Technical Program Management Lead – HPE

Who We Are

Aurora (Nasdaq: AUR) is delivering the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly to make transportation safer, increasingly accessible, and more reliable and efficient than ever before. The Aurora Driver is a self-driving system designed to operate multiple vehicle types, from freight-hauling semi-trucks to ride-hailing passenger vehicles, and underpins Aurora Horizon and Aurora Connect, its driver-as-a-service products for trucking and ride-hailing. Aurora is working with industry leaders across the transportation ecosystem, including Toyota, FedEx, Volvo Trucks, PACCAR, Uber, Uber Freight, U.S. Xpress, Werner, Covenant, Schneider, and Ryder. For Aurora’s latest news, visit aurora.tech and @aurora_inno on Twitter.

Aurora hires talented people with diverse backgrounds who are ready to help build a transportation ecosystem that will make our roads safer, get crucial goods where they need to go, and make mobility more efficient and accessible for all. As an integral part of the Hardware Product Engineering team – which includes design, integration, and validation of Aurora’s Hardware – the Technical Program Management Lead is responsible for executing a broad range of planning, tracking, and management tasks to deliver Aurora’s key hardware developments. 

The HPE-TPM leader must be a relentless organizer and excellent cross-functional leader across multiple teams internal and external to Aurora. This position requires technical understanding of areas such as electrical, mechanical, embedded, optical, integration, reliability, and manufacturing. This role directly manages the HPE-TPM team, which is responsible for supporting complex, multi-disciplinary developments from concept to product. The HPE-TPM leader will collaborate closely with department leadership, engineers, program managers, New Product Introduction, and suppliers (CMs/ODMs/OEMs) to get critical developments defined, built, tested, and released on time to meet top-level vehicle program objectives. 

The HPE-TPM team drives the detailed, bottoms-up engineering for Aurora’s key hardware modules and systems. The function develops and publishes consolidated schedules that balance engineering development risk with program requirements. The HPE-TPM team works closely with technical domain experts to coordinate many fast-changing, technical details that must resolve to deliver high quality, complex hardware products. The HPE-TPM duties include organizing the team’s analyses and recommendations for leadership, and facilitating the technical tradeoffs in product development. Throughout the product life cycle, the HPE-TPM team works with internal and external stakeholders to identify requirements, track risks, set appropriate check-points, analyze budget, communicate resourcing and status, and drive technical alignment. 

As the HPE-TPM team leader, this role contributes to setting strategy for multi-generational hardware developments, establishing and refining team best practices, managing individual growth plans, and presenting status updates and results to senior leadership and key stakeholders. This leadership position reports directly to the Vice President of Hardware Product Engineering. 

In this role, you will

• Lead and develop an expert team of technical program managers within Aurora’s Hardware Product Engineering team
• Be responsible for the planning, coordination, and execution support of novel hardware development for autonomous vehicles; working closely with leadership, design engineering, purchasing, supply-chain, and manufacturing
• Lead the execution, and day-to-day developments for critical hardware developments and systems (including but not limited to custom computers, sensors, vehicle integrations.)
• Manage cross-functional efforts for tactical technology development that balances schedule milestones, cost, performance, reliability and manufacturability objectives
• Coordinate and contribute to the requirements, architecture definition, trade studies, test plans, budget, and preparation for Aurora HW development gates
• Work cross-functionally to develop best practices and technology development processes that ensure on time delivery in a quickly changing and dynamic environment
• Ensure program documents, design reviews, design change documentation, and risk analyses (e.g. FMEA) are complete, current, and available 
• Identify and resolve conflicts, inter-dependencies, and program issues quickly and efficiently by engaging in proactive risk management; communicating status and issues to the development team and Aurora leadership
• Represent the hardware design and validation function in leadership reviews, as well as in core team and company meetings

Required Qualifications

• >10 years experience managing complex hardware development programs
• >4 years direct, personnel leadership of technical program management teams including hiring, establishing best practices, managing performance and growth
• Experience launching new hardware products to market and managing hardware product life cycles
• Strong technical understanding of hardware domain and development processes
• Experience with project management tools such as Smartsheets, MS Project, etc.
• Experience with task management tools such as Jira Tools, Confluence, etc. 

Desirable Qualifications

• Experience in safety critical hardware development (aerospace/defense, automotive, medical devices, etc.)
• Experience with the full hardware product lifecycle (including, but not limited to, architecture, development, validation, and market introduction)
• Experience advancing automotive electro-mechanical prototypes to high volume with contract manufacturers 

The base salary range for this position is $197,00 – $315,000 per year. Aurora’s pay ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, the successful candidate’s starting base pay will be determined based on factors including job-related skills, experience, qualifications, relevant education or training, and market conditions. These ranges may be modified in the future. The successful candidate will also be eligible for an annual bonus, equity compensation, and benefits.

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Working at Aurora

At Aurora, we bring together extraordinarily talented and experienced people united by the strength of our values. We operate with integrity, set outrageous goals, and build a culture where we win together — all without any jerks.

We have offices in several locations across the United States, where we encourage team and cross-functional collaboration. Aurora offers competitive medical, dental, and vision benefits, and additional healthcare support including medical transportation reimbursement, fertility, adoption, and surrogacy benefits. We empower our employees and their families with options to further their unique physical, mental, and financial well-being.

Our Learning and Development offerings include Aurora Academy, where our people learn, develop, and practice the essential skills that drive Aurora’s mission, continually up-leveling our team along the way. Our Careers page provides insight into career opportunities at Aurora, and you can find all the latest news on our Blog. 

Safety is central to everything we do. Every employee at Aurora has a role in contributing to safety, every step of the way. We seek candidates who take active responsibility, can contribute to building an atmosphere of trust, and invest in the organization’s long-term success by working safely — no matter what.

We believe that self-driving technology has broad benefits – including increased access to transportation. To realize those benefits, we need a workforce with diverse experiences, insights, and perspectives — a workforce that reflects the communities our technology will serve.

Aurora is committed to providing access to anyone who seeks information from our website. We invite anyone using assistive technologies, such as a screen reader or Braille reader, to email us at [email protected] if they experience difficulty using our website. Please describe the accessibility problem and include a URL (if available).

Aurora considers candidates without regard to their race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy status, parent or caregiver status, ancestry, political affiliation, veteran and/or military status, physical or mental disability, or any other status protected by federal or state law. Aurora considers qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law. We are also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at [email protected]. 

For California applicants, information collected and processed as part of your application and any job applications you choose to submit is subject to Aurora’s California Employment Privacy Policy.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

At Aurora, every employee is empowered to take an active role in building an inclusive, collaborative, and unified culture that leverages our diverse strengths, perspectives, and backgrounds. 

Transforming how the world moves people and goods involves seeking to understand backgrounds, insights, and lived experiences that differ from our own. One way we accomplish that is with our 15 employee-led Aurora Unified Groups, which support diverse voices and drive inclusive collaboration. We believe that teamwork, belonging, and trust motivate and support our employees to do their best work. As our team grows, we strive to attract and retain exceptional talent that adds new perspectives and experiences and continues to drive innovation. Learn more on our Culture Page.

We are committed to helping qualified military community members leverage their talents in service of our mission. To understand how your military experience aligns with career opportunities at Aurora, review your military job classification at MyNextMove.org and consider applying for open positions corresponding to your identified skills and experiences!

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