Drivemode

Senior Technical Program Manager — QA & Validation (Systems & Tooling)

Mountain View, California, U.S.

Full-Time

Hybrid

$140,000 – $182,000 per year

TLDR

This hands-on and highly technical role focuses on building and operating the Quality Management System, ensuring quality and readiness criteria across Honda's next-gen connected vehicle platform.

Our Mission: Driving technology always feels old. Not by a little bit. We believe vehicles can be a thousand times smarter, safer, and more connected to the world around us, and our mission is to see it happen. In 2019, we joined forces with Honda as their first startup acquisition, and now we’re expanding our vision into building the future of electric vehicles (BEV) for millions of people around the world. Why Drivemode: Join Drivemode for an exciting startup environment and a vibrant culture that combines impactful work, competitive compensation, and excellent benefits. By becoming a part of our team, you'll contribute to a crucial mission that revolutionizes the way people engage with vehicles, addressing both business needs and the world's environmental challenges. This presents an exceptional opportunity to be at the forefront of innovation and drive Honda's success in the EV market. About the role We are looking for a Senior Technical Program Manager — QA & Validation to design and operate the systems that define quality, validation, and release readiness across Honda’s next-generation connected vehicle platform. This role sits at the intersection of Engineering, QA, Product, Design, and tooling, and is ideal for someone who believes that quality is a system to be engineered—not a phase to be managed. This is a hands-on, highly technical TPM role with real ownership of systems, tooling, and validation strategy. You will build and operate the Quality Management System (QMS) that ensures traceability, measurable quality signals, and clear readiness criteria across all teams. You are expected to solve problems through systems, tooling, and code, not just coordination. This role works in close partnership with Delivery TPMs: You define truth, validation, and readiness They drive feature delivery What you do

Design and implement a scalable Quality Management System (QMS) in collaboration with Engineering, QA, Product, and Design, ensuring end-to-end traceability from requirements to release

Own and configure the validation toolchain (Jira, Jama, TestRail), including workflows, structures, automations, and reporting, ensuring systems reflect real execution state

Build automation and integrations using code (Python, APIs, scripting) to connect systems, eliminate manual work, and enable real-time quality and readiness insights

Define and enforce validation readiness criteria and release gates based on measurable quality signals, ensuring teams are prepared before release commitments

Drive system-level validation by aligning testing with real-world behavior across mobile, backend, APIs, and vehicle systems

Lead bug triage and bug review processes, ensuring clear ownership, prioritization, and timely resolution across teams

Proactively identify risks and gaps in requirements, test coverage, environments, and dependencies, and drive mitigation before they impact validation or release

Ensure high data integrity across Jira, Jama, and TestRail by enforcing clarity, consistency, and accuracy in tracking systems

Challenge and align cross-functional teams when inputs are incomplete or unclear, ensuring validation is based on testable and reliable requirements

Lead vehicle integration and validation efforts with minimal supervision, troubleshooting issues across system layers as needed

What we are looking for

7+ years of experience in Technical Program Management, QA/Validation, Systems Engineering, or similar roles

BS/MS in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent technical field

Deep experience configuring Jira (workflows, automations, JQL, reporting)

Experience with ALM tools such as Jama Connect (or similar)

Experience with test management tools such as TestRail or others

Proven ability to build or scale QA/QMS or validation systems

Hands-on experience writing code (Python, scripting, APIs, etc.)

Experience building integrations across systems (e.g., Jira < – > Jama < – > TestRail)

Ability to automate workflows, reporting, and data pipelines

Strong understanding of backend systems, APIs, and distributed systems

Familiarity with mobile (frontend) constraints and behavior

Ability to reason across system boundaries and debug complex issues

Experience driving validation across multiple teams

Ability to enforce accountability and challenge unclear inputs

Strong communication skills with technical and non-technical stakeholders

Standard working hours are Monday through Friday. To support collaboration with our Japan-based teams, core hours are 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM PT from Monday through Thursday. The team works in-office on Mondays and Tuesdays. Thursdays and Fridays offer more flexibility, particularly in the evenings, while remaining full working days

This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship or visa transfers.

Nice to Have:

Experience in automotive, IoT, or connected-device ecosystems

Familiarity with ASPICE or ISO 21434

Background as SDET, QA Automation Engineer, or Systems Engineer

Japanese language proficiency is nice to have, but not required

EEOC Statement

Drivemode is proud of a very diverse team with employees coming from 5 continents/20 countries as of today. Diversity in our workplace has played an important part in our success; we recognize each employee’s unique background, knowledge, experiences, ideas, and viewpoints which are all critical in developing a product that has the greatest impacts on drivers all over the world.

Drivemode provides equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, religion, color, age, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or any other characteristics that make you unique.

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Drivemode

Drivemode builds innovative technology for electric vehicles, focusing on creating smarter and safer driving experiences. As a division of Honda, we merge cutting-edge software solutions with a commitment to environmental sustainability, aiming to redefine the future of vehicle connectivity. Our mission is to engage millions of users while addressing the evolving challenges in the automotive landscape.

Founded: Founded 2014
Employees: 11-50 employees
Industry: Internet Software & Services
Total raised: $9.2M raised

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Senior Technical Program Manager

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