Senior Technical Program Manager

At Toyota Research Institute (TRI), we’re on a mission to improve the quality of human life. We’re developing new tools and capabilities to amplify the human experience. To lead this transformative shift in mobility, we’ve built a world-class team in Energy & Materials, Human-Centered AI, Human Interactive Driving, Large Behavioral Models, and Robotics.

The Discover, Nurture, and Adopt (DNA) division at TRI focuses on enabling innovation and transformation at Toyota by building a bridge between TRI research and Toyota products, services, and needs. We achieve this through partnership, collaboration, and shared commitment. DNA is leading a new cross-organizational project between TRI and Woven by Toyota to research and develop a fully end-to-end learned automated driving / ADAS stack. This cross-org collaborative project is synergistic with TRI’s robotics divisions' efforts in Diffusion Policy and Large Behavior Models (LBM).

We are looking for a Technical Program Manager (TPM) to partner with the machine learning lead on end-to-end model development leveraging Diffusion Policy and Large Behavior Models (LBM) for automated driving. In this role, you will oversee complex, cross-organizational, and cross-functional initiatives focused on training and deploying large-scale AI models that enable robust, real-world automated driving capabilities. You will work closely with machine learning researchers, software engineers, and roboticists to drive execution, manage dependencies, and accelerate progress toward production-ready automated driving / ADAS systems. 

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with machine learning researchers and engineers to define technical achievements, manage interdependencies, and track progress toward key deliverables.
• Facilitate the integration of LBM-based end-to-end models into real-world vehicle platforms and simulations.
• Ensure seamless communication between cross-organizational and cross-functional teams, including machine learning, simulation, vehicle platform, and machine learning/data infrastructure groups.
• Identify and mitigate technical risks, ensuring robust model training, validation, and deployment pipelines.
• Support data-driven decision-making by implementing tools for tracking model performance, system integration progress, and deployment readiness.
• Collaborate with leadership to align technical roadmaps with broader organizational objectives and key performance indicators.
• Provide regular updates on project progress, key breakthroughs, and risks to executive leadership and high-level collaborators, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives.
• Drive continuous process improvement and identify bottlenecks in research-to-deployment workflow.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in technical program management or a related role, with expertise in AI/ML, robotics, or autonomous systems.
• Strong understanding of machine learning, computer vision, and generative AI (e.g., foundation models, diffusion policies) as applied to automated driving.
• Proven track record of managing complex AI/ML projects involving end-to-end model training and deployment in real-world settings.
• Ability to coordinate cross-functional technical teams, balancing research exploration with execution efficiency.
• Experience with agile methodologies, achievement tracking, and risk management in AI-driven programs.
• Excellent communication skills, capable of bridging gaps between research, engineering, and executive leadership.
• Proficiency in project management and developer tools (e.g., JIRA, Confluence, GitHub, etc.).

Bonus Qualifications

• Experience in automated driving technologies, including perception, prediction, planning, or sensor simulation.
• Background in robotic motion planning, real-time systems, or large-scale ML infrastructure.
• Familiarity with high-performance computing environments and cloud-based ML training pipelines.
• Knowledge of automotive-grade compute platforms and safety-critical software development.

The pay range for this position at commencement of employment is expected to be between $170,240 and $255,360/year for California-based roles; however, base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Note that TRI offers a generous benefits package (including 401(k) eligibility and various paid time off benefits, such as vacation, sick time, and parental leave) and an annual cash bonus structure. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.
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