Senior Technical Program Manager, Software Performance

About the role

Motional is seeking a Senior Technical Program Manager to serve as a technical lead for software performance initiatives critical to our autonomous vehicle systems. You will act as the central orchestrator for cross-functional programs, ensuring that our software stack consistently meets strict latency, efficiency, and reliability benchmarks. This role requires a manager capable of navigating complex technical landscapes while maintaining an unwavering focus on deliverables and safety. You will own the end-to-end lifecycle of performance initiatives, from initial concept and requirements gathering through design, implementation, testing, and final deployment. Success in this position will be defined by your ability to drive measurable efficiency gains across the entire software development and deployment stack. You will be responsible for identifying, analyzing, and resolving technical bottlenecks that impede optimal vehicle operation and hinder the scalability of our autonomous capabilities. The position demands a strategic thinker who can align intricate engineering efforts with overarching business objectives, safety imperatives, and release schedules. You will provide the technical leadership and program management rigor necessary to keep performance optimization efforts on track and delivering tangible results.

What you'll do

• Drive the execution of performance-focused engineering projects from concept to deployment, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives and safety requirements.
• Identify and mitigate technical bottlenecks within the autonomous driving software architecture through rigorous analysis, testing, and iterative optimization.
• Facilitate communication between software engineering, infrastructure, and research departments to foster a collaborative environment focused on shared performance goals.
• Establish clear project timelines and track progress against defined performance metrics, benchmarks, and key performance indicators (KPIs) to ensure adherence to strict standards.
• Manage resource allocation and team coordination to meet critical milestones for vehicle software releases while optimizing team efficiency and throughput.
• Develop and maintain comprehensive technical documentation that details performance metrics, optimization strategies, testing methodologies, and system behaviors.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives aimed at improving software efficiency, reducing latency, and enhancing system-wide reliability across all vehicle systems and software components.
• Analyze complex software performance data to generate actionable insights, identify trends, and guide future development priorities and architectural decisions.
• Implement and maintain monitoring frameworks and tooling that provide real-time visibility into system performance, enabling proactive identification and resolution of potential issues.
• Champion best practices in software performance optimization, profiling, and testing across the engineering organization to instill a culture of efficiency and accountability.

Requirements

• Demonstrated experience managing complex technical programs within software engineering environments, with a specific focus on performance initiatives and optimization efforts.
• Proficiency in tracking, analyzing, and optimizing performance metrics to improve software system efficiency across diverse platforms, tools, and operational environments.
• Ability to translate high-level engineering goals and strategic objectives into detailed, actionable project plans that are measurable, achievable, and aligned with timelines.
• Strong background in technical project management methodologies, including Agile, Waterfall, and hybrid frameworks, with the flexibility to adapt approaches as needed.
• Experience working with autonomous vehicle software stacks, sensor processing pipelines, and understanding of the unique challenges related to real-time computing, safety, and reliability in mobility systems.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and influence cross-functional teams, manage stakeholder expectations, and drive consensus around technical decisions and performance trade-offs.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, with a data-driven approach to decision-making, root cause analysis, and performance troubleshooting.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, capable of conveying complex technical concepts, performance data, and project status to diverse audiences, including engineering teams, leadership, and non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience with performance profiling tools, debugging methodologies, and techniques for software optimization in low-latency, high-throughput systems.
• Understanding of software development life cycle (SDLC) best practices and how performance considerations integrate into design, code review, testing, and deployment pipelines.
• Proven ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment while maintaining attention to detail and a commitment to quality.
• Willingness to collaborate closely with research, product, and operations teams to ensure performance improvements are integrated holistically into the product and deployment pipeline.

About the company

Motional harnesses deep industry experience in our mission to develop and deploy autonomous vehicles and to make driverless technology safe and reliable.