Senior Technical Program Manager, ECU Reliability & Durability Validation

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies•Palo Alto, CA

11d•$132,100 - $181,600

About The Position

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is a joint venture between two industry leaders with a clear vision for automotive’s next chapter. From operating systems to zonal controllers to cloud and connectivity solutions, we’re 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, we’ll map a new way forward. Working together, we’ll create a future that’s more connected, more intelligent, more sustainable for everyone. As RVT’s ECU portfolio scales across vehicle platforms and brand partner programs, the rigor and speed of our reliability and durability validation programs have never been more critical. Our Electrical Hardware Technical Program Management team is seeking a Senior Technical Program Manager to own the planning, coordination, and execution of R&D validation programs for our ECU product line—ensuring every unit we ship meets the environmental, mechanical, and life-cycle demands of the world’s most demanding automotive applications. In this role, you will be the connective tissue between test engineers, hardware design teams, internal labs, and third-party test facilities. You will translate program milestones into actionable test schedules, track execution against those plans, surface risks early, and drive issues to closure—all while maintaining clear visibility for stakeholders across the organization. Your primary domain is reliability and durability: thermal cycling, vibration, shock, humidity, HALT, and accelerated life testing across ECU hardware spanning high-compute Infotainment, Connectivity, and Zonal controllers. This role requires strong program management instincts, a hands-on technical foundation in hardware validation, and the organizational influence to drive complex, multi-team test programs to successful completion.

Requirements

4+ years of experience in technical program management, test engineering, or validation coordination in the automotive, aerospace, or consumer electronics industry.
B.S. or M.S. in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related technical field.
Hands-on familiarity with ECU / PCBA reliability and durability test methods: thermal cycling, vibration (random & sine), mechanical shock, humidity, corrosion, and HALT.
Experience developing and maintaining DVP&R documents and reliability test plans aligned to automotive standards (ISO 16750, AEC-Q, IEC 60068, or OEM-specific test specs).
Demonstrated ability to manage complex, multi-workstream validation programs—tracking milestones, samples, lab capacity, and cross-team dependencies simultaneously.
Experience coordinating with both internal test labs and accredited third-party test facilities, including scheduling, sample management, and report review.
Strong written and verbal communication skills; able to produce clear status reports, risk registers, and gate review packages for engineering and program leadership.
Experience with Atlassian-based tools including Jira and Confluence for program tracking, documentation, and cross-team coordination.
Ability to travel domestically and internationally to test laboratories, supplier sites, and vehicle program locations as needed.

Nice To Haves

Experience with EV ECU hardware—Infotainment, Connectivity, BMS, or Zonal controllers—and the unique reliability and environmental requirements of electrified vehicle platforms.

Responsibilities

Own and maintain reliability and durability validation program schedules; align test milestones with ECU and vehicle-level program gates across all xVT maturity phases.
Coordinate test execution across RVT’s internal labs in Northern and Southern California and accredited third-party test facilities; manage capacity, sample allocation, and sequencing.
Develop and maintain the R&D validation test plan (DVP&R) for assigned ECU programs, ensuring coverage of thermal cycling, vibration, shock, humidity, corrosion, and accelerated life testing.
Identify, escalate, and actively drive mitigation of program risks related to test schedule, lab availability, sample readiness, and failure closure.
Support test readiness reviews with ECU TPMs, confirming that R&D test infrastructure, samples, and procedures are in place ahead of each program gate.
Author and maintain test coordination artifacts: program trackers, status reports, risk registers, and gate review packages for internal and partner audiences.
Drive continuous improvement of R&D test planning processes, coordination workflows, and reporting practices across the ECU validation team.