Sr. Technical Program Manager, Diagnostics

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies • Irvine, CA

2d • $121,500 - $167,100

About The Position

The Senior Technical Program Manager for the Diagnostics Organization aligns the planning of its teams with broader organizational and company goals. The role works across the diagnostics disciplines and software organization, supporting products across Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies. The Diagnostics Organization develops an integrated diagnostics system intended to monitor, analyze, and learn from vehicle fleets throughout their lifecycle.

The position leads quarterly and release-cycle planning, translates program priorities into detailed plans and milestones, manages cross-team dependencies and risks, and monitors diagnostic deliverables against software, factory, field, and OTA release milestones. It maintains program plans, Jira tracking, schedules, dashboards, and leadership readouts; coordinates decisions and recovery plans; and communicates progress, risks, and support needs to stakeholders. The role also represents Diagnostics in planning forums, serves as an external point of contact for team scheduling and prioritization, and supports continuous improvement of program execution.

Requirements

• Bachelor of Science in Engineering, preferably Electrical, Mechanical, Mechatronics, or Software-related, or a similar technical discipline.
• At least 5 years of experience serving in a technical program manager capacity.
• Experience in OBD and Diagnostics.
• Demonstrated experience leading technical program planning and delivery across multiple engineering or software teams.
• Experience translating technical and business priorities into milestones, deliverables, owners, dependencies, and release plans in a complex development environment.
• Strong issue, risk, and dependency management skills, including driving timely decisions and recovery plans across teams without direct authority.
• Ability to engage credibly with technical teams, understand constraints, and clearly communicate schedule, scope, and program impacts to engineering teams and leadership.
• Knowledge of Agile and Waterfall development processes and program management tools.
• High proficiency in issue management tools such as Jira, and experience leveraging automation and AI to improve program management effectiveness.
• Exceptional oral and written communication skills, including developing and delivering clear technical presentations.
• Demonstrated ability to drive projects across diverse teams and communication preferences.
• Demonstrated ability to deliver complex technical projects within time and resource constraints.
• Ability to collaborate with multiple cross-functional disciplines, including external stakeholders.
• Ability to think quickly, prioritize, and make decisions benefiting the company using a first-principles approach.

Nice To Haves

• Experience working at an automotive company and/or in a fast-paced start-up-type environment.

Responsibilities

• Serve as technical program manager for the Diagnostics Organization, working with the Onboard Diagnostic System Development, Enhanced Diagnostic System Development, Diagnostic System Test and Integration, Diagnostic Software, Diagnostic Calibration, and Diagnostic Automation teams.
• Understand each team’s technical discipline and needs to facilitate holistic planning.
• Track program goals, priorities, objectives, and timing across programs and projects, and communicate them to teams.
• Define quarterly goals and detailed plans with teams.
• Coordinate with external teams and Diagnostics leadership to develop quarterly plans, detailed milestone schedules, scope, requirements, specifications, dependencies, and risk mitigation.
• Lead quarterly and release-cycle planning for diagnostics initiatives across company programs.
• Translate program priorities and diagnostic maturity goals into scoped plans, milestones, deliverables, owners, and dependencies.
• Maintain program plans, Jira work tracking, milestone schedules, and diagnostic release and readout materials.
• Develop dashboards, plans, and tracking and reporting tools; provide regular, metric-based project updates to management on diagnostics across vehicle domains.
• Monitor execution and apply appropriate processes to support program delivery and team effectiveness.
• Track diagnostic deliverables against software, factory, field, and OTA release milestones; identify risks early and coordinate recovery plans.
• Facilitate prioritization and scope decisions when program needs, capacity, dependencies, or timing conflict; document and communicate decisions and plan changes.
• Convert input from programs, service, vehicle domains, and internal stakeholders into prioritized diagnostic needs, work items, owners, and cross-team handoffs.
• Surface and drive resolution of delivery blockers by coordinating technical owners and partner teams, documenting decisions or needed support, and escalating risks to commitments or milestones.
• Prepare concise, metric-based status updates and leadership readouts on progress, risks, dependencies, decisions, and support needs; represent Diagnostics in program and domain planning forums.
• Identify recurring planning, tracking, communication, or integration bottlenecks and coordinate process improvements.
• Serve as the external main point of contact for detailed team scheduling and prioritization, shielding teams from outside distractions and interference.
• Manage cross-team dependencies and mitigate risks to avoid execution hurdles.
• Communicate initiative and milestone status to stakeholders, summarize reporting, raise and resolve risks, and recognize successes.
• Organize stakeholder feedback, including from Service, Manufacturing, Reliability, and Quality, to support continuous improvement of the diagnostics ecosystem.

Benefits

• Competitive base salary.
• Eligibility for an annual company performance bonus program for full-time positions; payments are discretionary and not guaranteed.
• Eligibility for equity in the form of Restricted Stock Units, subject to board approval and applicable plan terms and vesting requirements.
• Comprehensive benefits package for full-time employees, including health coverage, retirement savings, time off, and family planning programs; offerings vary by country.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior