# Markus Kothner > Design Program Manager Location: Pleasanton, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/markuskothner Enable teams to build stories and user experiences. Deliver projects on time and budget. Create and maintain communication between cross functional teams and stakeholders. Updating, adapting and building new processes. ## Work Experience ### Design Program Manager @ eBay Jan 2023 – Present | San Jose, California, United States Lead program planning and execution for the UX team, aligning cross-functional efforts with company priorities. Streamlined intake and sprint processes to improve team efficiency and delivery. Collaborate closely with product managers, engineers, and program leads to define quarterly goals, manage resources, and ensure on-time execution of key initiatives. Advocate for user-centered design and foster a collaborative, agile culture across teams. ### Board of Directors @ Sickle Cell 101 Jan 2013 – Present Helped create and register nonprofit organization Sickle Cell 101 with the Secretary of State of California. Drafted and composed organization’s by-laws, Articles of Incorporation, and five year plan. Built website and set up social media accounts that generates followers on daily basis and over 2000 followers to date. Generated monthly newsletter, while conducting bi-monthly editorial meetings and recruiting volunteers for the editorial team. Created the promotional material, and organizations marketing. Organizing fundraiser for September 2014. ### Staff UX Producer @ Rivian Jan 2021 – Jan 2023 | Palo Alto, California, United States Empowered the Vehicle UX infotainment and Navigation UX team to deliver delightful in vehicle experiences. I ensured teams were able to deliver features on time for monthly releases. Created requirements with team leads and enabled designers to deliver experiences that met those requirements. Collaborated with the engineering team to ensure a timely hand off of UX wireframes and finished design assets. Reported status on a weekly basis to the Vehicle UX leadership (Directors and Senior VP). Assumed program management responsibilities. Developed quarterly plans for features and their deliveries. Built an intake process for the Vehicle UX team org and improved existing processes for Jira task tracking. Lead uptake and compliance of multi-team Scrum methodology. Created resource plans, budgets and proposals for upcoming experiences with design leads. ### Senior Design Producer @ Amazon Jan 2019 – Jan 2021 | Santa Clara Worked closely with product managers and engineering leads to create feature delivery plans for multiple simultaneous projects. Ensured that requirements were followed by the UX designers. Led daily standup and other Scrum ceremonies (backlog grooming, Sprint planning, Sprint reviews, retrospective). Participated in bi-annual operational planning sessions. ### Senior UX Design Producer @ Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America, Inc. Jan 2016 – Jan 2019 | Sunnyvale, CA Project Planning: Timeline planning, Resource planning, Task tracking, Budget, Stakeholder communication. Procurement: Quotes, SLA, Proposals, NDA’s. ISO9001 Quality representative Planning and managing the yearly audit process. ### UX Design Producer @ Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America, Inc. Jan 2015 – Jan 2016 | Sunnyvale ### Executive Project Coordinator @ Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America, Inc. Jan 2014 – Jan 2015 | Sunnyvale CA ### Assistant Director @ Black Star Industries Jan 2011 – Jan 2013 | St. Petersburg, Florida Developed timeline for short and midterm goals to actualize BSI’s mission. Lead graphics team and signed off on new designs for re-branding of BSI including new logos, brochures, merchandise, and website. Overviewed new business plans for existing subsidiaries. Creation of business plans for new subsidiaries. Directed multiple well-attended international events including locations in England, France, Germany, Belgium and Sweden. Headed teams of ten to 25 volunteers developing fundraising and promotional campaigns for events in each country. Arranged logistics for intercontinental keynote speakers. ### District Development Manager @ IBD - International Business Development Jan 2010 – Jan 2011 Contracted agreements with German and Italian Chambers of Commerce for business missions to Africa. Negotiated partnerships between European and Asian businesses with African businesses. Delegated business networking events. Performed administrative and clerical tasks including business requests, conducted liaisons, maintenance of customer database and sourcing for new clients. Coordinated and oversaw document production and projects per request. ### Catalogue Coordinator @ Staples Belgium Jan 2007 – Jan 2009 Ensuring qualities for the customer catalogues are met. Driving the lay out of catalogue design, and ensuring accurate representation of items. Editing descriptions of items in the catalogue to meet vendors expectations. ## Education ### Fashion/Apparel Design Modefachschule Sigmaringen ### Betty Reis Gesamtschule ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/markus-kothner --- Source: https://flows.cv/markuskothner JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/markuskothner/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13