receiving, storage, and inventory tracking
- Reliable and compliant outbound shipping execution
- Improved cost visibility and supplier execution
ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience bringing newly developed products to scale through supplier and partner relationships
- Strong project or program management experience with the ability to influence across teams
- Experience coordinating materials procurement, receiving, storage, and shipping
- Professional proficiency in English and Japanese (written and verbal)
- Knowledge of Japanese logistics, import/export regulations, and local business etiquette
- Ability to perform cost analysis and support negotiations
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
- Comfortable working in an Agile environment with aggressive timelines
This is a full-time role based in our offices in either Tokyo or Yokohama. 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. We operate core working hours so you can determine the schedule that works best for you and your team.
A quick, honest note before you apply.
Wayve is not a mature, fully-structured place with the playbook already written. Much of how we work is still being written, and if you join, you’ll help write it. That suits people who want real ownership more than people who need a settled structure from day one.
If that sounds like the kind of problem you want to spend your time on, we’d really like to hear from you.