Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies · 2 days ago
Sr. Staff Product Operations Manager
Palo Alto, CA
Full-time
Onsite
Senior Level, Lead/Staff
$213K/yr - $266K/yr
12+ years expRivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is a joint venture between two industry leaders focused on advancing automotive technology. The Senior Staff Product Operations Leader will drive operational excellence across the hardware ecosystem, ensuring production continuity and managing outsourced engineering partners for failure analysis and design refresh efforts.
AutomotiveInformation TechnologySoftware
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
Qualification
Required
12+ 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
Benefits
Robust medical/Rx, dental and vision insurance packages for full-time employees, their spouse or domestic partner, and children up to age 26
Flex Time Off
Retirement savings plans
Medical, vision and dental coverage
Eligibility for an annual performance bonus
Eligibility for equity
Company
Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies
Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies develops scalable automotive software and technology platforms for multiple vehicle segments.
1001-5000 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (9)
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageLeadership Team
Kranti Garatkar
Staff Technical Program Manager
Recent News
2025-11-14
Company data provided by crunchbase