Principal Vehicle Line Manager

About Rivian

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 a major vehicle zone (Upperbody or Underbody). 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 zone successfully meets all program objectives.

• 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.

• 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.

The salary range for this role is $201,300‑287,500 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…