Program Director - Autonomous Vehicle Simulation Operations

Program Director – Autonomous Vehicle Simulation Operations

Location: Mountain View, CA (Hybrid / Onsite Preferred) Employment Type: Full-Time Level: Director / Program Director

Role Summary

We are seeking a senior leader to own and scale Autonomous Vehicle (AV) Simulation Operations supporting validation, safety assurance, and release readiness for autonomous driving software.

This is a highly specialised leadership position requiring deep expertise in large-scale autonomous vehicle simulation ecosystems, virtual validation, scenario-based testing, cloud/HPC infrastructure, and operational leadership.

Important: This is NOT a general automotive, EV manufacturing, vehicle quality, PMO, or engineering leadership role. Candidates must come from autonomous driving simulation and validation backgrounds.

Key Responsibilities

Lead large-scale autonomous vehicle simulation operations and validation programmes.

Drive virtual validation campaigns across millions to billions of simulated miles.

Own simulation infrastructure, cloud environments, and HPC (High Performance Computing) operations.

Oversee scenario generation, scenario coverage, replay frameworks, digital twins, and synthetic data programmes.

Establish release readiness, safety assurance, and validation governance processes.

Partner with Perception, Planning, Prediction, Localisation, Vehicle Control, AI/ML, Platform, and Safety teams.

Lead global cross-functional engineering teams and large-scale programme delivery.

Manage operational efficiency, risk management, cost optimisation, and executive stakeholder communications.