Staff Program Manager, Network Expansion

What we are looking for

Aurora's commercial trucking network is expanding. By the end of 2026, more than 200 Aurora-powered trucks will be in driverless commercial operation across multiple freight corridors. Every new lane, endpoint, weigh station, and truck stop must clear software readiness gates spanning map development, ODD analysis, test creation, and on-road performance before it can carry commercial freight without a driver.

The Staff PM, Network Expansion owns that picture. This role is the primary source of truth for software readiness across all active and upcoming sites, and is responsible for making that state legible to senior leadership, commercial partners, and the engineering teams accountable for closing gaps. The work requires strong technical understanding of the software readiness process, tight coordination across Mapping, Perception, Motion Planning, Systems & Safety Engineering, and Vehicle Operations, and direct engagement with Business Development and Product Strategy to connect readiness to commercial priorities.

The commercial network will be materially larger in 18 months than it is today. A significant part of this role is building the processes and tooling to scale with it.

In this role you will

• Software Readiness Ownership: Own the definitive view of where every highway segment, customer endpoint, weigh station, border patrol station, and truck stop stands against software readiness criteria and customer commitments. This spans map development timelines, ODD analysis progress, test creation status, and on-road performance. Keep this picture current across all active sites and ensure it is the basis for release planning and prioritization decisions.
• Program Synthesis and Executive Reporting: Aggregate workstream status across the lane expansion program and produce the executive software readiness update for senior leadership. Own the agenda and content for the weekly program review. Prepare and lead VP-level decision meetings when major risks require escalation or tradeoffs need to be resolved. The output of this work is senior leadership having an accurate, decision-ready view of the commercial network at all times.
• Autonomy Roadmap and Commercial Alignment: Connect commercial network priorities to autonomy capability development. Partner with Perception, Motion Planning, and Systems & Safety Engineering to ensure the capability roadmap reflects the lanes and endpoints Aurora needs to open next. Partner with Business Development and Product Strategy to understand which sites carry the highest commercial priority and translate that into concrete input for engineering planning. When workstream slips affect the commercial schedule, articulate the business consequence clearly and identify available tradeoffs.
• Cross-Program Execution: Track and unblock the engineering dependencies that determine when lanes and endpoints are ready to open. Work directly with Motion Planning, Perception, and Systems & Safety Engineering to understand capability timelines and surface gaps that affect the expansion schedule. Work with Mapping Operations to ensure mapping work is sequenced for lane and endpoint readiness timelines. Coordinate with Vehicle Operations to ensure efficient and effective on road testing.
• Vehicle Demand Forecast: Partner with Vehicle Operations leadership to develop the fleet demand forecast, informing hiring decisions and vehicle allocation. Provide forward-looking input on which lanes and endpoints will require development vehicles and when.
• Operational Infrastructure:Identify where current tracking and coordination processes will not scale as the network grows. Design and drive improvements to tooling and handoffs. The right person in this role will make it materially easier, a year from now, to answer "are we ready?" across a significantly larger set of routes.

Required Qualifications

• Range across strategy and execution: This role requires both executive-level synthesis and hands-on operational work. Strong candidates can structure a prioritization framework for a VP audience and, in the same week, build a readiness checklist, run a daily check-in, or reconcile a tracking artifact manually. The role does not have a support layer for operational work.
• Credibility with engineering teams: Must understand enough about ODD analysis, test coverage, and system integration to identify when a schedule is unrealistic, determine which risks belong in an executive update, and ask effective questions in engineering reviews. This is not a role for a generalist who relies on engineers to interpret technical state.
• Cross-functional influence in high-stakes environments: Vehicle Operations, Mapping Operations, Systems & Safety Engineering, Perception, and Business Development each have their own leadership and competing priorities. Must be able to drive alignment and accountability across these organizations without owning their roadmaps. Experience navigating multi-team environments where you are accountable for outcomes you don't directly control is essential.
• Comfort building in ambiguous environments: The processes and tooling for tracking a network of this scale are still being developed. Strong candidates treat this as core work, not a gap to work around.
• Experience with operational or physical readiness programs (autonomous vehicles, aviation, rail, logistics, or manufacturing launch) is a plus.

Pay and benefits

For roles based in San Francisco, CA and Mountain View, CA: The salary range for this position is $181,000 - $290,000 per year.

For roles based in Pittsburgh, PA: The salary range for this position is $163,000 - $261,000 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.

Working at Aurora

At Aurora, we bring together extraordinarily talented and experienced people united by the strength of our values. We operate with integrity, set outrageous goals, and build a culture where we win together - all without any jerks.

We believe in-person work increases collaboration, empathy, and our ability to lead effectively. As a result, Aurorans are expected to work from the office at least 3 days per week, with some roles requiring more frequent in-office presence, up to 5 days per week, based on operational needs.

Our Careers page provides insight into what it is like to work at Aurora, and you can find all the latest updates in our Newsroom

Our commitment to safety

At the core of everything we do is our commitment to safety. Building best-in-class self-driving technology will take time, and we believe that each employee at Aurora has a role in contributing to safety, every step of the way. Aurora expects commitment to our safety policies from every employee, and seeks candidates who take an active responsibility, can contribute to building an atmosphere of trust, and invest in the organization’s long-term success by prioritizing working safely, no matter what.

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