Director Of Program Development 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. 

Rivian is seeking a highly analytical and technically capable Lead Program Manager to join our Early Program Development team. This role will help shape the next generation of Rivian products by translating complex, ambiguous business and technical questions into clear insights, actionable recommendations, and scalable solutions.

You will operate as an internal consultant and hands-on problem solver across Product, Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Finance, and Operations. You will combine first-principles thinking, product and business judgment, data analysis, and rapid technical prototyping to help teams understand difficult problems and make better decisions. This may include integrating large structured and unstructured data sets, developing analytical tools, prototyping applications powered by LLMs or ML, and partnering with software, data, and platform teams to productionize the highest-value solutions.

This is not a traditional program management role centered on schedules and status reporting. The ideal candidate is a technical program leader who has built data- and AI-enabled solutions, is comfortable writing code and working directly with data, and can connect detailed analysis to broader product, operational, and financial outcomes.

• Lead ambiguous, cross-functional investigations related to future vehicle programs, product strategy, engineering architecture, manufacturing, cost, supply chain, customer experience, and business performance.

• Frame complex problems from first principles; identify the critical questions, assumptions, data, and decisions needed to move from uncertainty to action.

• Acquire, clean, integrate, and analyze large structured and unstructured data sets to identify patterns, surface emerging issues, test hypotheses, and quantify business opportunities (datasets across manufacturing, supply chain, and product)

• Build analytical models, decision-support tools, dashboards, and rapid software prototypes using technologies such as Python, SQL, Databricks, and modern data-visualization tools.

• Prototype practical applications using LLMs, ML models, retrieval-augmented generation, natural-language interfaces, and workflow automation where these approaches are appropriate to the problem.

• Translate analyses into clear recommendations that balance customer value, technical feasibility, cost, timing, operational complexity, and risk.

• Work directly with a wide variety of subject-matter experts to incorporate feedback into studies and understand complex issues.

• Develop executive-ready narratives and communicate complex technical findings clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.

• Identify opportunities to improve business efficiency, reduce manual work, strengthen decision quality, and detect problems earlier through better use of data and automation.

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, computer science, data science, operations research, applied mathematics, economics, or a related quantitative discipline, or equivalent practical experience.

• 4-7+ years of experience in technical program management, product development, operations strategy, engineering, analytics, data science, technical consulting, or a related field.

• Demonstrated experience leading complex, cross-functional initiatives from problem definition through recommendation, prototype, implementation planning, and measurable outcome.

• Hands-on programming experience in Python and working proficiency in SQL, including experience manipulating, analyzing, and visualizing real-world data.

• Experience building analytical tools, automations, or software prototypes that were used to influence decisions or improve business processes.

• Practical experience developing solutions with large language models, machine learning models, or advanced analytics. This may include prompt and context design, retrieval-augmented generation, model or workflow evaluation, feature engineering, forecasting, classification, anomaly detection, or optimization.

• Strong analytical judgment and the ability to synthesize large volumes of incomplete or conflicting information into a clear point of view.

• Ability to connect technical findings to product, operational, customer, and financial implications.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience influencing senior leaders and aligning diverse stakeholders without direct authority.

• Comfort operating with limited structure, iterating quickly, challenging assumptions, and balancing speed with analytical rigor.

The salary range for this role is $154,000-$192,500 for Southern California based applicants. This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employee’s position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, specific competencies, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, shift, and organizational needs.

The successful candidate may be eligible for annual performance bonus and equity awards. 

We offer a comprehensive package of benefits for full-time and part-time employees, their spouse or domestic partner, and children up to age 26, including but not limited to paid vacation, paid sick leave, and a competitive portfolio of insurance benefits including life, medical, dental, vision, short-term disability insurance, and long-term disability insurance to eligible employees. You may also have the opportunity to participate in Rivian’s 401(k) Plan and Employee Stock Purchase Program if you meet certain eligibility requirements. Full-time employee coverage is effective on their first day of employment. Part-time employee coverage is effective the first of the month following 90 days of employment. More information about benefits is available at rivianbenefits.com. 

You can apply for this role through careers.rivian.com (or through internal-careers-rivian.icims.com if you are a current employee). This job is not expected to be closed any sooner than February 28, 2026.

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.  

How We Use AI in Our Hiring Process: To ensure transparency, we want candidates to know that Rivian uses iCIMS Talent Cloud Artificial Intelligence (TCAI) and AI-enabled tools to assist with screening, reviewing, organizing and highlighting profiles and applications that match the key requirements for each role.

Participation in AI profile matching is entirely voluntary. If you prefer that your profile not be used in this process, you can opt out at any time. Opting out means your profile will be excluded from automated matching and will not be surfaced for additional roles through this system. Your current application remains active and will not be affected in any way.

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

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, computer science, data science, operations research, applied mathematics, economics, or a related quantitative discipline, or equivalent practical experience.

• 4-7+ years of experience in technical program management, product development, operations strategy, engineering, analytics, data science, technical consulting, or a related field.

• Demonstrated experience leading complex, cross-functional initiatives from problem definition through recommendation, prototype, implementation planning, and measurable outcome.

• Hands-on programming experience in Python and working proficiency in SQL, including experience manipulating, analyzing, and visualizing real-world data.

• Experience building analytical tools, automations, or software prototypes that were used to influence decisions or improve business processes.

• Practical experience developing solutions with large language models, machine learning models, or advanced analytics. This may include prompt and context design, retrieval-augmented generation, model or workflow evaluation, feature engineering, forecasting, classification, anomaly detection, or optimization.

• Strong analytical judgment and the ability to synthesize large volumes of incomplete or conflicting information into a clear point of view.

• Ability to connect technical findings to product, operational, customer, and financial implications.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience influencing senior leaders and aligning diverse stakeholders without direct authority.

• Comfort operating with limited structure, iterating quickly, challenging assumptions, and balancing speed with analytical rigor.