Autonomy Systems Validation - Vehicle Operations Staff TPM

Role Summary

As a Technical Program Manager on Rivian’s Autonomy Systems Validation team, you’ll define and execute the strategies that scale our end-to-end data collection fleet (people, deployment sites, and the metrics that measure fleet performance) as it rapidly scales. This hands-on, cross-functional role sits at the intersection of operations, autonomy, engineering and program management. You’ll be a force multiplier navigating technical complexity while driving alignment and execution across stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Drive program delivery: Align program goals to business objectives. Organize and prioritize stakeholder requirements to forecast team growth, build roadmaps and timelines, and scale the deployment site roadmap while minimizing one-off configurations.
• Own fleet efficiency: Define and track the operational metrics that matter, not just reporting what exists, but shaping what should be measured and why. Lead initiatives across our L2 and robotaxi data collection fleets: fleet utilization, data yield, behavior metrics, troubleshooting cycle times, and operational infrastructure.
• Build operational repeatability: Streamline workflows, improve tooling and optimize standardized playbooks and documentation for scalable rollout. Champion AI and data-driven tools in operations, including reporting systems that surface actionable field intelligence and feed into leadership decisions.
• Keep stakeholders aligned and collaborate cross-functionally: Drive integrated plans, shared objectives, and faster decisions through clear communication. Establish standard reports that give leadership concise visibility into status, risks, and accomplishments.
• Manage risk and ambiguity proactively: Anticipate operational and programmatic issues, develop mitigation plans, and drive data-based escalation to protect timelines and quality.
• Raise the bar technically and operationally: Maintain strong working knowledge of our vehicle platforms, software development lifecycle, safety process, and test operations. Lead retros, bring a critical lens to whether what's being asked is the right thing to build, and drive changes that improve processes and increase fleet uptime.
• Travel: 10-25%

Qualifications

• Proven delivery with a bias for action: 5+ years in program/project management, operations management, management consulting or vehicle testing and validation in fast-paced or early-stage environments, with a track record of delivering projects and getting things done.
• Strong program management fundamentals: Planning, prioritizing, adapting to change, managing cost, risk and dependencies, including building playbooks, SOPs and scalable frameworks from scratch.
• Technically strong and data-driven: Comfortable working with engineers, experience with ML, robotics stacks, end-to-end autonomy validation, and scenario or structured testing. You build dashboards to validate metrics rather than just track them, question outputs that don't add up, and push back when the data tells the wrong story.
• Collaborative leader and clear communicator: Explain complex ideas simply, influence through soft power rather than authority, surface risks early, secure buy-in from senior stakeholders and build a positive team culture.
• Strategic and systems thinking: You keep the bigger picture in mind, reason about how parts of a complex system interact and how change in one area affects others, structure undefined problems, thrive in ambiguity and bring momentum and calm without adding unnecessary process.
• BA/BS degree in Engineering, Operations Research, Operations Management, or a STEM field.

Preferred Qualities (0-4) Nice to have.

• Program management experience with ADAS / automated driving stack, robotaxis, robotics, or other complex safety-critical systems that integrate AI/ML models, ideally including fleet operations, data collection and the data flywheel.
• Proficiency with modern AI tools and workflows (e.g. Gemini, Claude, cloud-based coding environments), actively applied to operational efficiency and decision-making.
• Track record of building and scaling engineering or operational processes from scratch at a high-growth company or startup.

Pay Disclosure

The salary range for this role is $167,400 - $209,300 for Palo Alto, California based applicants. This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employee’s position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, specific competencies, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, shift, and organizational needs.   The successful candidate may be eligible for annual performance bonus and equity awards.  We offer a comprehensive package of benefits for full-time and part-time employees, their spouse or domestic partner, and children up to age 26, including but not limited to paid vacation, paid sick leave, and a competitive portfolio of insurance benefits including life, medical, dental, vision, short-term disability insurance, and long-term disability insurance to eligible employees. You may also have the opportunity to participate in Rivian’s 401(k) Plan and Employee Stock Purchase Program if you meet certain eligibility requirements. Full-time employee coverage is effective on their first day of employment. Part-time employee coverage is effective the first of the month following 90 days of employment. More information about benefits is available at rivianbenefits.com.  You can apply for this role through careers.rivian.com (or through internal-careers-rivian.icims.com if you are a current employee). There is no fixed deadline for this application; applications are accepted on an ongoing basis until the role is filled or the opening is no longer needed.