Staff Program Manager, Partner Quality

Aurora Innovation Inc.; Coppell (TX); Hybrid; USD 115,000 - 167,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus

Equity compensation

Benefits

Job summary

Aurora Innovation Inc. in Coppell, TX, is seeking a Staff Program Manager, Partner Quality, to own the quality and safety dimensions of the partner KPI framework across vendor categories. You will set standards, audit cadences, and certification requirements, guiding actions with Product Operations.

You will design vendor audits, surface quality risks early, and lead root-cause investigations to implement corrective plans with-category leads and senior stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Operations, Engineering, Quality Management, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience; advanced degree preferred.
• 7+ years of relevant experience in supplier/vendor quality management, quality assurance, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience independently leading complex, cross-functional quality or safety programs across vendor categories.
• Proven ability to define quality standards, audit frameworks, and corrective-action systems in ambiguous environments.
• Track record of resolving systemic quality issues through structured root-cause analysis.
• Strong executive communication, business judgment, and stakeholder influence skills.
• Advanced experience developing and using quality metrics, audit scorecards, and performance systems to drive decisions.
• Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt certification, or ability to obtain certification within 90 days of hire.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the strategic owner for the quality and safety dimensions of the partner KPI framework, defining standards, audit cadence, and certification requirements across partnership categories.
• Design and operate vendor audit processes to proactively surface quality risks before they affect commercial or safety outcomes.
• Investigate systemic quality failures, root-cause findings, and drive corrective and preventive action plans in partnership with Product Operations and affected category leads.
• Partner with category leads to embed quality and safety metrics into vendor scorecards and Quarterly Business Reviews.
• Apply Lean Six Sigma and DMAIC methodology to resolve recurring quality issues in both Aurora's and partners' processes.
• Frame quality risk, safety exposure, and remediation tradeoffs for senior and executive leaders, driving alignment across Operations, Product, and Safety.

Skills

Vendor quality management

Cross-functional leadership

Quality assurance

Lean Six Sigma

Executive communication

Data-driven decision making

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Business/Operations/Engineering/Quality Management

Tools

Jira

Jama

Confluence

Google Suite

Job description

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

As a Staff Program Manager, Partner Quality, you own the quality and safety dimensions of the partner KPI framework across all vendor categories. You define quality standards, escalation frameworks, audit processes, investigate systemic quality failures, and drive corrective action plans in partnership with Product Operations.

This role requires significant autonomy, strong business judgment, and the ability to create structure and alignment across complex, ambiguous problems. You will help define what "good" looks like across a diverse partner ecosystem and influence decisions across multiple functions and levels of leadership.

In this role, you will

Serve as the strategic owner for the quality and safety dimensions of the partner KPI framework, defining standards, audit cadence, and certification requirements across partnership categories.

Design and operate vendor audit processes to proactively surface quality risks before they affect commercial or safety outcomes.

Investigate systemic quality failures, root-cause findings, and drive corrective and preventive action plans in partnership with Product Operations and affected category leads.

Partner with category leads (Partnership Program Managers, Cost Out & Productivity) to embed quality and safety metrics into vendor scorecards and Quarterly Business Reviews.

Apply Lean Six Sigma and DMAIC methodology to resolve recurring quality issues in both Aurora's and partners' processes.

Frame quality risk, safety exposure, and remediation tradeoffs for senior and executive leaders, driving alignment across Operations, Product, and Safety.

Establish reusable quality playbooks and audit tools, and mentor category leads and Ops Quality on applying quality rigor to their partner relationships.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Business, Operations, Engineering, Quality Management, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience; advanced degree preferred.

7+ years of relevant experience in supplier/vendor quality management, quality assurance, or a related field.

Demonstrated experience independently leading complex, cross-functional quality or safety programs across vendor categories.

Proven ability to define quality standards, audit frameworks, and corrective-action systems in ambiguous environments.

Track record of resolving systemic quality issues through structured root-cause analysis.

Strong executive communication, business judgment, and stakeholder influence skills.

Advanced experience developing and using quality metrics, audit scorecards, and performance systems to drive decisions.

Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt certification, or ability to obtain certification within 90 days of hire.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience in transportation, logistics, or autonomous vehicle operations.

Certifications such as PMP, CSP, Six Sigma, CFSE/P, or other relevant safety or project management certifications.

Knowledge of safety regulations and standards

Experience developing, implementing and improving Safety Performance Indicators (SPIs)

Experience leading cross-functional teams.

Understanding of regulatory compliance processes related to safety standards.

Experience with Jira, Jama, Confluence, Google Suite.

For roles based in Coppell, TX: The salary range for this position is $115,000 - $166,500 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.