Vehicle Operations Service Manager

Applied Intuition, Inc. is powering the future of physical AI. Founded in 2017 and now valued at $15 billion, the Silicon Valley company is creating the digital infrastructure needed to bring intelligence to every moving machine on the planet. Applied Intuition services the automotive, defense, trucking, construction, mining and agriculture industries in three core areas: tools and infrastructure, operating systems, and autonomy. Eighteen of the top 20 global automakers, as well as the United States military and its allies, trust the company’s solutions to deliver physical intelligence. Applied Intuition is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in Washington, D.C.; San Diego; Ft. Walton Beach, Florida; Ann Arbor, Michigan; London; Stuttgart; Munich; Stockholm; Bangalore; Seoul; and Tokyo. Learn more at applied.co.

We are an in-office company, and our expectation is that full-time employees primarily work from their Applied Intuition office 5 days a week. However, we also recognize the importance of flexibility and trust our employees to manage their schedules responsibly. This may include occasional remote work, starting the day with morning meetings from home before heading to the office, or leaving earlier when needed to accommodate family commitments. This in-office expectation does not apply to contractor positions

About Tokyo

Applied Intuition entered the Japan market in 2019. The company has rapidly grown and established strategic relationships with major Japanese automotive OEM customers. Based in the Otemachi area, the Tokyo site consists of employees who previously came from Google, Mobileye, Tesla, TIER IV, Woven by Toyota, and other renowned companies.

About the role

We are looking for a Service Manager to lead our engineering technician team in Japan. Our test vehicles and rigs are the physical foundation of everything we build — every autonomy release, every customer demonstration, and every on-road validation program depends on them being safe, correctly built, and available when engineers need them.

You'll manage and grow the technician team, run our vehicle service operation end to end, and be the person accountable for fleet readiness, workshop safety, and regulatory compliance in Japan. This is a hands-on management role: you'll spend real time in the shop and on vehicles, not only in planning meetings.

At Applied Intuition, we encourage our teams to take ownership over technical and operational decisions. You'll have wide latitude to build the service function the way it should be built.

At Applied Intuition, you will:

• Lead, coach, and grow a team of engineering technicians — setting standards, running reviews, and developing careers

• Own fleet readiness: plan and prioritize vehicle buildouts, modifications, maintenance, and repairs to minimize downtime for engineering and customer programs

• Run the workshop as a safe, organized, efficient operation, including tooling, layout and safety procedures.

• Ensure all vehicle modifications and inspections comply with Japanese safety regulations (保安基準) and 車検 requirements, coordinating 改造申請 and dealings with authorities as needed

• Partner closely with autonomy engineering, hardware, and vehicle operations teams in Japan and the US, and support OEM customer engagements that involve our vehicles

We're looking for someone who has:

• 7+ years of technical experience in automotive service, mechanical, electrical, or robotics environments, including 2+ years leading or supervising technicians

• Practical experience as a certified vehicle inspector (自動車検査員)

• Working knowledge of Japanese vehicle safety regulations (保安基準) and the review process for vehicle modifications

• Demonstrated ownership of a service or workshop operation

• Strong organization and communication skills, and the judgment to prioritize competing requests from multiple engineering teams

• Native-level Japanese and business-level English

Nice to Have:

• Commercial truck maintenance and repair experience

• Experience managing a 認証工場 or 指定工場, or standing up a workshop from scratch

• Practical experience with AV components such as LiDARs, radars, and cameras

• Ability to design, draw, and prototype custom harness cables

Don’t meet every single requirement? If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Applied Intuition is an equal opportunity employer and federal contractor or subcontractor. Consequently, the parties agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-1.4(a), 41 CFR 60-300.5(a) and 41 CFR 60-741.5(a) and that these laws are incorporated herein by reference. These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities, and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin. These regulations require that covered prime contractors and subcontractors take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status or disability. The parties also agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of Executive Order 13496 (29 CFR Part 471, Appendix A to Subpart A), relating to the notice of employee rights under federal labor laws.

FOR US-BASED ROLES: Applied Intuition is committed to providing an accessible and inclusive application and interview experience to applicants who are disabled veterans and other applicants with disabilities or medical conditions. Reasonable accommodations are available, requesting an accommodation will not affect your candidacy in any way, and you are not required to disclose the nature of your disability or medical condition in order to make a request. If you require an accommodation please contact careers@applied.co. We will work with you!