Senior ECU Reliability & Durability Validation Lead

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity RSUs

Health coverage

Retirement plan

Paid time off

Job summary

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is seeking a Senior Technical Program Manager to own the planning, coordination, and execution of ECU validation and reliability programs across high‑compute infotainment and zonal controllers. You will bridge test engineers, hardware design, internal labs, and third‑party facilities to keep programs on schedule and meet automotive standards.

The role requires hands‑on hardware validation experience, strong program management instincts, and the ability to

Qualifications

• 4+ years in automotive, aerospace, or consumer electronics program management or validation coordination.
• Hands-on familiarity with ECU/PCBA reliability and durability test methods (thermal cycling, vibration, humidity, HALT).
• Experience developing DVP&R documents and reliability test plans aligned to automotive standards (ISO 16750, AEC-Q, IEC 60068).
• Ability to manage multi-workstream validation programs with milestones, samples, and lab capacity.

Responsibilities

• Own and maintain reliability and durability validation program schedules across ECU and vehicle-level gates.
• Coordinate test execution across internal labs in California and accredited third-party facilities.
• Develop and maintain the R&D validation test plan (DVP&R) for ECU programs.
• Identify and mitigate risks related to test schedule, lab capacity, and sample readiness.
• Support test readiness reviews with ECU TPMs and ensure infrastructure is in place ahead of each gate.
• Create and maintain program trackers, risk registers, and gate review packages.
• Drive continuous improvement of R&D test planning processes and reporting.

Skills

Technical PM

Test engineering

Validation coordination

Cross-functional

DVP&R development

Jira/Confluence

Stakeholder communication

Travel ready

Education

B.S./M.S. in Engineering

Tools

Jira

Confluence

Job description

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is seeking a Senior Technical Program Manager to own the planning, coordination, and execution of ECU validation and reliability programs across high‑compute infotainment and zonal controllers. You will bridge test engineers, hardware design, internal labs, and third‑party facilities to keep programs on schedule and meet automotive standards.

The role requires hands‑on hardware validation experience, strong program management instincts, and the ability to