Central Development Operations Specialist

Aurora Innovation Inc.; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); Hybrid; USD 37,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

Aurora Innovation Inc. in Pittsburgh, PA is seeking a Central Development Operations Specialist to monitor and support development-focused missions for our autonomous vehicle fleet on closed tracks and public roads.

You will coordinate with Testing Teams and cross-functional engineers, translating observations into actionable feedback while following safety and escalation procedures. The role requires strong communication and rapid problem-solving in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Ability to read and accurately execute technical test procedures.
• Ability to monitor proprietary tooling on a laptop for long periods.
• Knowledge of self-driving stack and daily software changes.
• Proactively surface questions when procedures change.
• Valid U.S. driver's license and clean driving record.
• Willingness to work 4x10 shifts including nights and weekends.
• Up to 30% travel and 100% in-office presence with travel as needed.
• Experience in operations, robotics, automotive, or trucking field.
• Familiarity with Jira-based workflows.

Responsibilities

• Send scheduled test assignments to field testing teams at shift start.
• Provide monitoring, triage, and remote command support during tests.
• Read test procedures and translate observations into feedback for managers.
• Onboard into and refine commercial command-center practices for development.
• Offer structured feedback on feature performance to program managers.
• Respond to emergencies with remote commands and escalation where needed.
• Contribute to cross-functional improvement projects and triage work.
• Escalate complex issues with complete documentation per procedure.

Skills

Test procedures

G-Suite

Jira workflows

Slack communication

Command line

Driver's license

Tools

Jira

Slack

G-Suite

CLI

Job description

Central Development Operations Specialist

Who we are

Aurora’s mission is to deliver the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly.

The Aurora Driver will create a new era in mobility and logistics, one that will bring a safer, more efficient, and more accessible future to everyone.

At Aurora, you will tackle massively complex problems alongside other passionate, intelligent individuals, growing as an expert while expanding your knowledge. For the latest news from Aurora, visit aurora.tech or follow us on LinkedIn .

What we are looking for

We’re searching for a Central Development Operations Specialist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This role is responsible for safely monitoring and executing development-focused missions supporting new tooling and features for our autonomous vehicle fleet on closed-course tracks and public roads.

This role utilizes Commercial training and practices so that Central Development Operations specialists can provide engineering and product teams with direct feedback on new features and tool performance ahead of Commercial rollout. This role requires strong coordination with Testing Teams, Program Managers, Leads, and cross-functional engineering stakeholders.

The ideal candidate is focused on safety, highly organized, mission-driven, and excellent at rapidly communicating, with a strong ability to read and execute test procedures and translate in-vehicle and tooling observations into clear, actionable feedback. This person will rapidly grasp complex IT systems to monitor, direct, and support development vehicle test deployment across test tracks and public roads, while helping validate the tools and workflows that will ultimately scale to Commercial operations.

Employees who work in Aurora Operations are expected to be open to working a variety of shifts. This role follows a 4x10 schedule, and most sites have night and weekend shifts, with many day shifts including one weekend day as part of the regular schedule. We do our best to match shifts with personal preference, but we reserve the right to assign employees to shifts and schedules based on business needs. All employees may be required to work overtime or on holidays, especially during our busy seasons.

In this role you will

Send out scheduled test assignments to the field testing team at the start of shift, and provide monitoring, triage, and remote command support for triggers or tooling issues as tests are performed

Read test procedures and translate observations into operational feedback for Testing Program Managers, informed by Commercial workflows

Onboard into and help refine commercial command-center best practices, mirroring those workflows for development use cases

Provide structured feedback on feature/tool performance and report findings to Testing Program Managers

Respond to trigger requests/emergencies and safely send remote commands

Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives through triage work and quarterly initiative based cross-functional projects

Escalate complex or persistent issues to Vehicle Reliability Engineering (VRE) with complete documentation, following formal escalation procedures

Escalate operational blockers with suggested solutions to own closing the loop between execution teams and cross-functional program and engineering teams

Work as a team, win together, and serve as an ambassador for Aurora when interacting with the public

Required qualifications

Ability to read and accurately execute technical test procedures

Ability to constantly focus on a laptop monitoring proprietary tooling for extended periods

Maintains up-to-date, working knowledge of the self-driving stack and daily software/operational changes

Past track record of proactively surfacing the right questions when procedures or tooling change, rather than defaulting to escalation or repeated errors

Valid U.S. driver's license, 5+ years driving history, clean record through a MVR check

Must pass initial and random drug and alcohol screenings

Flexibility for day/night/weekend work on a 4x10 schedule

Up to 30% travel

100% in-office presence (with travel as needed)

Exposure to structured test‑procedure or SOP‑driven environments

Experience working in a collaborative environment

Proficient in G‑Suite

Command line interface experience

Familiarity with Slack‑based documentation/reporting workflows

Experience in operations, trucking, technology, robotics, or automotive field

Familiarity with ticketing systems, triage frameworks like Jira based workflows

The base hourly wage range for this position is$27.50 - $33.50 perhour. Aurora’s pay ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, the successful candidate’s starting base pay will be determined based on factors including job‑related skills, experience, qualifications, relevant education or training, and market conditions. These ranges may be modified in the future. The successful candidate will also be eligible for an annual bonus, equity compensation, and benefits.

Working at Aurora

At Aurora, we bring together extraordinarily talented and experienced people united by the strength of our values. We operate with integrity, set outrageous goals, and build a culture where we win together — all without any jerks.

We believe in‑person work increases collaboration, empathy, and our ability to lead effectively. As a result, Aurorans are expected to work from the office at least 3 days per week, with some roles requiring more frequent in‑office presence, up to 5 days per week, based on operational needs.

Our Careers page provides insight into what it is like to work at Aurora, and you can find all the latest updates in our Newsroom .

Our commitment to safety

At the core of everything we do is our commitment to safety. Building best‑in‑class self‑driving technology will take time, and we believe that each employee at Aurora has a role in contributing to safety, every step of the way. Aurora expects commitment to our safety policies from every employee, and seeks candidates who take an active responsibility, can contribute to building an atmosphere of trust, and invest in the organization’s long‑term success by prioritizing working safely, no matter what.

Our commitment to inclusion

Aurora considers candidates without regard to their race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy status, parent or caregiver status, ancestry, political affiliation, veteran and/or military status, physical or mental disability, or any other status protected by federal or state law. Aurora considers qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law. We are also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at [e-mail] .

For California applicants, information collected and processed as part of your application and any job applications you choose to submit is subject to Aurora’s California Employment Privacy Policy.