# Ray Rodriguez > Senior Technical Program Leader | Autonomy • ADAS • Infotainment Ex-NVIDIA • Ex-Audi • Ex-Ford | I uncover and solve systemic problems others can’t see. Location: San Mateo, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/rayrodriguez1 I uncover and solve the systemic problems others can't see so hardware and software organizations succeed without adding overhead. For 16 years, I've led complex automotive programs across Infotainment, ADAS, and Autonomy at NVIDIA, Audi/VW Group, and Ford. I've built and scaled engineering organizations, launched 25+ products, and delivered programs worth $24M+. I help organizations see where complex vehicle programs will break before they commit - and build the alignment, structure, and clarity to deliver. 💡If you're focused on functional safety and building next-gen experiences and products in automotive, robotics or EV mobility, let's talk!💡 ## Work Experience ### Sr. Technical Program Manager Lead - AV Planning & Control @ NVIDIA Jan 2022 – Jan 2024 | Santa Clara, California, United States Focus Areas: Motion Planning, Control, Active Safety, Prediction, SSM, ODD/Monitor, and Parking/LSM. Led planning & execution across next-gen L2–L4 autonomy programs for OEM customers (Mercedes-Benz, JLR, Volvo Trucks, and Porsche). Owned delivery across AV Planning & Control modules, aligning roadmaps, tools, and teams to deliver at scale. • Drove technical execution for critical AV Motion Planning and Control systems, managing global dependencies and timelines across OEM and internal stakeholders. • Unified fragmented Jira/Confluence spaces into a single source of truth, reducing reporting overhead by 50% and boosting transparency across teams. • Developed a milestone-based productization framework with robust quality gates — improving traceability, documentation, and unit test delivery by 75%. Adopted org-wide as AV best practice. • Partnered with Systems, Tooling Ops, and IT to streamline equipment readiness and unblock workflows, accelerating execution velocity for development teams. 🔧 Known for turning ambiguity into structure, enabling consistent and sustainable delivery, and aligning engineering teams around critical technical outcomes. ### Principal Product Manager - Vehicle Innovation @ Volkswagen Group of America Innovation and Engineering Center California (IECC) Jan 2021 – Jan 2022 | San Francisco Bay Area ### Manager - Product Improvement & Validation: Connected Infotainment and ADAS (Premium brands) @ Volkswagen Group of America Innovation and Engineering Center California (IECC) Jan 2018 – Jan 2021 | San Francisco Bay Area - Lead a cross-functional team of 60+ test/validation engineers distributed across the U.S. and Canada - Mentor projects delivering next gen products in the space of connected infotainment and driver assistance systems four our major premium and luxury brands, including Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini. - Plan, manage and oversee department's budget and business strategy. - Mentor and develop junior and senior engineers (career development and advancement) - Engage with stakeholders to plan and budget future projects. - Facilitate cross-brand cooperation between global technical teams, non-engineering business units and quality assurance to maximize impact of my team's deliverables. ### Senior Staff Project Lead - Infotainment & Connected Car (Audi) @ Volkswagen Group of America, Electronics Research Lab. Jan 2017 – Jan 2018 | San Francisco Bay Area - Lead a team of 22 engineers - Manage a fleet of 20+ vehicles and 15 test benches - Mentor junior engineers and interns. - Plan and manage project budget - Single Point of Contact and liaison between ERL and several E/E departments @ Audi ### Senior Technical Project Lead - Infotainment (Audi) @ Volkswagen Group of America, Electronics Research Lab. Jan 2015 – Jan 2017 | San Francisco Bay Area - Lead and mentor team of 11 engineers. - Create weekly system reports for mid & upper management @ Audi AG. - Develop SW integration strategy (Infotainment <=> Telematics). - Manage and maintain test resources including 12 vehicles and 10 test benches. ### ADAS Sensor and Systems Integration Engineer - Audi Highway Pilot (Autopilot) @ Volkswagen Group of America, Electronics Research Lab. Jan 2012 – Jan 2015 | San Francisco Bay Area Main tasks: - Managed SW integration and deployment strategy. - Wrote and developed sensor, sub-system and system level test specifications for autonomous vehicles. - Created safety concept and guidelines for autonomous vehicle testing. - Designed, created and imparted VW's first theoretical and practical training to obtain the very first Autonomous Vehicle Tester Permit in California (from the DMV). Additional tasks: - Researched and bench-marked competitor vehicle's ADAS focusing on Traffic Sign Recognition Systems, Pre-collision Systems, Automated Parking Assistance and Blind Spot Detection & Reaction. - Conducted UX studies to collect critical information that was used to design interior and exterior HMI concepts for Autonomous vehicles. - Consolidate all benchmark and user studies information to create a report for mid and upper management. ### Technical Project Lead - Core Application Engineer: Body Security Electronics @ Ford Motor Company Jan 2009 – Jan 2012 | Greater Detroit Area / Mexico City Area - Managed all body security electronics design and release activities for North America and Europe for four different vehicle platforms (C, D, E & S) - Core, application and launching responsibilities for Thatcham regulations compliant devices (Europe) and Body Electronic Modules (Europe and North America). - Assigned by upper management as body security electronics expert and single point of contact as well as liaison between Ford of Europe and Ford North America. ### Senior Design & Release Engineer - Body Security Electronics @ Ford Motor Company Jan 2009 – Jan 2012 | Greater Detroit Area / Mexico City Area - International assignment in Dearborn, MI. under Ford's Technical Excellence Program. - Worked closely with telecommunication regulatory bodies in North America (FCC), Europe (CEPT) and Asia to obtain EMC and RF certification for body security components components and systems I was. - Responsible for leading technical design reviews with suppliers and evaluate design feasibility of hardware components. - Implemented several cost reduction strategies in two different vehicle lines that represented a $2.88M USD savings for the company. - Wrote functional and hardware system requirements and specifications. - Responsible of running end-of-line vehicle diagnostics and testing during prototype assembly phase (component and system level). - Sign-off Body Security Electronics components on Ford's first mid-size global platform vehicle in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and China. ### Product Development Engineer @ Chrysler Jan 2006 – Jan 2009 | Greater Detroit Area / Mexico City Area Core design and release engineer - Body Security electronics: - Lead joint venture project between Chrysler North America and Mercedes-Benz AG. - Certification of Body Security Systems for Chrysler, Dodge & Jeep vehicles for the European market. - Wrote functional specifications for body security electronics (alarm siren and ultrasonic sensors). - Experience with supplier development, design verification plan and report, component packaging using CAD, cost saving strategies and SOP feature/component sign-off. Achievements: Implemented and released a low cost version of Mercedes-Benz's alarm system on Chrysler products. Accomplished a 35% cost reduction over Mercedes-Benz's original system. ### Wireline Field Engineer @ Schlumberger Jan 2006 – Jan 2006 | Reynosa - Tamaulipas Area, Mexico Field Engineer: Oil well services including tool calibration and analysis of underground measurements (electric, magnetic, radioactive and ultrasonic) to evaluate hydrocarbons reservoirs and determine drilling viability for natural gas/oil wells. ### Engineering and Design Intern @ GvG-Consulting Jan 2005 – Jan 2005 | Mexico City Area, Mexico Designed, created prototype and implemented an intelligent power supply and battery charger system for a wireless keyboard. Achievement: 20% battery life increase + 40% cost reduction compared to commercial devices. ## Education ### Stanford LEAD Professional Certificate Stanford University Graduate School of Business ### Bachelor of Science - BS in Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering Tecnológico de Monterrey ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/rayrgl --- Source: https://flows.cv/rayrodriguez1 JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/rayrodriguez1/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13