Staff Product Operations Manager

Rivian VW Group; Palo Alto, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

RSU equity

Health coverage

Retirement savings

Job summary

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is seeking a Staff Product Operations Manager to secure production continuity, scale capacity, and drive operational excellence across hardware ecosystems. You will manage outsourced engineering partners, lead post-ramp redesigns and implement corrective actions with a global CM network.

The role requires strategic planning, cross-functional leadership, and the ability to navigate complex timelines in a fast-paced, technology-driven environment.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in New Product Introduction, Manufacturing Operations, Supply Chain or Operations Engineering.
• BS or MS degree in Engineering.
• Experience in component lifecycle management, material risk mitigation and EOL transition planning.
• Experience driving RMA triage, failure analysis and design refresh with engineering and suppliers.
• Experience managing engineering service partners or JDM partners.
• Excellent cross-functional collaboration, influence and relationship-building.
• Strong analytical, data-driven decision making and comfortable with ambiguity.
• Ability to travel as needed to CM sites internationally.
• Strong communication in technical and nontechnical domains.

Responsibilities

• Develop portfolio of engineering service providers for post-ramp design, validation and failure analysis.
• Create sustaining operations and post-ramp design/qualification workflows for internal systems.
• Collaborate with Hardware, Software, Quality, Purchasing and Test Automation to align CM schedules.
• Integrate critical milestones into top-line ECU and vehicle program schedules; highlight risks.
• Own production continuity planning including capacity modeling and ramp readiness.
• Lead build readiness for engineering, pilot and mass production phases.

Skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Analytical thinking

Problem solving

Data-driven decision making

Effective communication

Influence without authority

Ability to travel internationally

Proactive risk mitigation

Education

Engineering degree (BS/MS)

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, and more sustainable for everyone.

Role Summary

As the RVT roadmap expands with our brand partners, we continue to develop processes, methods, tools and strategic partnerships to support our scaling approach. Our Electrical Hardware Technical Program Management team is seeking a collaborative and strategic Staff Product Operations Manager to secure production continuity, scale manufacturing capacity to meet dynamic product demand, and drive operational excellence across our hardware ecosystem. This role is responsible for proactive material risk mitigation—including shortage management, End of Life [EOL] transitions, and supply continuity—as well as overseeing field failure triage workflows and design refresh activities with our global partners.

This candidate must be able to effectively curate, manage and lead outsourced engineering partners and technical service firms on field failure analysis, reverse logistics, and the development and implementation of corrective and preventative action plans. In addition, this role will collaborate closely with external engineering partners on post ramp redesign efforts—both for sustaining reliability improvements and for strategic design refreshes driven by our brand partner feature requirement changes and/or cost optimization. This role will also encompass greenfield development of sustaining operation and post-ramp design/qualification/failure analysis workflows for integration into internal systems, tools and teams.

Acting as a key interface between Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, and our Contract Manufacturer (CM) network, you will develop end-to-end operational strategies, implement scalable processes, resolve cross-functional blockers, and lead the operational roadmap from prototype through mass production and sustaining phases. This role requires a strong technical foundation, deep operational intuition, and the ability to anticipate risks and execute against aggressive timelines in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

• Develop portfolio of engineering service providers to support post-ramp design, validation, failure analysis and other critical engineering functions

• Create sustaining operation and post-ramp design/qualification/failure analysis workflows for integration into internal systems and teams.

• Collaborate across key stakeholders, including Hardware and Software Engineering, Product Launch Engineering, Quality, Purchasing and Test Automation, to create integrated CM operations schedules.

• Coordinate with Hardware, Software and Vehicle-level program managers to integrate critical operations readiness milestones and dependencies into top-line ECU and vehicle program schedules, highlighting technical/timeline risks holistically.

• Own production continuity planning, including capacity modeling, ramp readiness, and long-term supply planning with internal teams and external CMs.

• Lead build readiness for engineering, pilot, and mass-production phases while ensuring operational requirements are met across hardware, software, and system teams.

• Proactively identify and mitigate material shortages, EOL components, and single-sourced risk items via strategic planning, qualification of alternates, and cross-functional collaboration.

• Partner with Engineering, Sourcing, and Suppliers to manage component lifecycle health and initiate design refresh actions as needed.

• Drive RMA workflows with CMs and suppliers, ensuring timely triage, root-cause analysis, corrective actions, and preventative measures.

• Partner with Quality, Reliability, and Design Engineering to differentiate between design, process, and component failures and ensure efficient ownership.

• Lead post-ramp change management efforts for design, quality and process issue resolution with Quality and Design Engineering teams.

• Oversee design refresh and ECO implementation at CMs, ensuring controlled rollout, validation, and change qualification.

• Integrate critical operational milestones into broader product and vehicle-level schedules, communicating risks and dependencies clearly.

• Implement scalable processes and best practices for CM management, NPI-to-ramp transitions, sustaining operations, and change control.

• Lead continuous improvement initiatives across cost, quality, yield, cycle time, communication, and data visibility.

• Lead cross-functional issue resolution to mitigate risks and remove roadblocks for CM readiness.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• 7+ years of experience in New Product Introduction, Manufacturing Operations, Supply Chain Management, and/or Operations Engineering.

• BS or MS degree in Engineering.

• Demonstrated experience in component lifecycle management, material risk mitigation, and EOL transition planning.

• Experience driving RMA triage, failure analysis, and design refresh processes with engineering and supplier partners.

• Experience with managing engineering service partners and/or JDM partners

• Exceptional cross-functional collaboration skills; able to influence without authority and build strong relationships across organizations.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities; data-driven decision-making and comfort navigating ambiguity.

• Ability to travel as needed to CM sites internationally.

• Strong communication skills in technical and nontechnical domains.

• Outstanding collaboration and relationship-building capabilities within and across organizations.

• Data-driven, proactive, and tenacious; energized by ambiguity and passionate about cross-functional problem solving.

Total Rewards

We build the exceptional — and we believe the people doing that work should be rewarded accordingly. In addition to a competitive base salary, full-time positions may be is eligible to participate in our annual company performance bonus program.

Payments are discretionary and not guaranteed; actual amounts depend on company results and the terms of the plan in effect, and require active employment at the time of payout. This role is also eligible for equity in the form of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), subject to board approval and the terms of our equity incentive plans, including applicable vesting requirements.

In addition to our compensation programs, we invest in our people with a comprehensive benefits package designed to support the health, wellbeing, and financial future for full-time employees — including health coverage, retirement savings, time off, and family planning programs. Offerings vary by country. Learn more about our global benefit programs.

Equal Opportunity

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. 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. We are also committed to ensuring compliance with all applicable fair employment practice laws regarding citizenship and immigration status.

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies 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

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies 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 and Volkswagen Group Technologies 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) record keeping; (vi) ensuring network and information security and preventing fraud; and (vii) as otherwise required or permitted by applicable law.

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

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies may transfer or store internationally your Candidate Personal Data, including to or in the United States, Canada, 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.

If you provide a mobile telephone number as part of your application or during the recruitment process, Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies may use that number to contact you via SMS text message for recruitment-related purposes, including scheduling, logistics, and status updates. Message and data rates may apply. You may opt out of SMS communications at any time by replying STOP to any text message you receive from us. Consent to receive SMS messages is not a condition of applying for or being considered for employment.

Please see our Candidate Data Privacy Notice (English) and Candidate Data Privacy Notice (Serbian) for more information.

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