People Operations Associate

• Onboarding: preparing offers and employment contracts, collecting required documents, Day 1 setup, and probation management.

• Offboarding: supporting leaver processing and final pay, issuing separation and withholding certificates, equipment return and access removal.

• HRIS administration: maintaining employee data, managing leave balances, producing reports, and monitoring PTO uptake.

• Working hours: reconciling and operating attendance records, supporting monitoring of the 36-Agreement, and checking submissions and approvals.

• Social & labour insurance: enrolments and withdrawals on hire and leave, employment insurance, standard and revised remuneration filings, and the annual labour insurance update (handled with our external providers), plus maternity, childcare and injury/sickness benefits.

• Payroll & tax: monthly coordination with our external provider and payroll team, commuting and other allowances, resident tax updates, and supporting the year-end adjustment.

• Benefits & health: liaising with benefits vendors, coordinating health checks and stress checks, arranging occupational physician meetings, and setting up and following through on worksite visits.

• Letters & certificates: employment contracts and terms notices, employment and salary certificates, and similar documentation.

• Compliance: maintaining the employee roster and wage ledger, tracking residence status, managing fixed-term renewals, and supporting audit preparation.

Essential:

• You have at least one year of experience in a People Operations or HR administrative role, with a solid understanding of the full employee lifecycle.

• You have knowledge and hands-on experience of Japanese HR administration, including payroll, social and labour insurance, and working-hours management.

• You enjoy not just completing set tasks but spotting where things can be improved and making it happen.

• You can manage several tasks in parallel, prioritising effectively to keep work moving.

• You have strong, considerate communication skills, with the ability to build trust with employees, managers and external partners.

• You can work in both Japanese (fluency essential, N1 or above) and English (able to work with stakeholders over written and verbal communication).

Desirable:

• Experience in a start-up or fast-growth environment.

• Experience supporting teams across multiple locations or geographies.

• Experience using AI tooling to make workflows more efficient.

🌱 Not ticking every box? That's totally okay! If you're passionate about autonomy and keen to learn, we encourage you to apply even if you don't meet every requirement.

Wayve is committed to providing a fair and respectful recruitment process for all candidates, free from harassment and discrimination. The Company has zero tolerance for sexual harassment against job applicants or similar individuals.

• All communications relating to recruitment activities are conducted through the Company's recruitment system or using an email address with the Company's domain. Employees do not use their personal email addresses or social media accounts for recruitment-related communications.

• Employees do not engage in private communications unrelated to recruitment activities, invite applicants to private meals, request or seek a personal or romantic relationship, or otherwise initiate private contact with applicants.

• Sexual remarks or conduct, physical contact, questions concerning sexual matters, and any other conduct constituting harassment are prohibited.

If you have any concerns, you can contact our consultation desk at peoplepartners@wayve.ai . All consultations are treated with strict confidentiality, your privacy will be protected, and no one will be subject to any disadvantageous treatment for raising a concern or cooperating with an inquiry. 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.

At Wayve we're committed to creating a diverse, fair and respectful culture that is inclusive of everyone based on their unique skills and perspectives, and regardless of sex, race, religion or belief, ethnic or national origin, disability, age, citizenship, marital, domestic or civil partnership status, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, pregnancy or related condition (including breastfeeding) or any other basis as protected by applicable law.

For more information visit Careers at Wayve. To learn more about what drives us, visit Values at Wayve

DISCLAIMER: We will not ask about marriage or pregnancy, care responsibilities or disabilities in any of our job adverts or interviews. However, we do look to capture information about care responsibilities, and disabilities among other diversity information as part of an optional DEI Monitoring form to help us identify areas of improvement in our hiring process and ensure that the process is inclusive and non-discriminatory.