Senior Manager, Development Test Operations Program Management

Aurora; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); Hybrid; USD 176,000 - 213,000; Full time

Job summary

Aurora is seeking a Senior Manager of Program Management for Development Test Operations to lead a team of PMs embedded with engineering groups. You will set vision, govern portfolios, and standardize processes to deliver reliable test programs across lane, track, and road testing.

You will coach managers, align cross-functional stakeholders, manage budgets, and drive continuous improvement through standardized workflows and metrics.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in Program/Project Management or Technical Operations.
• 5+ years directly managing a team of PMs/PMOs.
• Experience standardizing reporting and operating cadence.
• Strong technical fluency across software/hardware development workflows.
• Proven experience managing relationships with Engineering leadership and Planning/Portfolio stakeholders.
• Experience in cross-functional, fast-paced environments with shifting priorities.
• Track record of driving change management and process improvement.

Responsibilities

• Own strategic planning and alignment for the team, including vision, portfolio coordination, governance and standards.
• Manage, coach, and develop a team of Program Managers with consistent operating norms.
• Oversee program-level planning and quality across engineering areas linked to test workstreams.
• Ensure PMs act as the single contact point with their engineering areas with clear timelines and escalations.
• Manage resources, budgets, and track dependencies.
• Share test program risks and mitigations with stakeholders.
• Drive standardized workflows, metrics development, and weekly reporting cadence.

Skills

Program management

Team leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Stakeholder management

Change management

Technical fluency

Tools

Dashboard tools

Test management software

Job description

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 Senior Manager of Program Management for our Development Test Operations. This manager will manage a team of Program Managers, each embedded as the single point of contact with an engineering group. This role is accountable for setting a program vision, coordinating the portfolio, and setting strong governance and standards for the PM team - turning a group of individually strong PMs into a standardized, predictable program management organization. The Senior Manager must be fluent enough in engineering/development workflows to pressure-test PM decisions, unblock technical escalations, and represent the team credibly with Engineering leadership.

In this role you will

• Own strategic planning and alignment for the team, including setting the vision for program management, coordinating test programs/portfolio and resourcing, and setting governance and standards
• Manage, coach, and develop a team of Program Managers, establishing consistent operating norms to increase program quality.
• Own program-level planning and quality across all engineering areas the team supports (lane and network expansion, track testing, road testing, and other development test workstreams), ensuring every initiative has clear scope, description, and need‑by dates, every ticket has a clear, executable test procedure, and operations is receiving high‑quality testing requests.
• Ensure every PM operates as the single point of contact with their engineering area, with clear communication on timelines and needs to/from Engineering and Planning; own the defined escalation path for conflicts and ensure PMs know when to use it.
• Manage resources, budget, and track dependencies
• Share test program risks and mitigations with relevant stakeholders
• Review test execution and QA quality trends across the team, especially on blocked tickets, and drive root‑cause process fixes rather than one‑off firefighting, closing the feedback loop with both Engineering and Operations.
• Drive process improvement by moving the team onto standardized workflows, supporting metrics development, and establishing a weekly reporting cadence

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in Program Management, Project Management, or Technical Operations, including 5+ years directly managing a team of Program/Project Managers.
• Demonstrated experience building or standardizing a reporting and operating cadence across a distributed team, replacing informal coordination with repeatable process.
• Strong technical fluency across software and hardware development workflows, with the ability to translate engineering plans and progress into concrete, executable field test programs.
• Proven experience managing relationships and expectations with both Engineering leadership and Planning/Portfolio stakeholders simultaneously.
• Experience supporting technical or development programs in a cross‑functional, fast‑paced environment with shifting priorities.
• Track record of driving change management and process improvement across a team, not just an individual workstream.

Desirable Qualifications

• Experience in autonomous vehicle, automotive, robotics, logistics, or similarly complex operational environments.
• Exposure to a broad range of test types – field/operational testing, software/feature validation, and platform bring‑up or hardware readiness – and comfort moving between them.
• Familiarity with the software development lifecycle and how development milestones (builds, releases, feature rollouts) map to test scheduling and readiness across varied test types.
• Experience building or owning dashboards/reporting tools that aggregate program status across multiple sub‑teams.

The base salary range for this position is $176,000 - $213,000 per year. 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.