Staff Product Operations Manager

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is a joint venture between two industry leaders with a clear vision for automotives next chapter. From operating systems to zonal controllers to cloud and connectivity solutions were 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 well map a new way forward. Working together well create a future thats more connected more intelligent more sustainable for everyone.

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 mitigationincluding shortage management End of Life EOL transitions and supply continuityas 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 addition this role will collaborate closely with external engineering partners on post ramp redesign effortsboth 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.

• 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.

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.

We build the exceptional and we believe the people doing that work should be rewarded 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.

External candidates can apply for this role through the Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies careers site ( If you are a current employee please apply through our internal job board.

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

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.

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

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Please note this job posting represents an open active vacancy. Additionally we are not currently accepting applications from third party application services.

Required Experience:

Manager