Sr. Director – Software, Controls & Vehicle Systems

The Senior Director of Software, Controls & Vehicle Systems will lead the strategy, organization, architecture, development, integration, and validation of vehicle software and controls across Workhorse's current and future commercial vehicle platforms.

Workhorse was formed through the merger of Workhorse Group and Motiv Electric Trucks. This leader will have an immediate organizational mandate to integrate the legacy Workhorse and Motiv Software & Controls teams into a single, high-performing organization with common processes, tools, architectures, technical standards, and accountability. The Senior Director will establish a scalable organizational structure that preserves the technical strengths and product knowledge of both legacy teams while creating a unified approach to future vehicle development.

The role will also lead the transformation of Workhorse's software and controls capabilities to support next-generation electric and autonomous commercial vehicles. This includes establishing an AUTOSAR-based development strategy, strengthening functional safety and automotive cybersecurity capabilities, advancing model-based development and automated validation, and defining the vehicle-control architecture and interfaces necessary to support advanced ADAS and autonomous-driving systems.

This position requires a leader who combines deep technical credibility with strong organizational leadership. The successful candidate must be capable of challenging technical decisions while creating an environment where engineers and cross-functional teams can openly debate alternatives, make decisions, and collectively own vehicle-level outcomes.

• Integrate the legacy Workhorse and Motiv Software & Controls organizations into one cohesive engineering team with clearly defined roles, responsibilities, technical ownership, and decision authority.
• Develop and implement the future organizational structure for Software & Controls Engineering, including leadership roles, technical disciplines, staffing requirements, and capability-development plans.
• Establish a culture of collaboration, technical rigor, accountability, constructive challenge, and vehicle-level ownership that operates around company and vehicle objectives rather than legacy organizational or functional boundaries
• Develop managers and technical leaders who can make decisions and lead teams independently while maintaining appropriate architectural and technical governance.
• Recruit and develop talent in embedded software, controls, AUTOSAR, cybersecurity, functional safety, diagnostics, telematics/cloud connectivity, vehicle integration, and automated validation.
• Create effective working relationships across Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Battery Systems, Test & Validation, Manufacturing, Field Service, Procurement, Program Management, and external technology partners.

• Own the software and controls strategy for current and future Workhorse vehicle platforms.
• Define a scalable vehicle software and controls architecture supporting multiple commercial vehicle platforms and configurations.
• Establish clear ownership and governance for embedded software, vehicle controls, body controls, propulsion controls, diagnostics, communications, telematics, cloud interfaces, OTA capabilities, and vehicle-level supervisory controls.
• Lead the transition toward an AUTOSAR-compliant software architecture and development environment, including appropriate application of Classic and Adaptive AUTOSAR.
• Define standardized software interfaces and abstraction layers that reduce dependency on specific hardware suppliers and improve reuse across vehicle platforms.
• Establish architectural standards for CAN/CAN-FD, Ethernet and other vehicle networks, diagnostics, communication protocols, and vehicle-level interfaces.
• Drive software reuse, modularity, configurability, and commonality across vehicle programs to reduce development time, cost, and complexity.

• Lead Software & Controls activities supporting development of autonomous commercial vehicle platforms.
• Define the vehicle-control architecture required to safely interface with ADAS and Level 4 autonomous-driving systems.
• Establish standardized, secure vehicle-control interfaces/APIs for steering, braking, propulsion, gear selection, body controls, vehicle state, diagnostics, and other systems required…