Director, Vehicle Production Operations (US)

Vay•Las Vegas, NV

About The Position

Ever imagined saying, “I helped launch the future of transportation”? We’re rewriting the rules of urban mobility. At Vay, customers tap a button and a car arrives - with no one inside - powered by our world-first Remote Driving technology on real public streets. We’re live in Las Vegas and scaling fast, powered by a strategic investment of up to $410 million from Grab. Our mission is simple: replace private car ownership with a faster, cleaner, door-to-door mobility model. If you want to build something real, visible, and genuinely transformative, you’ll feel right at home here. What’s happening at Vay First to roll out vehicles in both Europe and the USA on public roads without a human being inside & currently the 2nd largest commercial, driverless car fleet in the Western World. We've partnered with Kodiak to bring remote-driving technology to autonomous trucks in the US, showcasing our ability to integrate our system into heavy-duty commercial vehicles and expand the applications of our tech across the US. We’ve completed 10’s of thousands of trips so far and are busy multiplying our Las Vegas fleet just to meet demand! ...And soon we’ll be expanding across the US & Europe 🚀 Why this role is exciting As the Director of Vehicle Production Operations, you will own the end-to-end production readiness of Vay’s remotely operated vehicle fleet in Las Vegas. This role is critical to scaling our commercial fleet and ensuring vehicles meet the highest standards of safety, quality, and operational reliability. You will continue to build and lead the vehicle production organization from the ground up, defining the production playbook, establishing scalable processes, and partnering with global engineering and operations teams.

Requirements

8–12+ years of experience in vehicle production, automotive manufacturing, fleet operations, or vehicle integration.
5+ years of leadership experience managing managers and teams of 20+ employees.
Experience with vehicle hardware and software systems, ideally in remote operation, robotics, or autonomous vehicle environments.
Strong AI affinity, comfortable leveraging AI tools to build dashboards, automate reporting, and improve workflows.
Proven track record of building and scaling production operations, not just maintaining them.
Deep expertise in quality management, process development, and operational excellence.
Strong experience collaborating cross-functionally with engineering, supply chain, and operations teams.
Hands-on leadership style, comfortable both on the production floor and in strategic leadership discussions.
Strong analytical mindset with a data-driven approach to decision-making.
Experience with operational tools such as Jira, ERP systems (e.g., Odoo), or similar platforms.

Responsibilities

Lead end-to-end vehicle and remote station assembly, diagnostics, testing, and End-of-Line (EOL) validation processes.
Ensure newly built vehicles meet operational, safety, and regulatory requirements before deployment.
Oversee diagnostics and troubleshooting across hardware and software systems during vehicle bring-up.
Design scalable production workflows to support rapid fleet expansion.
Optimize throughput, reliability, and cost efficiency across production operations.
Develop capacity planning strategies aligned with fleet growth.
Build and lead a high-performing production team in Las Vegas including technicians, release operators, and production readiness specialists.
Define clear performance metrics, KPIs, and career development paths.
Foster a culture of ownership, accountability, safety, and operational excellence.
Partner with Engineering, Fleet Operations, Supply Chain, Pre-Series Engineering, and Hardware Quality teams.
Coordinate with Supply Chain to ensure parts availability and inventory readiness.
Align with Safety & Compliance teams and collaborate with production and quality teams across Europe and the US.
Utilize AI-powered tools and data analytics to build dashboards, automate reporting, and improve operational workflows.
Provide regular updates to leadership on performance, risks, and operational improvements.