Sr. Technical Program 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.

The Autonomy TPM team plays a key role in driving the most important initiatives within the Autonomy organization  you are looking for a team that just takes notes or is just a scrum master, this is not it. We are here to lead cross-functional projects that require tight execution between partner organizations like Vehicle Line, EEHW, and Vehicle SW and between our Autonomy teams involving Perception, Planner, Systems, Cloud, etc.

This particular role is for developing our Active Safety systems, which is one of the safety nets for driving. It continuously monitors the vehicle’s environment and intended path, warns the driver, and—when necessary—applies intervention to prevent or reduce the severity of a collision, regardless of whether the vehicle is being driven manually or by an automated system.

• Lead programs consisting of cutting edge technology projects, particularly ones that intersect with hardware, software, and regulatory constraints.

• Exercise strong ownership over programs they lead, including diving into the technical details to drive smooth execution and briefing the SVP of Autonomy & AI on progress and risks.

• Drive pragmatic decisions and tradeoffs to maximize probability of hitting critical timelines, considering factors unique to ML projects such as model iteration speed, data annotation pipelines, and compute resource allocation.

• Manage ambiguity by presenting options with a clear point of view for leadership, particularly concerning feature readiness, evaluation metrics, and performance trade-offs.

• Understand the role of TPM as an insider/outsider, someone who drives accountability through influence and soft power rather than hard power and authority.

• Mentor other TPMs on the team and help them grow their craft as TPMs, sharing expertise in managing ML-centric technical programs.

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, or equivalent experience, with a strong foundation in areas relevant to AI/ML.

• Experience in Technical Program Management on deep tech products or equivalent, specifically managing programs involving AI/ML components and data pipelines.

• Hands on experience with ML-based products including evaluation with metrics driven analysis.

• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to effectively communicate to external partner organizations to drive shared outcomes for Rivian, especially when collaborating on data sharing, model deployment, or platform integration related to AI/ML.

• Experience with Autonomy systems, Robotaxis, and/or Robotics, particularly involving the integration and management of complex AI/ML models.

• ML development in resource-constrained environments, demonstrating an understanding of the practical challenges of deploying ML on automotive-grade hardware.

• You enjoy prototyping random side projects in your spare time, ideally related to AI/ML or robotics.

The salary range for this role is $132,100-$165,100for San Francisco Bay Area 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.

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…