Staff Technical Product & Program Manager, Architecture & Fallback Strategy

In this role

  • Partner closely with senior executives and engineering leaders to drive the development of architectural proposals, evaluate new technologies, and execute efforts to de‑risk architectural decisions across hardware and software systems.
  • Coordinate with various engineering teams and departments to ensure that the architecture meets business objectives and enables transitions through various generations of hardware.
  • Work with a cross‑functional team of experts to take complex, highly ambiguous challenges and transform them into actionable architectural solutions and improvements that can be implemented by teams across Aurora.
  • Drive successful definitions, recommendations, decisions, execution, and delivery of major architectural initiatives, including:
    • Foundational toolchain and performance efforts for Automotive SoC‑based compute platforms.
    • Optimizing the Aurora Driver Architecture for our scale‑generation vehicle platform and Aurora Driver Hardware Kit.
    • First and third‑party fallback systems that enable safe, capable, and cost‑effective system architectures.
    • Driving architectural improvements to Autonomy stacks to enable more efficient onboard execution at scale.
  • Serve as a go‑to resource for information and up‑to‑date status for relevant programs, facilitating regular executive program reviews and ensuring agenda alignment with the acting chair.
  • Develop detailed and credible engineering plans for architectural projects.
  • Partner with stakeholders across hardware and software to understand the company product roadmap and how architectural changes will support future products.
  • Proactively identify and remove obstacles to unblock team execution and balance competing priorities, escalating when necessary to maintain momentum and clear roadblocks.
  • Lead evaluation and integration of vendor‑supplied fallback systems.

Required Qualifications

  • Minimum of five years experience as a Technical Program Manager, Product Manager, or Engineering Manager in autonomous systems, robotics, embedded systems, or software development, with an architecture focus.
  • Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Math, Information Systems, or a related field.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to adjust communication based on audience, including senior executives.
  • Strong technical aptitude and the ability to understand complex technical designs, software development lifecycle, challenges, and risks; ability to work closely with engineers.
  • Strong experience in project management; practical familiarity with both Agile and Waterfall methodologies and flexibility to adapt and apply them when appropriate to improve and not hinder team execution velocity, quality, and efficacy.
  • Ability to work in MountainView, CA, with occasional travel expected to support vendor conversations and cross‑functional team alignment.

Desirable Qualifications

  • A graduate degree in a related field (or equivalent experience).
  • Experience with PyTorch, TensorRT, CUDA, and/or DRIVEOS.
  • Experience with large software platform migrations or optimizing hardware resources (data, memory, compute).
  • Experience with complex autonomous systems, functional safety, system safety, or safety engineering.
  • Experience with managing programs with a mix of internal and external (third‑party) stakeholders.

Benefits

The base salary range for this position is $181‑$262K 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.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Aurora considers candidates without regard to 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 careersiteaccommodations@aurora.tech.

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.

Back to blog
Ads

Common Interview Questions And Answers

1. HOW DO YOU PLAN YOUR DAY?

This is what this question poses: When do you focus and start working seriously? What are the hours you work optimally? Are you a night owl? A morning bird? Remote teams can be made up of people working on different shifts and around the world, so you won't necessarily be stuck in the 9-5 schedule if it's not for you...

2. HOW DO YOU USE THE DIFFERENT COMMUNICATION TOOLS IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS?

When you're working on a remote team, there's no way to chat in the hallway between meetings or catch up on the latest project during an office carpool. Therefore, virtual communication will be absolutely essential to get your work done...

3. WHAT IS "WORKING REMOTE" REALLY FOR YOU?

Many people want to work remotely because of the flexibility it allows. You can work anywhere and at any time of the day...

4. WHAT DO YOU NEED IN YOUR PHYSICAL WORKSPACE TO SUCCEED IN YOUR WORK?

With this question, companies are looking to see what equipment they may need to provide you with and to verify how aware you are of what remote working could mean for you physically and logistically...

5. HOW DO YOU PROCESS INFORMATION?

Several years ago, I was working in a team to plan a big event. My supervisor made us all work as a team before the big day. One of our activities has been to find out how each of us processes information...

6. HOW DO YOU MANAGE THE CALENDAR AND THE PROGRAM? WHICH APPLICATIONS / SYSTEM DO YOU USE?

Or you may receive even more specific questions, such as: What's on your calendar? Do you plan blocks of time to do certain types of work? Do you have an open calendar that everyone can see?...

7. HOW DO YOU ORGANIZE FILES, LINKS, AND TABS ON YOUR COMPUTER?

Just like your schedule, how you track files and other information is very important. After all, everything is digital!...

8. HOW TO PRIORITIZE WORK?

The day I watched Marie Forleo's film separating the important from the urgent, my life changed. Not all remote jobs start fast, but most of them are...

9. HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A MEETING AND PREPARE A MEETING? WHAT DO YOU SEE HAPPENING DURING THE MEETING?

Just as communication is essential when working remotely, so is organization. Because you won't have those opportunities in the elevator or a casual conversation in the lunchroom, you should take advantage of the little time you have in a video or phone conference...

10. HOW DO YOU USE TECHNOLOGY ON A DAILY BASIS, IN YOUR WORK AND FOR YOUR PLEASURE?

This is a great question because it shows your comfort level with technology, which is very important for a remote worker because you will be working with technology over time...