Wayve · 9 hours ago
Tech Lead - Pretraining Team, Wayve Foundation Model
Sunnyvale, CA
Full-time
Hybrid
Senior Level
5+ years expWayve is a leading developer of Embodied AI technology, focused on creating autonomy that propels the world forward. The Tech Lead for the Pretraining Team will lead foundational work in large-scale pretraining and collaborate with research and engineering teams to curate and experiment with data for next-generation multi-modal foundation models.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)Autonomous VehiclesElectric VehicleMachine Learning
Responsibilities
Lead data curation, enrichment, and filtering efforts for large-scale pretraining of embodied models
Build and manage distributed data processing and ingestion pipelines across modalities
Partner with research teams to run data-centric experiments and influence model training strategy
Identify, integrate, and leverage third-party datasets to enhance pretraining and evaluation
Manage and mentor a team of engineers and data scientists to deliver scientific and technical impact
Qualification
Required
Leadership in data-centric AI: Experience leading research or engineering teams focused on dataset curation, filtering, or enrichment at scale, particularly for large-scale model pretraining
Contributions to data benchmarks or tools: Involvement in projects like DataComp, LAION, DINO, MOLMO, or equivalent initiatives that define or evaluate pretraining dataset quality
Deep understanding of distributed data processing: Strong working knowledge of frameworks such as Ray, Spark, Dask, or equivalent, and designing scalable, fault-tolerant data pipelines
Hands-on deep learning expertise: Strong proficiency in PyTorch and a solid grasp of how data quality, distribution, and structure impact training dynamics and model generalisation
Experimental mindset: Demonstrated ability to run and interpret data-centric experiments (e.g., small-scale trials, ablations) to inform large-scale model training
Collaboration with research: Experience working closely with ML researchers and contributing to experimental design, pretraining strategies, or evaluation design
Minimum 5 years of relevant industry experience: Including at least several years in data-heavy, model-driven environments involving deep learning at scale
Preferred
Track record of research impact: Publications in top-tier conferences such as NeurIPS, ICML, CVPR, ICCV, CoRL, or equivalent, especially in data-centric learning, representation learning, or self-supervised learning
People management experience: Track record managing ~5 direct reports in a research or research-leaning engineering environment; skilled in team development, prioritization, and technical alignment
Experience with multi-modal or embodied systems: Familiarity with datasets involving video, language, lidar, radar and generally sensor fusion or embodied perception and control
Tooling and infrastructure know-how: Familiarity with modern data versioning, annotation, and orchestration tools (e.g., Weights & Biases, ClearML, Labelbox, Airflow, Metaflow, etc.)
Autonomous systems exposure: While prior AV or robotics experience is not required, a demonstrated interest in embodied intelligence or real-world agent learning is a plus
Systems thinking and data-product intuition: Ability to reason about upstream data decisions and their downstream effects on models, infrastructure, and product goals
Benefits
Attractive compensation with salary and equity
Bespoke learning and development opportunities
Relocation support with visa sponsorship
Flexible working hours - we trust you to do your job well, at times that suit you and your time
Benefits such as an onsite chef, workplace nursery scheme, private health insurance, therapy, daily yoga, onsite bar, large social budgets, unlimited L&D requests, enhanced parental leave, and more!
Company
Wayve
Wayve develops AI software for automated driving that learns from data to navigate environments.
201-500 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Wayve has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (20)
2024 (5)
2023 (1)
2022 (3)
Funding
Current Stage
Growth StageTotal Funding
$1.26BKey Investors
Innovate UKUberSoftBank
2025-07-28Grant
2024-08-29Series C
2024-05-06Series C· $1B
Leadership Team
Alex Kendall
Co-Founder & CEO
Max Warburton
Chief Financial Officer
Recent News
2025-12-28
2025-12-24
Company data provided by crunchbase