Staff Technical Program Manager (IIX)

We are CARIAD, an automotive software development team with the Volkswagen Group. Our mission is to make the automotive experience safer, more sustainable, more comfortable, more digital, and more fun. To achieve that we are building the leading tech stack for the automotive industry and creating a unified software platform for over 10 million new vehicles per year. We’re looking for talented, digital minds like you to help us create code that moves the world. Together with you, we’ll build outstanding digital experiences and products for all Volkswagen Group brands that will transform mobility. Join us as we shape the future of the car and everyone around it.

​Role Summary:

The Staff Technical Program Manager is an individual contributor responsible for driving execution of one or more complex, cross-functional technical programs within a global portfolio. This role partners closely with engineering, product, integration, security, validation, and external stakeholders to align scope, manage dependencies, and ensure readiness for key milestones.

The Staff TPM brings structure to ambiguous problems, builds durable delivery plans, proactively manages risk, and communicates status and tradeoffs clearly. The role may mentor peers through best-practice sharing on specific programs but primarily focuses on hands-on program ownership and predictable delivery.

Role Responsibilities:

Program Execution & Risk Management

• Drives day-to-day coordination across engineering, product, hardware, software, security, and integration teams to ensure delivery accountability
• Track progress against plan of record, ensuring clear ownership and timely closure of action items
• Maintain logs and proactively identify delivery risks, technical gaps, and cross-team dependencies
• Drive mitigation plans, tradeoff discussions, and escalation paths; unblock teams and align on decisions
• Manage change control and scope adjustments with clear impact analysis (schedule/quality/resources)

Program Planning & Alignment

• Defines and drives clear program objectives and priorities aligned with organizational and vehicle program goals
• Translate technical, organizational, and dependency complexity into clear delivery plans for senior and executive stakeholders
• Owns program-level planning inputs related to scope, sequencing, milestones, and resource needs in collaboration with functional leaders
• Identifies and manages cross-functional interdependencies, proactively addressing risks that may impact delivery or strategic outcomes

Milestone Readiness & Release Support

• Coordinate readiness for major milestones (e.g., platform releases, integration events, validation gates)
• Partner with integration/release and validation teams on entry/exit criteria, defect triage signals, and stabilization plans
• Ensure teams are prepared for reviews with clear artifacts (plans, metrics, open issues, decision asks)

Reporting, Communication, and Continuous Improvement

• Provide program heath reporting: status, risks, trends, and recommended actions for stakeholders
• Documents best practices and operating standards to enable consistent execution at scale Documents program practices/lessons learned and shares with TPM community
• Uses advanced analytical judgment to evaluate outcomes, identify systemic issues, and drive improvements across the TPM organization

​General Skills:

• Strong cross-functional leadership with a track record of delivering complex programs with multiple stakeholders
• Analytical and structured problem-solving; able to translate ambiguity into clear plans and measurable outcomes
• Clear, concise communication (written, verbal, and executive-ready status updates)
• Strong stakeholder management and negotiation skills; able to drive alignment without direct authority
• Comfortable operating in fast-paced, global environments across time zones and cultures
• Proactive ownership mindset: anticipates risks, removes blockers, and drives accountability

​Required Specialized Skills:

• Proven experience planning and execut