Sr. Manager, Sustaining Engineering & Operations Technical Program Management

Rivian VW Group; Palo Alto (CA); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Rivian VW Group Technologies seeks a Senior Manager to lead ECU sustaining engineering and operations as ECUs scale across brand partners. You will leverage in‑house expertise and outsourced services to deliver sustained performance, quality and continuous improvement across Zonal, Battery, Infotainment and Connectivity ECUs.

The role requires deep experience in ECU design, process development, coalition-building and initiative leadership in a complex, multi‑team, multi‑supplier environment.

Qualifications

• Strong program management instincts.
• Hands-on technical foundation in electronics hardware.
• Experience in ECU design and related hardware disciplines.
• Ability to manage multi‑team, multi‑supplier programs.
• Capability to establish and improve processes and workflows.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead ECU sustaining engineering and operations across multiple ECUs.
• Define and scale sustaining operating model across vehicle platforms and brand partner programs.
• Manage engineering service providers and contract manufacturers for post‑ramp activities.
• Drive capacity, ramp planning, and supply continuity with cross‑functional teams.
• Own ECO/ECR and deviation workflows, ensuring quality and schedule accountability.
• Escalate with partners and manage design changes within program gates and schedules.
• Coordinate with Design Engineering, Quality, Service, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain teams.

Skills

Program management

Electronics hardware

Supplier management

Cross-functional leadership

Process development

Job description

About Us

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is a joint venture between two industry leaders with a clear vision for automotive’s next chapter. From operating systems to zonal controllers to cloud and connectivity solutions, we’re addressing the challenges of electric vehicles through technology that will set the standards for software-defined vehicles around the world.

The road to the future is uncharted. By combining our expertise across connectivity, AI, security and more, we’ll map a new way forward. Working together, we’ll create a future that’s more connected, more intelligent, more sustainable for everyone.

Role Summary

As RVT’s Electronic Control Unit (ECU) portfolio scales across brand partners and expands into triple-digit country roadmaps — against a backdrop of increasing semiconductor supply chain volatility — sustaining operations have shifted from a downstream function to a core strategic priority. Our Electrical Hardware Technical Program Management team is seeking a Senior Manager to build and lead the ECU sustaining engineering and operations — leveraging both in-house expertise as well as outsourced debug, design, simulation, test/validation engineering services support to get the job done. This role sits at the intersection of engineering execution and programmatic strategy, requiring deep experience in ECU design as well as process development, coalition-building and initiative leadership.

In this role, you will own the post-launch lifecycle of ECU hardware across Zonal, Battery, Infotainment and Connectivity ECUs. This scope includes field return and RMA disposition, failure analysis and root cause, containment and corrective action with our contract manufacturers, engineering change and deviation control, component obsolescence and second-source qualification, and cost-down and end-of-life transitions. You will be the accountable owner for sustaining issues that reach the plant and/or field, and the person who converts what we learn there into design, test, process, and supplier improvements to integrate into our upstream NPI workflows.

This role also carries direct accountability for the third-party engineering partners who deliver mechanical engineering and design, component engineering, and reliability test and validation for the ECU portfolio. You will define statements of work, set deliverable and quality expectations, manage capacity and spend, and ensure outsourced scope integrates cleanly with internal execution. The successful candidate brings strong program management instincts, a hands‑on technical foundation in electronics hardware, and the organizational influence to drive complex, multi‑team, multi‑supplier efforts to completion.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead best-in-class ECU sustaining engineering and operations team — failure analysis, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, technical program management, and document control — with domain coverage across Zonal, Battery, Infotainment ,Connectivity, and vehicle access ECUs.

• Lead development and implementation of plant/field triage process across brand partners from greenfield state. Define and scale the sustaining operating model as the ECU portfolio grows across vehicle platforms and brand partner programs, including process definition, tooling, and a resource plan that balances internal headcount against outsourced scope.

• Own the portfolio of engineering service providers and Contract Manufacture partners that deliver post‑ramp design, validation, qualification, and failure analysis — including the workflows, systems integration, and scalable processes that make sustaining operations repeatable across the ECU portfolio. Define statements of work, deliverables, capacity, and spend, and hold partners accountable to quality and schedule.

• Drive for uninterrupted supply from build readiness through mass production: capacity and ramp planning, mitigation of shortages/EOL/single‑source risk, and the design refresh and ECO decisions required to keep products buildable in partnership with Purchasing organizations across brand partners.

• Own the RMA and change‑management system with Contract Manufactures, component suppliers, Quality, and Design Engineering — driving root cause to closure — and ensure operational readiness milestones, dependencies, and risks are integrated and escalated within top‑line ECU and vehicle program schedules.

• Own engineering change control for the ECU portfolio, including ECO, ECR, and deviation workflows, review board cadence, document control, and traceability between as‑designed and as‑built configurations.

• Lead escalations with contract manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers: containment, rework and deviation decisions, corrective action verification, and executive‑level escalation when supplier response does not meet program need.

• Serve as the primary sustaining interface to Design Engineering, Quality, Service, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Brand program teams; represent sustaining positions at change boards and program gates.