Senior Manager, R&D Vehicle Production
Fremont, CAFull-time$195–293K/yrPosted todayStill listed today
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At a glance
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Requirements
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Job overview
The Senior Manager of R&D Vehicle Production runs Zoox’s prototype vehicle lines in Fremont, overseeing builds and testing for mileage collection, software validation, and early next-generation vehicles. The role owns assembly, diagnostics, testing, and end-of-line validation, and helps transition vehicles into serial production. It partners across engineering and operations to resolve build issues, meet production goals, manage budgets, and develop production teams.
Skills & qualifications
Skills
Qualifications
Full job description
As Senior Manager of R&D Vehicle Production, you will run the prototype vehicle lines at our factory in Fremont, CA. Your team is responsible for building and testing R&D vehicles for mileage collection and software validation, plus early builds of our next-generation ground-up vehicles. You will own assembly, diagnostics, testing, and End-of-Line (EOL), and help carry new vehicles into serial production.
Prototype builds surface new hardware and software issues every day. Success in this role depends on working closely with hardware and software engineering teams to resolve them fast, so you can meet production goals. You will set priorities, hold owners accountable, and escalate decisively when an issue blocks the build.
Reporting to the Senior Director of Manufacturing Engineering and General Assembly, you will be a key leader in Zoox Manufacturing Operations. You will partner closely with Vehicle Development, Software, Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain, Quality, and the teams operating our test fleet.
In this role, you will:
• Own diagnostics, functional testing, and EOL validation. Deliver vehicles to fleet and engineering teams safely, complete, and on time.
• Implement repeatable build processes and keep accurate hardware and software configuration records for every vehicle. Ensure each vehicle meets quality and product specifications.
• Prepare and manage the line's OPEX, CAPEX, and headcount budgets. 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. Set clear expectations and evaluate performance.
• Build a culture that puts employee and product safety first, in partnership with EHS. Enforce safe practices for high-voltage systems and pre-production vehicles.
Qualifications
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Management, or a related field.
• 15+ years of experience in vehicle or complex electromechanical assembly manufacturing (e.g., automotive, aerospace, robotics), 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 (e.g., 8D, root cause analysis).
• Clear communicator who can present build status, risks, and trade-offs to executives.
Bonus Qualifications
• 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.
How this job compares
Set against the 722 open Manufacturing Operations jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 12, 2026.
- Pay
- This posting$195–293K/yr
- California median$150–223K/yr85 salary ranges
- US median$128–220K/yr457 salary ranges
This range's midpoint, $244K, is 25% above the California median midpoint ($195K) — in the top quarter of Manufacturing Operations salary ranges in California.
- Openings
- Olive Jobs lists 100 open Manufacturing Operations jobs in California and 722 across the US. 18% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
- Experience
- This posting asks for at least 15 years of experience — more than three in four Manufacturing Operations postings that state a minimum ask for (median 6 years, across 590 postings).
- Education
- This posting asks for a bachelor's degree; 200 of the 722 open Manufacturing Operations jobs (28%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.
Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 12, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.
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