Sr. Manager, Powertrain Production Programs

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.

Sr. Manager, Powertrain Production Programs to lead series program execution across the powertrain organization. Responsible for driving implementation of series program activities, including variant introductions, cost reduction initiatives, product and supply base re‑qualification, issue escalation, and cross‑functional problem solving.

• Own execution of the series program roadmap for the powertrain organization, including variant introductions, cost reduction initiatives, and product or supply base re‑qualification.
• Lead the cross‑functional teams (Manufacturing, Engineering, Supply Chain, Quality, etc.) to resolve production, quality, and ramp issues.
• Lead and develop direct reports within the Powertrain Production Programs team.
• Communicate top issues, KPIs, risks, and recovery plans to Rivian leadership with clear linkage to business impact.
• Drive strong accountability across engineering, operations, and plant functions, ensuring issues have clear ownership, decision‑making support, execution urgency, and closure.
• Provide day‑to‑day direction to operations teams during issue investigation and resolution, ensuring actions are prioritized, coordinated, and executed in line with program and business needs.
• Serve as the connection point between the powertrain engineering organization and program development teams.
• Support new program launches during industrialization at Rivian plants, ensuring readiness and cross‑functional alignment.
• Support field issue triage and help ensure ownership is assigned and actions are driven to resolution.
• Build a team culture grounded in urgency, rigor, transparency, and relentless follow‑through.
• Directly lead variant program development and implementation.
• Lead teardown analysis for engineering study units, including teardown management, analysis, and reporting of the results of trials/DOE.

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, manufacturing, operations, or a related technical field.
• 8+ years of experience in engineering, program management, manufacturing, product development, or operations within automotive or a similarly complex industry.
• 3+ years of people leadership experience managing technical or program teams.
• Demonstrated experience leading cross‑functional initiatives in a fast‑paced production environment.
• Experience managing issue escalation, risk tracking, and execution against program milestones.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to synthesize complex issues into clear leadership updates.
• Strong problem‑solving skills and the ability to drive decisions across multiple stakeholders.
• Hands‑on experience with structured problem solving using 8D/A3/5‑Why disciplines, with clear action tracking, owner assignment, and leadership visibility.
• Experience driving cross‑functional recovery rooms / escalation cadences with manufacturing, quality, product engineering, supply chain, supplier development, launch, and plant operations teams.

• Experience in powertrain systems, automotive launch, or series production support.
• Experience working closely with plant operations, quality, supply chain, and product engineering teams.
• Proven track record leading cost reduction, re‑qualification, or variant introduction initiatives.
• Strong understanding of industrialization, launch readiness, and issue management in a manufacturing environment.
• Ability to operate effectively from executive‑level reviews down to day‑to‑day issue resolution.
• Demonstrated ownership of series production issue resolution in a high‑volume manufacturing environment, including containment, root cause, corrective action, validation, and closure of production disruptions and quality escalations.
• Experience understanding manufacturing KPIs such as FPY, DPU, OEE, scrap, MTTR/MTBF, throughput, takt adherence, and test fallout, with ability to assess and execute engineering activities into business‑prioritized actions.
• Experience leading issue resolution at the…