Director of Program Management

Woven by Toyota is enabling Toyota’s once-in-a-century transformation into a mobility company. Inspired by a legacy of innovating for the benefit of others, our mission is to challenge the current state of mobility through human-centric innovation — expanding what “mobility” means and how it serves society. Our work centers on four pillars: AD/ADAS, our autonomous driving and advanced driver assist technologies; Arene, our software development platform for software-defined vehicles; Woven City, a test course for mobility; and Cloud & AI, the digital infrastructure powering our collaborative foundation. Business-critical functions empower these teams to execute, and together, we’re working toward one bold goal: a world with zero accidents and enhanced well-being for all. About the Role: We are seeking a highly experienced Director, Head of Global Program Management, reporting to the Global Head of AD/ADAS,  to lead the planning, execution, and delivery of complex AD/ADAS programs. This leader will drive cross-functional alignment across engineering, product, Toyota, and global teams to ensure programs are delivered with high quality, technical rigor, and customer satisfaction. The ideal candidate brings deep production AD/ADAS experience, strong software and machine-learning program management capability, and a proven communication and leadership ability to collaborate with teams across WbyT and external stakeholders to steer programs toward successful delivery from inception to production. This role requires high accountability, a strong results orientation, a data-driven driven mindset, and the ability to build trusted relationships, including Japan-based leadership. You should be highly motivated by the challenge of bringing complex technology programs to market and adept at solving interdisciplinary problems with a strong focus on execution. In this role, you will work with a talented group of cross-functional stakeholders across organizations to develop execution plans that facilitate the launch of products and features. Key Responsibilities:

Lead end-to-end global program ownership for AD/ADAS programs from concept through production, developing and overseeing a structured approach to the program, ensuring alignment with broader business goals. Define program scope, key milestones, and success metrics to drive execution and continuous improvement.

Drive the planning, execution, and delivery of complex AD/ADAS programs, specifically those involving sophisticated software, machine learning, and system components.

Lead a global program management team, actively developing and leading a high-performing global team, fostering a highly collaborative, innovative, and accountable work environment to maximize individual and team performance.

Identify and proactively mitigate risks that may impact program timelines, quality, or efficiency. Develop contingency plans to address challenges related to deployment, infrastructure, and system integration. Communicate program updates, risks, and dependencies to senior leadership and key internal and external stakeholders.

Guides development activities across multi-disciplinary engineering (Engineering, Product, Hardware, Software, Operations, etc.) to advance design, validation, failure analysis, and set appropriate pass/fail criteria.

Mediate critical program processes, such as design reviews and build schedules, to effectively enable and foster collaboration between Woven by Toyota (WbyT) and key stakeholders, including Toyota

Establish and facilitate program governance and operating mechanisms, including design reviews, build schedules, performance metrics, KPIs, and communication rhythms across internal teams and external partners.

Drive accountability across teams and remove execution barriers, proactively resolving conflicts, identifying blockers, escalating decisions where needed, mobilizing solutions to keep programs on track, and enabling teams to deliver high-quality, on-time results.

Build and scale program management processes and tools to drive global consistency, transparency, predictability, and high execution quality across multiple teams and regions.

Partner closely with stakeholders; ensure alignment on priorities, technical decisions, and customer expectations.

Qualifications:

10+ years of professional program management experience in AD/ADAS, with a minimum of 5 years of senior leadership experience managing complex, AD/ADAS programs. 

Proven track record in leading end-to-end program execution, from concept and development through to the launch of AD/ADAS products.

Proven strong program management capability in delivering complex software, machine-learning, and systems programs, specifically within AD/ADAS

Strong leadership and communication skills with the ability to inspire and motivate internal and external teams. Have proven successful in growing and nurturing multicultural high-performance teams.  Experience with Japan is preferred. 

Exceptional facilitation and stakeholder management skills, with a proven ability to align cross-functional teams (Engineering, Product, Hardware, Software, Operations) with 500+ stakeholders and senior leadership in complex technical discussions, identifying technical blockers and solutions, and steering them toward a common goal. 

Demonstrated success in building, scaling, and institutionalizing program management processes, tools, and operating mechanisms for consistency and high execution quality.

Strong leadership presence, excellent communication skills, a skilled collaborator, and a bias toward action and outcomes.

Thrive in ambiguity, embrace the challenge of achieving the company’s mission, and influence a diverse set of stakeholders toward a common goal of delivering the best-in-class products to end users and customers. 

Experience in Machine Learning and building data-driven systems is preferred

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.