Fleet Operations Associate [211113]

This is a fully onsite role in Milford MI
Sunday – Wednesday 4:00 AM AZ MST – 2:30 PM AZ MST

We're seeking a dynamic individual to step into a pivotal role, where you will directly influence the reliability and performance of an advanced vehicle fleet. This isn't just a job; it's an opportunity to lead a team, drive critical troubleshooting efforts, and ensure the seamless operation of next-generation autonomous vehicles. Your expertise will be instrumental in maintaining high fleet uptime, fostering a culture of safety, and collaborating with cross-functional engineering teams to solve complex technical challenges. If you thrive in a fast-paced environment and are eager to make a tangible impact on the future of transportation, this is your chance to shine.

**What You'll Be Doing:**

* Lead and mentor a team of troubleshooting experts, providing daily supervision, coaching, performance feedback, and clear priorities to ensure high-quality technical support and fleet uptime.
* Champion the organization's Safety First culture across all troubleshooting operations, ensuring activities prioritize safety, adhere to safe work practices, and support secure autonomous vehicle operation in the field.
* Guide developmental troubleshooting for technical issues, ensuring clear triage, accurate categorization, and thorough documentation of failures, mitigations, and resolutions.
* Contribute to achieving fleet uptime targets (e.g., >90% uptime) through proactive monitoring of dashboards to identify trends during calibration, launch, and on-road operations.
* Develop, implement, and enforce Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for troubleshooting processes, escalation paths, ticket quality, and response times; ensure process adherence and escalate performance issues as needed.
* Facilitate operational rhythms such as daily stand-ups and shift handoffs, updating the team on new developments, policy changes, and key metrics; ensure clear daily handoff reports for subsequent shifts and leadership.
* Collaborate with cross-functional engineering teams (e.g., software, hardware systems, embodied AI, vehicle integration, and other internal teams) to balance short-term mitigations with long-term design changes that enhance fleet reliability.
* Prepare the team for high-severity failures by conducting drills, developing training, and aligning with partner teams on SLAs and response expectations; build and maintain training modules to upskill troubleshooting experts and operational technicians.
* Fulfill data requests and debug events of interest, including querying logs, validating hypotheses, and testing new features or fixes prior to rollout to refine behavior and mitigate regressions.
* Ensure adequate support coverage, including filling gaps as needed, occasionally responding to duty locations outside the primary facility, and supporting mitigation and containment plans for major events.
* Promote a culture of continuous improvement, utilizing metrics, incident reviews, and feedback from operations, technicians, and engineers to refine processes, tools, and training across troubleshooting operations.

**Must-Have Qualifications:**

* 5+ years of experience in automotive, robotics, autonomous vehicles, consumer electronics, aerospace, or a related industry with a focus on technical operations, reliability, or fleet support.
* Demonstrated people leadership experience, such as supervising teams, leading shifts, or providing direction to integration engineers, technicians, or contractors in a fast-paced operational environment.
* Experience with productivity and incident management tools such as JIRA, Confluence, Microsoft Office, CRM platforms, and/or similar fleet and incident management tools.
* Excellent communication skills, including the ability to give and receive clear, prompt, and understandable verbal and written communication for large groups and varying audiences (e.g., operational technicians, engineers, and leadership).
* Proven ability to stay calm, focused, and professional under pressure, including during incidents, escalations, and rapidly evolving situations.
* Strong attention to detail and execution skills, with a track record of thorough documentation, follow-through, and ownership from issue identification through resolution.
* Enthusiasm for self-driving technology and its potential impact on safety, accessibility, and the future of mobility.
* Willingness to work nights, weekends, and a flexible schedule as needed to support ongoing operations, including occasional on-site work at designated facilities.
* Willingness to travel occasionally for training to major operational hubs.

**Nice-to-Have Qualifications:**

* Previous experience managing or leading troubleshooting, Network Operations Center (NOC), or incident response teams in automotive, robotics, autonomous vehicle, or technology industries.
* Hands-on experience with on-call/incident management tools for coordinating responses to high severity events.
* Extensive experience using JIRA and related tools to manage incidents, track failure modes, and drive engineering workstreams.
* Experience with command line tools, database query languages, version control systems, and software integration tools.
* Background in customer-facing operations or technical support environments, with a strong customer service mindset.
* 2-5 years of operations or support experience in autonomous vehicle testing.
* 1-2 years of leading teams and/or training experience.

**About Aquent Talent:**

Aquent Talent connects the best talent in marketing, creative, and design with the world's biggest brands.
Our eligible talent get access to amazing benefits like subsidized health, vision, and dental plans, paid sick leave, and retirement plans with a match. We also offer free online training through Aquent Gymnasium. More information on our awesome benefits!
Aquent is an equal-opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics. We're about creating an inclusive environment-one where different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives are valued, and everyone can contribute, grow their careers, and thrive.

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