Senior / Staff Program Manager, Verification and Validation Operations

@ Zoox
Zooxzoox.com

Senior / Staff Program Manager, Verification and Validation Operations

Posted 1 week ago

About the job

Zoox's Fleet Operations manages autonomous vehicle programs, verifying and validating software, optimizing operations, and ensuring a premium customer experience in a rapidly growing fleet.

Requirements

  • 10+ years program management experience
  • Strong stakeholder management skills
  • Data-driven decision making
  • Experience with AI tools and workflows
  • Ability to lead cross-functional programs

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Engineering or STEM
  • Experience in autonomous vehicles or fleet management
  • Proficient in modern AI tools
  • Operational and technical background

Full job description

Zoox's Fleet Operations Program Management team delivers cross-functional programs critical to the growth, expansion, and efficient operation of our commercial autonomous vehicle service. We partner closely with Fleet Operations and cross-functional stakeholders to verify, validate, and launch new software on our fleet — while continuously maturing our operational processes to deliver a premium customer experience.

We're looking for an experienced, forward-thinking Senior / Staff Program Manager to help define and execute strategies that scale our Verification & Validation (V&V) operations. Our testing fleet — hundreds of vehicles across multiple cities and private tracks — is growing rapidly in size and geographic reach. This is a highly cross-functional role operating at the intersection of operations, autonomy, engineering, and product — requiring someone who can navigate technical complexity while driving alignment and execution across a broad set of stakeholders.


Expected Travel: 10–15%

In this role, you will:

  • Lead and coordinate large-scale, highly cross-functional programs spanning Autonomy, Product, Infrastructure, Engineering, and Safety teams to drive measurable improvements in fleet efficiency and software quality
  • Own and drive operational efficiency initiatives that span multiple engineering, field service, and operations teams — identifying bottlenecks, aligning stakeholders, and unblocking downstream execution
  • Partner with System Design & Mission Assurance and other safety teams to gather and pressure-test requirements — bringing a critical lens to ensure what's being asked for is the right thing to build or prioritize
  • Champion the adoption of AI and data-driven tools within operations — including building centralized, multi-source reporting systems that surface actionable intelligence from the field and feed into leadership decision-making
  • Run monthly business reviews (MBRs) with a broad set of stakeholders — synthesizing ground-level signals from market leads and operational locations into clear recommendations on resources, partnerships, and priorities for leadership
  • Define and track the right operational metrics — not just reporting on what exists, but actively shaping what should be measured and why
  • Partner with Finance to support operational and financial planning cycles (OP1, OP2, quarterly R&O), ensuring budgets reflect operational needs accurately and efficiently
  • Lead key efficiency initiatives across our L3 and robotaxi R&D fleets, including improvements in fleet utilization, time-in-autonomy, troubleshooting cycle times, and operational infrastructure
  • Manage program timelines, resources, and deliverables; proactively identify and mitigate operational and programmatic risks
  • Create and maintain program documentation and progress reports for senior leadership

    • Qualifications

    • Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations Research, Operations Management, or a STEM field
    • 10+ years of program management experience, with a strong preference for backgrounds that blend technical depth with operational execution
    • Demonstrated ability to lead large-scale, highly cross-functional programs with significant organizational impact
    • Comfortable operating in ambiguity — able to structure undefined problems, build frameworks from scratch, and drive toward clarity
    • Strong stakeholder management and communication skills across engineering, product, and operations audiences
    • Deeply data-driven — not just tracking metrics but validating them, questioning outputs that don't add up, and pushing back when the data tells the wrong story
    • Proficient with modern AI tools and workflows (e.g., Gemini, Claude, MCP APIs, cloud-based coding environments) and actively applies them to drive operational efficiency and better decision-making

    Bonus Qualifications

    • Experience in autonomous vehicles, aerospace, ride-hail, robotics, or fleet management
    • Background in systems engineering, software development, or technical operations
    • MBA or Master's degree in a STEM field
    • PMP, PgMP, or equivalent certification
    • Experience with vehicle testing, validation, or disengagement analysis
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