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Director, Autonomous Driving Safety
- Audi (Austin, TX)
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Director, Autonomous Driving Safety (Job Number: SDS000007) Description
VW. Two letters. Endless opportunities. A bright future.
Innovation. Sophistication. Optimization. This is our Passion.
Worldwide, the Volkswagen Group has a long tradition of dramatic innovations. The Volkswagen Group with its headquarters in Wolfsburg is one of the world’s leading automobile manufacturers and the largest carmaker in Europe. The Group comprises twelve brands from seven European countries: Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Audi, SEAT, ŠKODA, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Ducati, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Scania and MAN. Here in the US, we are blending German engineering with American ingenuity.
As ADMT , we develop and realize fully autonomous mobility and transportation services. Our mission is to make mobility-and transportation-as-a-service safe, accessible, and most attractive for society. For that, we cover the entire ground from strategy and business development, software development and end-2-end integration, fleet operations to next-generation self-driving systems. Being the driver in Volkswagen Group initiative for mobility solutions, we are an integral part of Volkswagen Group's future success.
Role Summary
The Director, Autonomous Driving Safety oversees and ensures that ADMT LLC’s autonomous driving vehicles and services are specified, designed, tested, and operated safely. The primary mission for this role is to build and maintain the trust and confidence of the public, regulators, and government agencies at the federal, state and local levels.
The Director, Autonomous Driving Safety is responsible for leading the development and implementation of a comprehensive safety management system for ADMT LLC in cooperation with the responsible departments and other relevant VW structures globally. In this context, the Director, Autonomous Driving Safety will drive the development and implementation of policies and procedures to ensure compliance with safety regulations, industry standards and best practices for autonomous driving system development and operations in the US. The Director, Autonomous Driving Safety will have independence from the technology and business development organizations to provide the assurance that ADMT’s operations are safe, that risks are assessed, and sufficient plans are in place to manage risk to an acceptable level. In this role, the Director, Autonomous Driving Safety will be the primary point of contact for all safety related topics towards both company leadership and external stakeholders including regulators (NHTSA, state and local), business partners, suppliers, government agencies, industry bodies, first responders and more.
Role Responsibilities:
Safety System, Strategy & Communications
• Develop and implement SMS (Safety Management Systems) processes and activities for in cooperation with the responsible departments globally.
• Be the face and voice of ADMT to the outside world on safety-related matters, including participation in national and international forums on autonomous vehicle safety.
• Actively drive the safety culture across all levels of the organization, ensuring that safety and security are an integral part of all planning and decision-making.
• Collaborate globally across multi-functional organizations and bodies to integrate and maintain necessary safety principles, processes, and procedures.
• Develop and execute a safety communication plan for supporting ADMTs expansion and community engagements.
• Ensure the safety of the autonomous driving fleet by establishing safe operating procedures, overseeing their implementation, and continuously improving based on lessons learned.
• Establish processes necessary to ensure continuous handling safety-related disruptions of ADMT LLC’s vehicle operations.
Incident & Regulatory inquiry response
• Co-lead of the global AD Safety Board (ADSB) alongside the ADMT GmbH Chief Safety Officer (CSO)
• Lead investigations on Incidents on public road testing with ID.Buzz AD and decide on Safety measures, such as Grounding fleets, Request SW Updates, Deviation permits etc.
• Escalate and Feed in Crisis Comms for all ADMT related incidents, inform & update VWGoA Crisis Comms team
• Lead strategy and be the primary point of contact with internal safety departments, US regulatory agencies such as NHTSA, local safety agencies, first responders and similar in representing the company on establishing safety-related policies and procedures in conjunction with autonomous driving vehicles.
• Establish and implement incident- and investigation-response processes, including their reporting, resolution and timely responses to government and regulatory agencies, while mitigating reputational risks.
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