Director - Technical Program Management

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is a joint venture between two industry leaders with a clear vision for automotive’s next chapter. From operating systems to zonal controllers to cloud and connectivity solutions, we’re addressing the challenges of electric vehicles through technology that will set the standards for software-defined vehicles around the world.

The road to the future is uncharted. By combining our expertise across connectivity, AI, security and more, we’ll map a new way forward. Working together, we’ll create a future that’s more connected, more intelligent, more sustainable for everyone.

As the Technical Program Management Director, you will work with all teams across the company to ensure the success of your program — from integration planning, timeline and risk management, resource management, and everything in between. Your role will evolve throughout the program, with the most common objective being to ensure the timely delivery of the program at cost and as an amazing product we all would be proud for our customers to own. You will play a critical role in ensuring any and all roadblocks are removed, everyone is on the same page, and we have clear direction throughout the program. You will act as the primary liaison to the leadership teams at the Volkswagen Group and will leverage your team to drive the overall successful implementation of the program. This role is located in our Palo Alto, CA office.

In practice, this means owning requirements and change-request governance for your package, refereeing cross-domain technical trade-offs between RVT and VWG engineering leads, and being the person VWG's program and engineering leads call first — not just at milestone reviews.

• Manage cross-functional and brand technical and program alignment: ensure that interactions between critical stakeholders are successful, and manage and participate in touchpoints across functions.

• Continuously exchange/align with the VWG technical program lead and resolve technical issues between teams.

• Align with VWG leadership on technical targets, timing, and execution plan.

• Own program execution strategy, product development plan and the change-request process for your package across RVT and VWG, driving simplification and an iterative approach throughout the program.

• Steer development by partnering with the technical organization on delivery and ensuring overarching program maturity.

• Define program-specific development scope/deliverables and coordinate development responsibilities.

• Align on program/feature-specific decision needs, conduct risk assessments, and manage changes/re-prioritizations.

• Prioritize development content (including resources and feasibility).

• Resolve conflicts and ensure timely resolution — including cross-domain technical trade-offs — with escalation to the leadership review meeting as needed.

• Enable the technical teams to ensure that all product requirements are met, e.g., technical, BoM cost, quality, and regulatory, including safety, security, and homologation approvals.

• Align on package-specific integration/validation concept and planning with technical teams. Drive regular software release process through product development lifecycle.

• Track and report technical status in committees and at leadership/board-level program reviews.

• Define and request program-specific resource needs with the Program Management Lead, including allocation of limited hardware/test assets across competing priorities.

• Plan and manage the package timelines (e.g., integration and testing timeline including subsystems) and ensure compliance with vehicle product line timelines.

• Own scheduling and facilitation of recurring cross-company workshops with VWG engineering counterparts as needed.

• 10+ years in technical program management or engineering leadership delivering complex products that combine hardware and software, including 3+ years managing platform or subsystem-level programs.

• Excellent stakeholder management skills across internal teams and external partners, including experience owning requirements governance and change-request/escalation processes as a primary technical point of contact between organizations

• Cross-domain engineering fluency across hardware, software, and systems integration sufficient to referee technical trade-offs and prioritization conflicts between engineering leads.

• Track record delivering integration, validation, and software release cycles through a full product development lifecycle (concept to production/launch) for any kind of embedded system

• Proven ability to drive alignment and decisions in ambiguous, multi-stakeholder governance structures without direct authority.

We build the exceptional — and we believe the people doing that work should be rewarded accordingly. In addition to a competitive base salary, full-time positions may be is eligible to participate in our annual company performance bonus program.

Payments are discretionary and not guaranteed; actual amounts depend on company results and the terms of the plan in effect, and require active employment at the time of payout. This role is also eligible for equity in the form of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), subject to board approval and the terms of our equity incentive plans, including applicable vesting requirements.

In addition to our compensation programs, we invest in our people with a comprehensive benefits package designed to support the health, wellbeing, and financial future for full-time employees — including health coverage, retirement savings, time off, and family planning programs. Offerings vary by country. Learn more about our global benefit programs.

External candidates can apply for this role through the Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies careers site (https://rivianvw.tech/#careers). If you are a current employee, please apply through our internal job board.

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information or characteristics, physical or mental disability, marital/domestic partner status, age, military/veteran status, medical condition, or any other characteristic protected by law. We are also committed to ensuring compliance with all applicable fair employment practice laws regarding citizenship and immigration status.

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is committed to ensuring that our hiring process is accessible for persons with disabilities. If you have a disability or limitation, such as those covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, that requires accommodations to assist you in the search and application process, please email us at [email protected].

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies” may collect, use and disclose your personal information or personal data (within the meaning of the applicable data protection laws) when you apply for employment and/or participate in our recruitment processes (“Candidate Personal Data”). This data includes contact, demographic, communications, educational, professional, employment, social media/website, network/device, recruiting system usage/interaction, security and preference information. Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies may use your Candidate Personal Data for the purposes of (i) tracking interactions with our recruiting system; (ii) carrying out, analyzing and improving our application and recruitment process, including assessing you and your application and conducting employment, background and reference checks; (iii) establishing an employment relationship or entering into an employment contract with you; (iv) complying with our legal, regulatory and corporate governance obligations; (v) record keeping; (vi) ensuring network and information security and preventing fraud; and (vii) as otherwise required or permitted by applicable law.

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies may share your Candidate Personal Data with (i) internal personnel who have a need to know such information in order to perform their duties, including individuals on our People Team, Finance, Legal, and the team(s) with the position(s) for which you are applying; (ii) Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies affiliates; and (iii) Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies’ service providers, including providers of background checks, staffing services, and cloud services.

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies may transfer or store internationally your Candidate Personal Data, including to or in the United States, Canada, and the European Union and in the cloud, and this data may be subject to the laws and accessible to the courts, law enforcement and national security authorities of such jurisdictions.

If you provide a mobile telephone number as part of your application or during the recruitment process, Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies may use that number to contact you via SMS text message for recruitment-related purposes, including scheduling, logistics, and status updates. Message and data rates may apply. You may opt out of SMS communications at any time by replying STOP to any text message you receive from us. Consent to receive SMS messages is not a condition of applying for or being considered for employment.

Please see our Candidate Data Privacy Notice (English) and Candidate Data Privacy Notice (Serbian) for more information.

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Please note this job posting represents an open, active vacancy. Additionally, we are not currently accepting applications from third party application services.