Senior/staff Technical Program Manager - Autonomy Operations

Front Door Defense; Foster City (CA); On-site; USD 186,000 - 284,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Paid time off

Stock options

Job summary

Zoox in Foster City, California, is looking for a Senior/Staff Technical Program Manager to drive cross-functional program management for autonomous vehicle development. This role involves planning and executing milestones, and collaborating with various departments to ensure alignment with corporate strategies.

The ideal candidate has extensive experience in program management and strong communication skills, as well as a relevant engineering background. Benefits include a competitive salary range of $186,000 to $284,000, health insurance, and stock options.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in engineering, program management, or management consulting focused on product development.
• Experience leading complex cross-functional technical programs.
• Ability to manage communications effectively across various teams.

Responsibilities

• Plan and execute autonomous vehicle program milestones end-to-end.
• Partner with department managers to align corporate strategy with technical roadmaps.
• Establish reports on program status, issues, risks, and accomplishments.

Skills

Cross-functional leadership

Program management

Excellent communication skills

Proficiency with Jira

Education

BS or MS degree in engineering or equivalent experience

Job description

Senior/staff Technical Program Manager - Autonomy Operations

Plan and execute cross-functional autonomous vehicle program milestones end-to-end across platforms

Location: Foster City, California, United States

About The Role

Autonomy Technical Program Manager

The Program Management Office (PMO) at Zoox is responsible for driving cross-functional program planning and execution at the highest level. We partner with leaders from across the company in vehicle development, system design, software engineering, manufacturing, fleet operations, and business functions to develop and deliver major corporate milestones on the path to launch, and beyond. Our program managers contribute to the end to end success of technical, integrated product milestones involving both of our vehicle platforms - the Toyota Highlander test fleet and Zoox's purpose-built robotaxi.

The Autonomy Technical Program Manager (TPM) in PMO is an experienced cross-functional program management leader that will be responsible for planning and execution of technical and integrated product milestones for our vehicle platforms, specifically managing the end-to-end (E2E) PUDO workstream. This person will work on programs to develop, validate, and improve our autonomous driving system, ultimately enabling the Zoox robotaxi to serve riders in a rapidly expanding operational design domain.

In this role, you will:

• Partner with a wide range of department managers to translate the top-down corporate strategy and milestones into detailed technical roadmaps, timelines, and deliverables
• Influence key decisions working cross-functionally across engineering, product, operations, and strategy to reach the right outcomes, ensuring all PUDO stakeholders function as a cohesive structure
• Establish standard reports to provide concise and effective communications to key stakeholders on program status, issues/risks, and accomplishments
• Define, develop, and track new KPIs and other methods to measure performance that best translate progress towards goals
• Ensure program goals are aligned with business objectives; build and sustain momentum among cross-functional TPMs and workstreams towards delivering on time and on target, bringing order, structure, and rhythm to program execution
• Maintain a strong technical understanding of our vehicle platforms, software lifecycle, safety clearance process, and test operations, with the ability to deeply understand complex technical programs while maintaining a clear end-to-end perspective

Qualifications:

• BS or MS degree in an engineering discipline or equivalent experience, 5+ years of experience in engineering, program management, or management consulting with a focus on product development
• Success in leading complex cross-functional technical programs from start to finish
• Comfortable leading through ambiguity and enabling teams to perform in this environment
• Excellent written, presentation, and verbal communication skills are a must, including the ability to manage complex cross-functional and leadership communications effectively
• Proficiency with Jira for structuring program plans that reflect progress without need for manual processing

Bonus Qualifications:

• Experience with autonomous vehicles or other complex, safety-critical systems
• Experience with developing from scratch and scaling engineering or operational processes
• Experience in a high-growth company
• Experience using Gen AI tools for program management, dashboarding and scripting

$186,000 - $284,000 a year Base Salary Range There are three major components to compensation for this position: salary, Amazon Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), and Zoox Stock Appreciation Rights. A sign-on bonus may be offered as part of the compensation package. The listed range applies only to the base salary. Compensation will vary based on geographic location and level. Leveling, as well as positioning within a level, is determined by a range of factors, including, but not limited to, a candidate's relevant years of experience, domain knowledge, and interview performance. The salary range listed in this posting is representative of the range of levels Zoox is considering for this position. Zoox also offers a comprehensive package of benefits, including paid time off (e.g. sick leave, vacation, bereavement), unpaid time off, Zoox Stock Appreciation Rights, Amazon RSUs, health insurance, long-term care insurance, long-term and short-term disability insurance, and life insurance.

Zoox is developing the first ground-up, fully autonomous vehicle fleet and the supporting ecosystem required to bring this technology to market. Sitting at the intersection of robotics, machine learning, and design, Zoox aims to provide the next generation of mobility-as-a-service in urban environments. We're looking for top talent that shares our passion and wants to be part of a fast-moving and highly execution-oriented team.

If you need an accommodation to participate in the application or interview process please reach out to [e-mail] or your assigned recruiter.

You do not need to match every listed expectation to apply for this position. Here at Zoox, we know that diverse perspectives foster the innovation we need to be successful, and we are committed to building a team that encompasses a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and skills.