Senior Manager, R&D Vehicle Production

The role

This role leads the build, testing, and delivery of R&D vehicles to fleet and engineering teams. The person manages production budgets, builds and grows the production team, and drives continuous improvement on the line.

What you will do

• Own diagnostics, functional testing, and EOL validation
• Deliver vehicles to fleet and engineering teams safely, completely, and on time
• Implement repeatable build processes and keep hardware and software configuration records for every vehicle
• Ensure each vehicle meets quality and product specifications
• Prepare and manage OPEX, CAPEX, and headcount budgets for the line
• Identify investments that improve throughput, quality, and flexibility
• Ensure MES and QMS support prototype builds, including traceability and issue tracking
• Drive continuous improvement through the Zoox Production System
• Hire, train, and develop technicians, leads, and supervisors, and evaluate their performance
• Enforce safe practices for high-voltage systems and pre-production vehicles, in partnership with EHS

Required qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Management, or a related field
• 15+ years of experience in vehicle or complex electromechanical assembly manufacturing, including prototype, pilot, or NPI builds
• 5+ years of experience leading production teams, including supervisors or managers
• Proven ability to lead hardware and software engineers to resolve build issues under schedule pressure, often without direct authority
• Working knowledge of vehicle systems (mechanical, electrical, high-voltage, embedded software) and how they are built, diagnosed, and tested
• Experience transitioning new products from prototype into serial production
• Familiarity with MES, ERP, and QMS, and with structured problem-solving such as 8D and root cause analysis
• Clear communicator who can present build status, risks, and trade-offs to executives

Nice to have

• Experience with autonomous, electric, or other software-defined vehicles
• Experience building or retrofitting R&D or test-fleet vehicles
• Experience applying lean principles in low-volume, high-mix production

Before you apply

• Experience must include 15+ years in vehicle or complex electromechanical assembly manufacturing

About the company

Zoox is the employer named in this posting, which describes an R&D vehicle production role. The posting does not give further details about the company.