Sr. Electronics Validation Lab Manager

Role Summary

We are looking for a hands-on Lab Manager to run the ECU Validation Test Lab - where we prove the reliability and durability of vehicle electronics through thermal stress, thermal shock, vibration, humidity, water and dust ingress testing.

This role owns the day-to-day operation of the lab: keeping chambers, shakers, and instrumentation maintained, calibrated, and available; scheduling tests against program demand; managing repairs, service contracts, and vendors; and running the purchasing, inventory, and material flow behind it. You will lead a team of lab technicians and be the single point of accountability for whether the lab can run the tests the validation program needs, when it needs them.

The position is based in Irvine and partners closely with the Palo Alto lab on shared equipment standards, calibration practices, and cross-site material movement.

Responsibilities

Asset tracking and calibration - managed in Jira

• Own the lab's asset and calibration system of record in Jira: every chamber, shaker, instrument, fixture, and shared tool tracked as an asset with its calibration interval, due date, service history, and current status.
• Run calibration and preventive maintenance as scheduled Jira workflows - automated recall of due and out-of-tolerance assets, assignment to technicians or external vendors, and closure with certificates traceable to NIST or equivalent attached to the record.
• Drive out-of-tolerance investigations and assess impact on affected test data.
• Maintain consistent asset tagging (barcode/QR linked to the Jira record) across sites, and report calibration compliance, PM compliance, equipment availability, and mean time to repair from it.

Equipment maintenance and uptime

• Keep thermal chambers, thermal shock chambers, vibration systems, humidity and ingress rigs, power supplies, dataloggers, and instrumentation running: define PM tasks and spares strategy, diagnose failures, coordinate service calls and warranty claims, manage service contracts and repair scheduling, and drive downtime to documented closure.
• Maintain operating procedures, safe work instructions, and training requirements for each asset.

Team leadership and lab readiness

• Lead, schedule, and develop a team of lab technicians; set standards for workmanship, safety, documentation, and data quality, and manage shift coverage and on-call response for long-duration and unattended tests.
• Own chamber and shaker scheduling against program need-by dates; manage contention across programs, communicate capacity constraints early, and maintain a visible view of tests in progress, equipment status, incoming material, and readiness blockers.
• Partner with validation engineers on test setup, DUT staging, fixturing, instrumentation, and sample logistics.

Purchasing, inventory, and material flow

• Coordinate SAP requests, purchase orders, quotes, order status, backorders, invoices, returns, RMAs, and supplier follow-up for spares, consumables, test materials, and equipment - serving as the purchasing execution point for the validation team, and escalating pricing, vendor, approval, and sourcing decisions to the appropriate owner.
• Manage service contracts, calibration agreements, and preferred-vendor relationships.
• Own receiving, inspection, labeling, storage, issuance, cycle counts, and discrepancy resolution for components, consumables, harness materials, spares, and shared tools.
• Coordinate inter-site shipments, carrier handoffs, crating and rigging for equipment moves, and DUT and sample shipments to and from external test houses; resolve damaged shipments, missing items, returns, and supplier quality issues through documented closure.

Safety, traceability, and process

• Own lab safety: hazard assessment for temperature extremes, high-energy vibration, cryogenic and compressed gas, and electrical hazards; LOTO, PPE, ESD practices, emergency response, and incident investigation.
• Maintain DUT- and BOM-to-asset traceability for samples and assets leaving the lab, sufficient to support data-security and TISAX audit requirements.
• Establish standard work for calibration and PM execution, receiving and inventory updates, asset tagging, shipment coordination, and escalation, and report on throughput, schedule adherence, purchasing cycle time, and open blockers.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in test lab operations, equipment maintenance, metrology, reliability/environmental testing, or comparable technical operations.
• 1+ years leading technicians or a small technical team, formally or as a lead.
• Hands-on experience maintaining and troubleshooting environmental and mechanical test equipment - thermal chambers, thermal shock, vibration systems, humidity or ingress testing.
• Working knowledge of calibration and metrology practice: intervals, traceability, out-of-tolerance handling, and certificate management.
• Experience running asset, calibration, or maintenance workflows in Jira, a CMMS, or a comparable tracking system - including building and maintaining the workflows themselves.
• Experience with an ERP or procurement platform; SAP strongly preferred, Coupa a plus.
• Strong spreadsheet, data-management, recordkeeping, follow-through, and communication skills.
• Familiarity with automotive electronics validation standards (e.g. ISO 16750, IEC 60068, LV 124/LV 148, AEC-Q100) strongly preferred.
• Automotive, aerospace, electronics, or hardware development experience preferred; exposure to ECUs, HIL, or prototype electronics a plus.
• Familiarity with Confluence, barcode/QR tracking, ESD practices, LOTO, or multi-site material movement a plus.
• Ability to lift 45 pounds.
• Valid driver's license with a clean record.

Total Rewards

We build the exceptional - and we believe the people doing that work should be rewarded accordingly. In addition to a competitive base salary, full-time positions may be is eligible to participate in our annual company performance bonus program.

Payments are discretionary and not guaranteed; actual amounts depend on company results and the terms of the plan in effect, and require active employment at the time of payout. This role is also eligible for equity in the form of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), subject to board approval and the terms of our equity incentive plans, including applicable vesting requirements.

In addition to our compensation programs, we invest in our people with a comprehensive benefits package designed to support the health, wellbeing, and financial future for full-time employees - including health coverage, retirement savings, time off, and family planning programs. Offerings vary by country.

External candidates can apply for this role through the Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies careers site.