Automotive Program Manager Jobs in Riverside, CA

Rivian is on a mission to keep the world adventurous forever. This goes for the emissions-free Electric Adventure Vehicles we build, and the curious, courageous souls we seek to attract. 

As a company, we constantly challenge what’s possible, never simply accepting what has always been done. We reframe old problems, seek new solutions and operate comfortably in areas that are unknown. Our backgrounds are diverse, but our team shares a love of the outdoors and a desire to protect it for future generations. 

In this role, you lead the business and technical execution for the underbody zone for the next generation of our EDV (Electric Delivery Van) driving our updated electrical architecture, industry leading autonomy, propulsion upgrades and more! Collaborating with the Vehicle Line Director (VLD), you will decompose overarching product vision and targets into actionable technical and financial deliverables while overseeing the end-to-end execution of your domain. You are responsible for the cross-functional orchestration of your zone to guarantee the critical systems meet program objectives and timing.

The essential functions of the position include, but are not limited to: 

• VLD Partnership & Strategy Decomposition: Operationalize the VLD’s program strategy by translating high-level product vision into actionable technical and business roadmaps. 
• Unit Economic Ownership: Own your zone’s Unit Economics (COGS) and Total Investment (CAPEX/ED&D); ensure zone-level decisions align with the VLD's total program margin targets. 
• Commercial Stewardship: Lead technical cost-down initiatives and value engineering; identify financial risks early and present technical counter-proposals to protect the program's target margin. 
• Strategic Sourcing Leadership: Partner with Global Supply Chain to define sourcing strategies that align with technical requirements; oversee tooling maturity and supplier capacity to de-risk the master schedule. 
• Product Vision & Feature Mapping: Convert high-level business objectives into tangible feature goals; leverage benchmarking to drive innovation and ensure zone features contribute to the total vehicle value proposition. 
• Technical & Operational Excellence: Direct the zone through Design Maturity (DM1-5) and Manufacturing Readiness; ensure engineering excellence is maintained from initial design to final assembly.
• Validation & Asset Strategy: Oversee the planning, budgeting, and procurement of validation assets relevant to your zone; ensure the full scope of testing is rigorous and synchronized with build phases 
• Manage the relationship with our key external customer to keep the program on track and budget

• Expertise: 12+ years in automotive program management or engineering leadership, with a proven track record of delivering large-scale vehicle programs from concept through launch. 
• Strategic Autonomy: Demonstrated ability to operate in highly ambiguous environments, making high-stakes decisions with incomplete data. 
• Financial Acumen: Comprehensive knowledge of automotive cost structures, with direct experience managing total landed cost, BOM/Non-BOM COGS, and large-scale CAPEX budgets. 
• Technical Breadth: Strong "first principles" engineering approach; prior Design & Release (D&R) experience in complex systems (e.g., Battery, Chassis, Body, or EE) is highly preferred. 
• Influential Leadership: Proven ability to influence VP-level stakeholders and build cross-functional consensus on high-level strategic decisions

Rivian is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local fair employment practices laws. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information or characteristics, physical or mental disability, marital/domestic partner status, age, military/veteran status, medical condition, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Rivian is committed to ensuring that our hiring process is accessible for persons with disabilities. If you have a disability or limitation, such as those covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, that requires accommodations to assist you in the search and application process, please email us at candidateaccommodations@rivian.com.

Rivian may collect, use and disclose your personal information or personal data (within the meaning of the applicable data protection laws) when you apply for employment and/or participate in our recruitment processes (“Candidate Personal Data”). This data includes contact, demographic, communications, educational, professional, employment, social media/website, network/device, recruiting system usage/interaction, security and preference information. Rivian may use your Candidate Personal Data for the purposes of (i) tracking interactions with our recruiting system; (ii) carrying out, analyzing and improving our application and recruitment process, including assessing you and your application and conducting employment, background and reference checks; (iii) establishing an employment relationship or entering into an employment contract with you; (iv) complying with our legal, regulatory and corporate governance obligations; (v) recordkeeping; (vi) ensuring network and information security and preventing fraud; and (vii) as otherwise required or permitted by applicable law. 

Rivian may share your Candidate Personal Data with (i) internal personnel who have a need to know such information in order to perform their duties, including individuals on our People Team, Finance, Legal, and the team(s) with the position(s) for which you are applying; (ii) Rivian affiliates; and (iii) Rivian’s service providers, including providers of background checks, staffing services, and cloud services. 

Rivian may transfer or store internationally your Candidate Personal Data, including to or in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union and in the cloud, and this data may be subject to the laws and accessible to the courts, law enforcement and national security authorities of such jurisdictions.  

Please note that we are currently not accepting applications from third party application services.

• Expertise: 12+ years in automotive program management or engineering leadership, with a proven track record of delivering large-scale vehicle programs from concept through launch. 
• Strategic Autonomy: Demonstrated ability to operate in highly ambiguous environments, making high-stakes decisions with incomplete data. 
• Financial Acumen: Comprehensive knowledge of automotive cost structures, with direct experience managing total landed cost, BOM/Non-BOM COGS, and large-scale CAPEX budgets. 
• Technical Breadth: Strong "first principles" engineering approach; prior Design & Release (D&R) experience in complex systems (e.g., Battery, Chassis, Body, or EE) is highly preferred. 
• Influential Leadership: Proven ability to influence VP-level stakeholders and build cross-functional consensus on high-level strategic decisions