Staff Technical Program Manager, Release Management

Aurora’s mission is to deliver the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly. The Aurora Driver will create a new era in mobility and logistics, one that will bring a safer, more efficient, and more accessible future to everyone. At Aurora, you will tackle massively complex problems alongside other passionate, intelligent individuals, growing as an expert while expanding your knowledge. For the latest news from Aurora, visit aurora.tech or follow us on LinkedIn .

As a Staff Technical Program Manager (Release Management), you will report to the Manager of Release Management and join our Software Product-Design team. This is a senior individual contributor (IC) role that balances strategic release architecture and automation with hands-on, day-to-day release train execution. We are hiring for this role to help drive scale and automation in our release operations for predictive prevention, establishing robust automated release gating as our commercial driverless fleet scales from a dozen vehicles to thousands. This is a high-impact opportunity for a force multiplier who thrives on combining hands-on tactical execution with long-term operational scale. You are highly motivated to remove manual friction, manage release operations, and automate software release and deployment frameworks in a safety-critical, high-velocity environment. In this role you will Lead Day-to-Day Release Operations & Cadence : Own and execute the end-to-end release cycle, including orchestrating regular release train schedules, managing branch cut-offs, running daily release/build triage, and coordinating hotfix deployments across software and vehicle platforms. Cross-Functional Coordination & Release Communication : Serve as the primary operational hub for release readiness, driving daily alignment across engineering, safety, hardware, and test operations teams while maintaining transparent release communications and dashboards. Drive Predictive Prevention and Release Automation : Shift release operations toward predictive prevention by identifying and eliminating manual friction points, automating release workflows, and utilizing AI/ML tools for triage classification and anomaly detection. Establish Data-Driven Release Gating : Help architect and maintain automated "Release Gates" that auto-assemble compliance evidence using structured data (Single Source of Truth), ensuring rigorous quality and safety standards before release promotion. Manage High-Scale Branching & Change Control : Govern and orchestrate concurrent release branches across diverse customers, hardware configurations, and Operational Design Domains (ODDs), maintaining absolute branching hygiene and change control. Ensure Safety-First Rigor and Auditable Compliance : Treat release documentation and launch reports with software-grade discipline—ensuring version control, complete auditability, and safety compliance without introducing operational bottlenecks.

7+ Years of Hands-On Release Experience : Technical program management, release engineering, or systems engineering background with direct, day-to-day release train execution and managing software-hardware integrations in complex environments. Safety-Critical Domain Expertise : Experience working under strict safety-regulated standards (such as ISO 26262, DO-178C, or ISO 13485) within automotive, aerospace, medical or robotics, with strong configuration management, baseline, and change control practices. Tactical Build & CI/CD Execution : Practical, hands-on technical experience with CI/CD build automation tools (e.g., Buildkite, GitHub Actions) and monorepo build systems (e.g., Bazel) to troubleshoot and execute daily release operations at scale. Complex Branching & Daily Triage : Proven track record of orchestrating concurrent release branches, running hands-on daily build/release triage, and executing hotfix deployments across diverse teams and