Staff Program Manager, Partner Quality

Aurora•Coppell, TX

11d•$115,000 - $166,500•Hybrid

About The Position

Aurora’s mission is to deliver the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly. The Aurora Driver will create a new era in mobility and logistics, one that will bring a safer, more efficient, and more accessible future to everyone. At Aurora, you will tackle massively complex problems alongside other passionate, intelligent individuals, growing as an expert while expanding your knowledge. As a Staff Program Manager, Partner Quality, you own the quality and safety dimensions of the partner KPI framework across all vendor categories. You define quality standards, escalation frameworks, audit processes, investigate systemic quality failures, and drive corrective action plans in partnership with Product Operations. This role requires significant autonomy, strong business judgment, and the ability to create structure and alignment across complex, ambiguous problems. You will help define what "good" looks like across a diverse partner ecosystem and influence decisions across multiple functions and levels of leadership.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Business, Operations, Engineering, Quality Management, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience; advanced degree preferred.
7+ years of relevant experience in supplier/vendor quality management, quality assurance, or a related field.
Demonstrated experience independently leading complex, cross-functional quality or safety programs across vendor categories.
Proven ability to define quality standards, audit frameworks, and corrective-action systems in ambiguous environments.
Track record of resolving systemic quality issues through structured root-cause analysis.
Strong executive communication, business judgment, and stakeholder influence skills.
Advanced experience developing and using quality metrics, audit scorecards, and performance systems to drive decisions.
Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt certification, or ability to obtain certification within 90 days of hire.

Nice To Haves

Experience in transportation, logistics, or autonomous vehicle operations.
Certifications such as PMP, CSP, Six Sigma, CFSE/P, or other relevant safety or project management certifications.
Knowledge of safety regulations and standards
Experience developing, implementing and improving Safety Performance Indicators (SPIs)
Experience leading cross-functional teams.
Understanding of regulatory compliance processes related to safety standards.
Experience with Jira, Jama, Confluence, Google Suite.

Responsibilities

Serve as the strategic owner for the quality and safety dimensions of the partner KPI framework, defining standards, audit cadence, and certification requirements across partnership categories.
Design and operate vendor audit processes to proactively surface quality risks before they affect commercial or safety outcomes.
Investigate systemic quality failures, root-cause findings, and drive corrective and preventive action plans in partnership with Product Operations and affected category leads.
Partner with category leads (Partnership Program Managers, Cost Out & Productivity) to embed quality and safety metrics into vendor scorecards and Quarterly Business Reviews.
Apply Lean Six Sigma and DMAIC methodology to resolve recurring quality issues in both Aurora's and partners' processes.
Frame quality risk, safety exposure, and remediation tradeoffs for senior and executive leaders, driving alignment across Operations, Product, and Safety.
Establish reusable quality playbooks and audit tools, and mentor category leads and Ops Quality on applying quality rigor to their partner relationships.