Staff Technical Program Manager, Vehicle Validation

Rivian; Plymouth (MI); On-site; USD 150,000 - 195,000; Full time

Job summary

Rivian is seeking a Staff Technical Program Manager, Vehicle Validation, to lead the vehicle-level validation roadmap from concept through launch and beyond. You will align DVPs, validation assets and build plans, and drive cross-functional readiness across engineering, manufacturing, service, and quality.

The role requires 8+ years in automotive or complex electro-mechanical programs, strong PM and systems-engineering skills, and fluency with Jira, Confluence, Jama and dashboards to enable

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering or related technical field.
• 8+ years in automotive or complex electro-mechanical products.
• Strong cross-functional leadership and program management experience.
• Experience with DVPs, DFMEAs, requirements and build phases.
• Experience validating at vehicle or subsystem level with asset planning.
• Proficient with Jira, Confluence, Jama and data dashboards.

Responsibilities

• Own and continuously improve the integrated vehicle validation roadmap from concept through engineering sign-off, with decision-ready deliverables.
• Translate DFMEA, NUDD, requirements, and known product risks into an integrated vehicle validation strategy.
• Build and maintain the integrated vehicle validation plan, including tests, vehicles, maturity, and Config.
• Lead cross-functional alignment across engineering, program, test, manufacturing, launch, service, quality and other teams.
• Re-plan quickly when content, software, build timing, or readiness changes create risk.
• Establish dashboards and metrics, audit DVP/SDVP coverage, and provide data-backed updates.
• Identify gaps and risks, drive mitigation and issue closure, feed findings back into requirements.
• Apply validation governance and continuous improvement efforts.

Skills

Technical program management

Systems engineering

Validation

Cross-functional leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related field

Tools

Jira

Confluence

Jama

Dashboards

Job description

About Rivian

Rivian is on a mission to keep the world adventurous forever. This goes for the emissions-free Electric Adventure Vehicles we build, and the curious, courageous souls we seek to attract.

About Rivian

Rivian is on a mission to keep the world adventurous forever. This goes for the emissions-free Electric Adventure Vehicles we build, and the curious, courageous souls we seek to attract.

As a company, we constantly challenge what’s possible, never simply accepting what has always been done. We reframe old problems, seek new solutions and operate comfortably in areas that are unknown. Our backgrounds are diverse, but our team shares a love of the outdoors and a desire to protect it for future generations.

Role Summary

Vehicle Validation at Rivian ensures every product delivers exceptional function, quality, reliability, and real-world performance. We perform verification and validation against data-driven requirements that reflect how our customers use our vehicles, connecting DFMEAs, requirements, and validation plans into a cohesive, decision-oriented process.

As a Staff Technical Program Manager, Vehicle Validation, you will lead the vehicle-level validation roadmap across programs from concept through launch and beyond. You will provide the program management spine that aligns vehicle-level DVPs, validation assets and build plans, cross-functional timing, risk, and readiness, while raising the bar on how Rivian plans, governs, and improves validation across the function.

Responsibilities

• Own and continuously improve the integrated vehicle validation roadmap from concept through engineering sign-off, with decision-ready deliverables.
• Translate DFMEA, NUDD, requirements, and known product risks into an integrated vehicle validation strategy across Rivian’s validation pillars.
• Build and maintain the integrated vehicle validation plan, including what tests run when, on which vehicles, at what maturity, and with what configuration.
• Lead cross-functional alignment across engineering, program, test, manufacturing, launch, service, quality, and other partner teams to align validation coverage, asset plans, timing, and readiness.
• Re-plan quickly when content, software, build timing, or readiness changes create risk, maintaining a credible path to key milestones and launch.
• Establish dashboards and metrics, audit DVP and SDVP coverage, and provide clear, data-backed updates that support accountability and fast decision-making.
• Proactively identify gaps and risks, drive mitigation and issue closure, and ensure findings are fed back into requirements, DFMEAs, and future plans.
• Apply validation governance and continuous improvement efforts, including standardizing methods and tools.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a related technical field.
• Typically 8+ years of experience in automotive or complex electro-mechanical products, including significant experience in technical program management, systems engineering, validation, or similar cross-functional leadership roles.
• Deep understanding of vehicle development milestones, systems engineering, and how DVPs, DFMEAs, requirements, and build phases support validation and launch decisions.
• Demonstrated experience planning and orchestrating validation at the vehicle or major subsystem level, including DVP creation, asset planning, schedule integration, and test or issue closure.
• Strong fluency with tools such as Jira, Confluence, Jama, dashboards, and related data systems to drive decisions, not just reporting.
• Proven ability to influence across functions and levels, operate with limited supervision, lead projects with diverse stakeholders, and make a compelling case for change.

Pay Disclosure

The salary range for this role is $154,000 - $192,500 for California based applicants. This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employee’s position within the salary range will