Principal Vehicle Line Manager

Rivian Automotive; Tustin (CA); On-site; USD 201,000 - 288,000; Full time

Job summary

Rivian Automotive in Southern California is seeking a Senior Program Manager to lead the business and technical execution for a major vehicle zone (Upperbody or Underbody). You will decompose the product vision into actionable technical and financial deliverables and oversee end-to-end execution of your zone to meet program objectives.

You will own unit economics, drive cost-down initiatives, partner with Global Supply Chain, map features to the vehicle value proposition, and guide the zone

Qualifications

• 12+ years in automotive program management or engineering leadership.
• Ability to operate in highly ambiguous environments and make high-stakes decisions.
• Knowledge of automotive cost structures and CAPEX budgets.
• Experience with Design & Release (D&R) in complex systems (Battery, Chassis, Body, or EE) preferred.
• Ability to influence VP-level stakeholders and build cross-functional consensus on high-level decisions.
• Familiarity with vehicle autonomous systems and/or hardware.

Responsibilities

• Translate VLD’s program strategy into actionable technical and business roadmaps.
• Own zone unit economics (COGS) and total investment (CAPEX/ED&D) and align with program margins.
• Lead technical cost-down initiatives and value engineering; identify financial risks and propose counter-proposals.
• Define sourcing strategies with Global Supply Chain; oversee tooling maturity and supplier capacity.
• Convert business objectives into feature goals and map to total vehicle value proposition.
• Direct the zone through Design Maturity (DM1-5) and Manufacturing Readiness; ensure engineering excellence.
• Oversee planning, budgeting, and procurement of validation assets to align with build phases.

Skills

Automotive program management

Engineering leadership

Strategic decision making

Financial acumen

Cost-down / value engineering

Design & Release (D&R)

Stakeholder influence

Autonomous systems familiarity

Job description

About Rivian

Rivianis on a mission to keep the world adventurous forever. This goes for the emissions-free Electric Adventure Vehicles we build, and the curious, courageous souls we seek to attract.

As a company, we constantly challenge what’s possible, never simply accepting what has always been done. We reframe old problems, seek new solutions and operate comfortably in areas that are unknown. Our backgrounds are diverse, but our team shares a love of the outdoors and a desire to protect it for future generations.

Role Summary

In this role, you lead the business and technical execution for a major vehicle zone (Upperbody or Underbody). Collaborating with the Vehicle Line Director (VLD), you will decompose overarching product vision and targets into actionable technical and financial deliverables while overseeing the end-to-end execution of your domain. You are responsible for the cross-functional orchestration of your zone to guarantee the zone successfully meets all program objectives.

Responsibilities

• VLD Partnership & Strategy Decomposition: Operationalize the VLD’s program strategy by translating high-level product vision into actionable technical and business roadmaps.
• Unit Economic Ownership: Own your zone’s Unit Economics (COGS) and Total Investment (CAPEX/ED&D); ensure zone-level decisions align with the VLD’s total program margin targets.
• Commercial Stewardship: Lead technical cost-down initiatives and value engineering; identify financial risks early and present technical counter-proposals to protect the program's target margin.
• Strategic Sourcing Leadership: Partner with Global Supply Chain to define sourcing strategies that align with technical requirements; oversee tooling maturity and supplier capacity to de-risk the master schedule.
• Product Vision & Feature Mapping: Convert high-level business objectives into tangible feature goals; leverage benchmarking to drive innovation and ensure zone features contribute to the total vehicle value proposition.
• Technical & Operational Excellence: Direct the zone through Design Maturity (DM1-5) and Manufacturing Readiness; ensure engineering excellence is maintained from initial design to final assembly.
• Validation & Asset Strategy: Oversee the planning, budgeting, and procurement of validation assets relevant to your zone; ensure the full scope of testing is rigorous and synchronized with build phases.

Qualifications

• Expertise: 12+ years in automotive program management or engineering leadership, with a proven track record of delivering large-scale vehicle programs from concept through launch.
• Strategic Autonomy: Demonstrated ability to operate in highly ambiguous environments, making high-stakes decisions with incomplete data.
• Financial Acumen: Comprehensive knowledge of automotive cost structures, with direct experience managing total landed cost, BOM/Non-BOM COGS, and large-scale CAPEX budgets.
• Technical Breadth: Strong "first principles" engineering approach; prior Design & Release (D&R) experience in complex systems (e.g., Battery, Chassis, Body, or EE) is highly preferred.
• Influential Leadership: Proven ability to influence VP-level stakeholders and build cross-functional consensus on high-level strategic decisions
• Familiarity with vehicle autonomous systems and/or hardware

Pay Disclosure

The salary range for this role is $201,300-287,500 for Southern Californiabased 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.

Equal Opportunity

Rivian is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local fair employment practices laws. 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.

Rivian 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 [e-mail].

Candidate Data Privacy and Technology

Rivian 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 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) recordkeeping; (vi) ensuring network and information security and preventing fraud; and (vii) as otherwise required or permitted by applicable law.

Rivian 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 affiliates; and (iii) Rivian’s service providers, including providers of background checks, staffing services, and cloud services.

Rivian may transfer or store internationally your Candidate Personal Data, including to or in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, 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.

How We Use AI in Our Hiring Process: To ensure transparency, we want candidates to know that Rivian uses iCIMS Talent Cloud Artificial Intelligence (TCAI) and AI-enabled tools to assist with screening, reviewing, organizing and highlighting profiles and applications that match the key requirements for each role.

AI does not make hiring decisions: Qualified candidate applications are reviewed by a member of our team, and all decisions throughout the process are made by humans. We use AI to support efficiency and consistency, not to replace human judgment. We are committed to a fair, thoughtful, and equitable experience for every candidate.

Participation in AI profile matching is entirely voluntary. If you prefer that your profile not be used in this process, you can opt out at any time. Opting out means your profile will be excluded from automated matching and will not be surfaced for additional roles through this system. Your current application remains active and will not be affected in any way.

Please note that we are currently not accepting applications from third party application services.