RIVR, part of Amazon is a robotics company pioneering Physical AI through real-world doorstep delivery. Founded in 2024 as an ETH Zurich spin-off, RIVR developed wheeled-legged robots designed to operate in complex, unstructured environments such as stairs, gates, doors, and uneven urban terrain. We believe that achieving general physical intelligence requires solving real customer problems in the real world, where robots can learn from rich operational data at scale.
Following our acquisition by Amazon in March 2026, we are continuing this mission with greater reach and speed. By combining custom robot hardware, onboard autonomy, and cloud-based coordination, RIVR, part of Amazon is building the next generation of safe, reliable autonomous robots for last-mile delivery
Job Description
Building robots that can navigate the real world is only part of the challenge. Scaling the company behind them means connecting people, systems, locations, and decisions across Amazon RIVR and teams across Amazon.
This is a newly created role and the first at Amazon RIVR with dedicated program ownership across our portfolio of corporate initiatives. You will sit at the intersection of our engineering and operations priorities and Amazon’s global corporate functions, translating complex, undefined business objectives into structured, executable programs.
Success in this role will mean establishing the mechanisms and playbooks that connect our robotics workflows with Amazon’s corporate requirements and operating standards, while preserving the speed and ownership that have defined RIVR from day one. You will be an exceptional simplifier: someone who sees across organizational boundaries, turns overlapping requirements into clear and predictable ways of working, and makes Amazon’s infrastructure work effectively for RIVR.
What you’ll be doing
- Own the integrated portfolio: Maintain the end-to-end roadmap for Amazon RIVR’s cross-functional corporate programs spanning Finance, Legal, People, Workplace and Real Estate, and international operations.
- Define and launch programs: Turn undefined business objectives into clear outcomes, scope, workstreams, owners, decision rights, milestones, and measures of success.
- Connect Amazon RIVR and Amazon: Bring together Amazon RIVR leaders, functional owners, and Amazon specialist teams, translating business needs and enterprise requirements into coordinated implementation plans.
- Establish the operating mechanisms: Build the governance, working rhythms, decision records, and implementation playbooks needed to create visibility, accountability, and momentum across workstreams.
- Drive decisions and alignment: Surface trade-offs, resolve conflicting priorities, and secure decisions and resource commitments from senior stakeholders across the organization.
- Anticipate risk and protect continuity: Identify dependencies, compliance requirements, resource constraints, and operational risks before they affect engineering, production, or operational delivery.
- Support our evolving international footprint: Lead cross-functional programs connected to how Amazon RIVR operates across locations, coordinating changes to processes, systems, services, and ways of working.
- Communicate clearly at every level: Produce concise decision documents, program reviews, and executive updates that make progress, risks, and trade-offs easy to understand.
What you must have
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience.
- 6+ years of experience leading complex, cross-functional programs in business operations, corporate integration, transformation, international expansion, or a comparable environment.
- Experience establishing a new program, operating model, or way of working where no complete playbook previously existed.
- A track record of taking ambiguous business objectives from initial definition through implementation and measurable delivery.
- Demonstrated ability to coordinate multiple specialist teams and drive outcomes through influence rather than direct authority.
- Strong judgment and sufficient business fluency across corporate functions to engage credibly with subject-matter experts without needing to be one yourself.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience turning complex information into clear decisions and recommendations for senior leaders.
- Comfort moving between strategic questions and hands-on execution.
Get some bonus points
- Experience with post-acquisition integration or helping a growing company operate effectively within a larger organization.
- Experience leading programs involving corporate systems or service transitions, entity or operating-model changes, or workplace expansion.
- Experience working across international teams, locations, or regulatory environments.
- Experience supporting an engineering-led, hardware, manufacturing, or similarly complex technical organization.
- Strong change-management skills and experience helping teams adopt new processes or ways of working.
- Familiarity with Amazon’s operating mechanisms, planning processes, or corporate infrastructure.
RIVR, part of Amazon is committed to building a diverse and inclusive team that values every perspective. If you’re passionate about driving innovation in robotics and creating meaningful impact, we encourage you to apply and bring your unique self to our team.
We believe the best work is done when collaborating and therefore require in-person presence in our office locations.
