MPG AV Operations and Test Supervisor

GM•Milford, MI

3d•Onsite

About The Position

The MPG AV Operations and Test Supervisor is the frontline leader responsible for the safe, disciplined, and efficient execution of autonomous vehicle operations and test support across public road and closed-course activities. This position leads GM direct Operations and Test Coordinators and a team of 30+ contract AV Test Operators, with primary accountability for people leadership, workforce coordination, operator readiness, and day-to-day execution. This role serves as the team lead for manual and supervised public road driving operations and supervises operators who support both closed-course and public road testing in partnership with AV Test Engineering. The supervisor ensures operator staffing, capability, and execution are aligned to engineering priorities, test plans, operating procedures, and safety requirements. The role also acts as a key bridge between frontline operations and the AV Test Engineering team, ensuring testing is supported correctly, consistently, and with the quality needed to meet program objectives. This role is a key operational partner to AV Test Engineering and helps ensure operator-supported testing is conducted properly, consistently, and in accordance with approved plans and procedures. The supervisor supports both public road and closed-course activities and helps create the operating structure needed to scale testing safely and efficiently. Success in this role requires balancing strong frontline people leadership with disciplined operational execution in a fast-changing environment. The role requires close partnership with safety, training, incident response, engineering, and operations stakeholders to maintain smooth day-to-day execution and high-quality test support. A strong candidate will lead through presence, sound judgment, and clear communication while building an engaged, accountable, and development-focused team culture.

Requirements

Experience leading frontline operations teams in a safety-critical environment.
Demonstrated people-management experience, including coaching, accountability, performance management, and employee development.
Experience leading coordinators, operators, technicians, or similar shift-based frontline workforces.
Experience with workforce planning, scheduling, staffing management, or shift operations.
Strong process focus with experience leading, owning, and enforcing operational metrics and performance expectations.
Experience managing incidents, escalations, and cross-functional coordination under time pressure.
Strong written communication and documentation skills.
Ability to drive disciplined execution while maintaining a high bar for safety, compliance, and accountability.

Nice To Haves

Experience building or improving operational processes, training frameworks, or team programs.
Experience working closely with engineering, safety, and technical teams to support structured testing or field operations.
Familiarity with public road driving operations, closed-course testing, or autonomous vehicle test support environments.
Experience supporting teams that generate structured test data, issue triage, and repeatable validation results for engineering customers.
Ability to translate field and operator needs into scalable processes, training improvements, and operational enhancements.
Manufacturing supervisor experience is preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead and develop direct-report Operations and Test Coordinators and a workforce of 30+ contract AV Test Operators supporting seven-day operations.
Lead daily operations for the operator workforce, including staffing, scheduling, shift coverage, work allocation, and frontline coordination across operating needs, locations, and test priorities.
Manage day-to-day execution of manual and supervised public road driving operations to ensure safe, compliant, and consistent field performance while meeting our operations metrics.
Supervise operator support for closed-course and public road test activities, ensuring the right people, vehicles, and operational support are in place to meet program needs.
Maintain strong floor presence and visible leadership across shifts, using sound judgment and clear communication to direct work, remove obstacles in real time, and ensure efficient shift starts and passdowns.
Drive structured daily execution through standard work, standard work audits, service-level expectations, KPI ownership, and operational excellence disciplines.
Lead, coach, and develop a frontline team in a fast-paced, safety-critical environment while driving accountability for attendance, conduct, operating discipline, training completion, and policy compliance.
Support employee development through role clarity, progression planning, capability building, and career-path guidance for coordinators and operators.
Own workforce readiness for current and future operational demand by monitoring staffing coverage, shift plans, skill mix, and operator deployment across workstreams.
Assess operational output by reviewing workflows, staffing patterns, and team performance to identify inefficiencies and implement improvements that increase quality, consistency, and overall effectiveness.
Partner with cross-functional teams to align operator capacity and readiness with anticipated testing demand, fleet support needs, schedule changes, and expanded operating scope.
Work closely with AV Test Engineering to translate engineering test needs into executable operator support plans, including staffing, readiness, work instructions, and escalation paths.
Coordinate with engineers, program leads, and operational stakeholders to ensure operator-supported testing is executed properly, documented clearly, and completed with the discipline to support software validation and release objectives.
Reinforce adherence to defined test procedures for operator-supported execution, especially where teams are supporting data collection, issue identification, triage, and repeatable validation activities.
Monitor coaching, safety, and driver-quality data to reinforce strong operating behaviors and address gaps through follow-up, coaching, and process improvement.
Respond to field issues, operational disruptions, and safety concerns by coordinating follow-up actions, documenting occurrences, and ensuring timely escalation through established channels such as CAPA and related workflows.
Maintain operational documentation and communications, including staffing models, process announcements, training updates, shift guidance, and team reference materials.
Own and improve operational policies and procedures by maintaining clear standards, updating guidance as business needs evolve, and supporting cross-functional changes that affect workflows, roles, tools, or operating requirements.