Sr. Electronics Validation Lab Manager

About Us

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is a joint venture between two industry leaders with a clear vision for automotive’s next chapter. From operating systems to zonal controllers to cloud and connectivity solutions, we’re addressing the challenges of electric vehicles through technology that will set the standards for software‑defined vehicles around the world.

The road to the future is uncharted. By combining our expertise across connectivity, AI, security and more, we’ll map a new way forward. Working together, we’ll create a future that’s more connected, more intelligent, more sustainable for everyone.

We are looking for a hands‑on Lab Manager to run the ECU Validation Test Lab — where we prove the reliability and durability of vehicle electronics through thermal stress, thermal shock, vibration, humidity, water and dust ingress testing.

This role owns the day‑to‑day operation of the lab: keeping chambers, shakers, and instrumentation maintained, calibrated, and available; scheduling tests against program demand; managing repairs, service contracts, and vendors; and running the purchasing, inventory, and material flow behind it. You will lead a team of lab technicians and be the single point of accountability for whether the lab can run the tests the validation program needs, when it needs them.

The position is based in Irvine and partners closely with the Palo Alto lab on shared equipment standards, calibration practices, and cross‑site material movement.

Asset tracking and calibration — managed in Jira

• Own the lab's asset and calibration system of record in Jira: every chamber, shaker, instrument, fixture, and shared tool tracked as an asset with its calibration interval, due date, service history, and current status.

• Run calibration and preventive maintenance as scheduled Jira workflows — automated recall of due and out‑of‑tolerance assets, assignment to technicians or external vendors, and closure with certificates traceable to NIST or equivalent attached to the record.

• Drive out‑of‑tolerance investigations and assess impact on affected test data.

• Maintain consistent asset tagging (barcode/QR linked to the Jira record) across sites, and report calibration compliance, PM compliance, equipment availability, and mean time to repair from it.

Equipment maintenance and uptime

• Keep thermal chambers, thermal shock chambers, vibration systems, humidity and ingress rigs, power supplies, data loggers, and instrumentation running: define PM tasks and spares strategy, diagnose failures, coordinate service calls and warranty claims, manage service contracts and repair scheduling, and drive downtime to documented closure.

• Maintain operating procedures, safe work instructions, and training requirements for each asset.

Team leadership and lab readiness

• Lead, schedule, and develop a team of lab technicians; set standards for workmanship, safety, documentation, and data quality, and manage shift coverage and on‑call response for long‑duration and unattended tests.

• Own chamber and shaker scheduling against program need‑by dates; manage contention across programs, communicate capacity constraints early, and maintain a visible view of tests in progress, equipment status, incoming material, and readiness blockers.

• Partner with validation engineers on test setup, DUT staging, fixturing, instrumentation, and sample logistics.

Purchasing, inventory, and material flow

• Coordinate SAP requests, purchase orders, quotes, order status, backorders, invoices, returns, RMAs, and supplier follow‑up for spares, consumables, test materials, and equipment — serving as the purchasing execution point for the validation team, and escalating pricing, vendor, approval, and sourcing decisions to the appropriate owner.

• Manage service contracts, calibration agreements, and preferred‑vendor relationships.

• Own receiving, inspection, labeling, storage, issuance, cycle counts, and discrepancy resolution for components, consumables, harness materials, spares, and shared tools.