People Partner - Engineering

About us     Founded in 2017, Wayve is the leading developer of Embodied AI technology.  Our advanced AI software and foundation models enable vehicles to perceive, understand, and navigate any complex environment, enhancing the usability and safety of automated driving systems. Our vision is to create autonomy that propels the world forward.  Our intelligent, mapless, and hardware-agnostic AI products are designed for automakers, accelerating the transition from assisted to automated driving.  In our fast-paced environment big problems ignite us—we embrace uncertainty, leaning into complex challenges to unlock groundbreaking solutions. We aim high and stay humble in our pursuit of excellence, constantly learning and evolving as we pave the way for a smarter, safer future. At Wayve, your contributions matter.  We value diversity, embrace new perspectives, and foster an inclusive work environment; we back each other to deliver impact.   Make Wayve the experience that defines your career!   The role  As a People Partner supporting Engineering, you’ll play a key role in delivering a high-quality employee experience in a fast-paced, technical environment. Partnering closely with the Senior People Partner for Engineering, you’ll support defined projects across areas like performance, engagement, L&D, and day-to-day advisory work, acting as a trusted first point of contact for employees and managers. You’ll take ownership of routine processes, contribute to developing People resources, and support Employee Relations cases by preparing documentation, drafting communications, and guiding policy-aligned decisions. You’ll also collaborate on broader People team and company-wide initiatives, helping to drive consistency, inclusion, and continuous improvement across the organisation. This role is ideal for someone with solid generalist People experience in a dynamic, scale-up setting, confident working with technically-minded stakeholders and ready to deepen their impact.   Key responsibilities: Employee Relations: Independently manage ER cases, including documentation, note-taking during meetings, and following up on action points, escalating as needed. Support investigations, grievance handling, and performance management processes. Maintain the employee relations tracker to report on insights and areas of concern to inform recommendations for improvements. Maintain employee records with up to date case information. Local Coaching and Advisory: Provide first-level support in advising Managers and Employees, escalating when required.  First Point of Contact: Serve as the first point of contact for employees and managers seeking support on People-related queries such as policies, benefits, and system navigation. Triage queries and escalate more complex issues to the relevant People Partner or people operations. Project Support: Collaborate with People Partners on People initiatives and project work, such as employee engagement, retention strategies, and performance management. Data and Reporting: Assist in data collection, analysis, and generating reports from People systems for analysis, compliance audits, or management requests. People Documentation: Support in drafting and updating manager and employee resources for handbooks and intranet platforms. Policy development: Ensure People policies and procedures are up-to-date, legally compliant, and easy to access for employees and managers. Offboarding: Support offboarding processes, including exit interviews and follow-up on necessary documentation. Engagement: Preparing engagement reports and insights, surfacing relevant themes and partnering with the Senior People Partner and business leaders on actions.  Talent Team support: Liaise with Talent Acquisition and build relationships with local stakeholders to support hiring efforts where needed.  About you    In order to set you up for success as a People Partner at Wayve, we’re looking for the following skills and experience.   Essential  Demonstrated experience in a People Partnering or Advisory role within a fast-paced, scaling organisation, with a strong foundation across core People practices and the employee lifecycle. Experience partnering with Engineering or similarly technical teams, with the ability to adapt People practices and communication to suit technically minded stakeholders. Strong employee relations capability and working knowledge of UK employment law, including independently managing performance, grievance, investigation and absence cases from start to finish. Demonstrated ability to coach and influence managers, challenge constructively, clarify ownership and support effective decision-making in complex or sensitive situations. Experience delivering initiatives across several areas, such as engagement, performance management, organisational change, learning and development, reward, wellbeing or policy development. Strong independen