Central Development Operations Lead

Aurora•Pittsburgh, PA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Aurora is seeking a mission-driven Central Development Operations Team Lead for its Product and Development Operations team, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team partners with Product, Operations, and Engineering to help deliver commercial capabilities safely, efficiently, and on time. The role operates in the ambiguity of early-stage testing, building effective workflows and keeping the team focused on technical truth as tools and processes evolve. The Lead manages Central Development Specialists who support scheduling and execution of development testing across an extended-hours, 24/7 operation using internal tools. The role combines hands-on tool expertise and troubleshooting with team leadership, safety and testing-quality advocacy, cross-functional coordination, shift handoffs, performance feedback, and continuous process improvement. The base schedule is Thursday through Monday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET, with flexible hours expected for shift coverage. In-person work is expected at least three days per week, with some positions requiring up to five days based on operational needs. For roles based in Pittsburgh, the salary range is $83,000–$120,500 per year. The successful candidate is also eligible for an annual bonus, equity compensation, and benefits.

Requirements

1–2+ years of leadership experience, such as Lead, Shift Lead, or Associate Manager, including the ability to motivate remote or distributed teams.
3+ years of experience in remote assistance, fleet operations, or a related high-tempo technical environment.
Demonstrated experience leading through change, such as a site launch, software transition, or expansion to 24/7 operations.
Strong judgment and communication skills, including the ability to make sound decisions in high-pressure or time-sensitive situations.
Ability to quickly master complex, proprietary software tools and teach their details to others accurately.
Experience identifying technical bugs or UI/UX gaps in testing tools and translating them into actionable feedback for Engineering teams.
Ability to maintain constructive optimism and frame technical failures as useful data-gathering exercises.
Flexibility to work office hours that may not always be planned far in advance.

Nice To Haves

Experience in operations, technology, autonomous vehicles, or a similar deep-tech field.
BA/BS degree or equivalent practical experience.
Experience creating schedules, managing vacation requests, and setting performance goals for oneself and others.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to adapt to the audience.
Intermediate technical aptitude and ability to learn new software applications and processes.

Responsibilities

Lead Central Development Specialists supporting the scheduling and execution of development testing across an extended-hours, 24/7 operation using internal tools.
Become certified on relevant internal Aurora tools and serve as a subject matter expert on data integrity and testing quality.
Maintain a master-level understanding of Aurora’s internal tools and act as the final escalation point for complex technical issues and tool-specific troubleshooting.
Support an inspired safety culture by encouraging specialists to identify failure points in early-stage features rather than simply checking boxes.
Collaborate with Engineering, Product, and Operations partners, including advocating for safety or quality pivots.
Facilitate daily handoffs across regions and shifts; manage scheduling and planning; and escalate resource and development blockers to cross-functional stakeholders.
Deliver constructive performance feedback through regular one-on-ones and ensure development activities and blockers are documented to high standards.
Lead continuous process-improvement projects to enhance development readiness and efficiency.
Identify and flag tooling friction and software edge cases that could become operational risks in future commercial deployments.
Provide direct support for daily scheduling, align real-time priorities, and serve as the contact for incident response and urgent scheduling changes.