Lead Technical Program Manager

Who you are

• 10+ years of technical program management experience, with a track record leading complex, cross-functional technical programs from ambiguity to delivery
• Direct experience in autonomous vehicles, robotics, or another safety-critical, deeply cross-functional environment spanning hardware, software, and safety
• Demonstrated ability to build program structure from scratch — dependency maps, risk registers, executive reporting, milestone tracking — in a fast-moving, early-stage environment
• Strong technical fluency across hardware, software, and autonomy/ML domains — able to ask the right questions and spot a false dependency without being a domain expert in any one area
• Excellent written and verbal communication; comfortable writing a crisp one-pager for an executive audience and facilitating a working-level technical review in the same week
• Proven cross-functional leadership without formal authority — you drive alignment and hold teams accountable through influence, not org-chart position
• Hands-on experience with program tracking tools such as Jira, Asana, or other Project Management
• BS or MS in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field, or equivalent experience
• If you thrive on turning complex technical milestones into seamless commercial launches, this is your chance to be an integral part of Waabi’s next chapter
• Proven history executing driverless commercial rollouts, operational domain expansions, or initial market deployments for robotic transport platforms
• Working knowledge of system safety assurance, ODD boundaries, and integrating safety sign-off gates into target deployment schedules
• Track record establishing or scaling continuous fleet management, remote command facilities, or real-time operations centers
• Prior collaboration with policy, legal, and public affairs stakeholders to secure local operating authorizations and permits
• Hands-on application of modern AI solutions to streamline operational tracking, eliminate manual administrative friction, and speed up critical decisions

What the job involves

• Waabi is bringing its proven autonomous driving technology from trucking to the robotaxi space, and we need a program management leader to drive the execution
• You will own the roadmap for integrating the Waabi Driver into our commercial fleet, acting as the connective tissue between engineering, operations, and external partners
• You will partake in shaping our go-to-market approach, drive partner strategy, and ensure we deliver a safe, scalable rider experience
• Define and maintain the integrated robotaxi program plan — key milestones, cross-team dependencies, and critical path — spanning autonomy, vehicle hardware, safety/V&V, fleet operations, and commercial launch readiness
• Own program-level risk management. Surface issues early, bring data-backed options rather than just status updates, and ensure every dependency has a clear owner and ETA
• Drive launch and market-readiness planning across vehicle readiness, ODD (operational design domain) coverage, safety validation sign-off, site and facility readiness, and regulatory or permitting requirements for new markets and service areas
• Partner with Autonomy, Safety, Commercial, and Operations to translate top-down strategy into executable roadmaps, and hold teams accountable to the plan
• Build and run executive reporting — concise, credible updates on program status, risk, and path-to-green for leadership
• Define and track the KPIs that measure readiness for driverless operation, such as ODD coverage, disengagement rates, system readiness, and rider experience metrics
• Establish scalable processes and tooling for robotaxi program tracking, ensuring a single source of truth as the program and fleet scale
• Represent the robotaxi program in cross-company planning, ensuring it's properly sequenced against Waabi's trucking roadmap and shared platform investments