Senior Technical Program Manager — QA & Validation (Systems & Tooling)

Drivemode•Mountain View, CA

10h•Hybrid

About The Position

We are looking for a Senior Technical Program Manager — QA & Validation to design and operate the systems that define quality, validation, and release readiness across Honda’s next-generation connected vehicle platform. This role sits at the intersection of Engineering, QA, Product, Design, and tooling, and is ideal for someone who believes that quality is a system to be engineered—not a phase to be managed. This is a hands-on, highly technical TPM role with real ownership of systems, tooling, and validation strategy. You will build and operate the Quality Management System (QMS) that ensures traceability, measurable quality signals, and clear readiness criteria across all teams. You are expected to solve problems through systems, tooling, and code, not just coordination. This role works in close partnership with Delivery TPMs: You define truth, validation, and readiness. They drive feature delivery.

Requirements

7+ years of experience in Technical Program Management, QA/Validation, Systems Engineering, or similar roles
BS/MS in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent technical field
Deep experience configuring Jira (workflows, automations, JQL, reporting)
Experience with ALM tools such as Jama Connect (or similar)
Experience with test management tools such as TestRail or others
Proven ability to build or scale QA/QMS or validation systems
Hands-on experience writing code (Python, scripting, APIs, etc.)
Experience building integrations across systems (e.g., Jira < – > Jama < – > TestRail)
Ability to automate workflows, reporting, and data pipelines
Strong understanding of backend systems, APIs, and distributed systems
Familiarity with mobile (frontend) constraints and behavior
Ability to reason across system boundaries and debug complex issues
Experience driving validation across multiple teams
Ability to enforce accountability and challenge unclear inputs
Strong communication skills with technical and non-technical stakeholders

Nice To Haves

Experience in automotive, IoT, or connected-device ecosystems
Familiarity with ASPICE or ISO 21434
Background as SDET, QA Automation Engineer, or Systems Engineer
Japanese language proficiency is nice to have, but not required

Responsibilities

Design and implement a scalable Quality Management System (QMS) in collaboration with Engineering, QA, Product, and Design, ensuring end-to-end traceability from requirements to release
Own and configure the validation toolchain (Jira, Jama, TestRail), including workflows, structures, automations, and reporting, ensuring systems reflect real execution state
Build automation and integrations using code (Python, APIs, scripting) to connect systems, eliminate manual work, and enable real-time quality and readiness insights
Define and enforce validation readiness criteria and release gates based on measurable quality signals, ensuring teams are prepared before release commitments
Drive system-level validation by aligning testing with real-world behavior across mobile, backend, APIs, and vehicle systems
Lead bug triage and bug review processes, ensuring clear ownership, prioritization, and timely resolution across teams
Proactively identify risks and gaps in requirements, test coverage, environments, and dependencies, and drive mitigation before they impact validation or release
Ensure high data integrity across Jira, Jama, and TestRail by enforcing clarity, consistency, and accuracy in tracking systems
Challenge and align cross-functional teams when inputs are incomplete or unclear, ensuring validation is based on testable and reliable requirements
Lead vehicle integration and validation efforts with minimal supervision, troubleshooting issues across system layers as needed