Rivian has hired Jody Kerns, who led general assembly for Tesla‘s Cybercab at Gigafactory Texas, as Director of General Assembly for its R2 at the plant in Normal, Illinois.
“I am looking forward to starting my next adventure as Director of General Assembly with Rivian, supporting the R2 program in Normal, Illinois,” Kerns wrote on LinkedIn last Sunday.
“Our goal is ambitious: to help make the Rivian R2 the best electric SUV in the market,” he added.
Kerns replaces Alborz Monzavi, who held the title of Director of R2 General Assembly at Rivian from November 2025 to September 2026, according to their LinkedIn profiles.
It is not known whether Monzavi resigned or was let go.
Monzavi wrote in August that he was joining 3D-printed footwear maker Zellerfeld Shoe Company as Vice President of Operations. Rivian has not announced Kerns’ hire or publicly commented on Monzavi’s departure.
From Cybercab to R2
Kerns joined Tesla in January 2024 as an End of Line manager and became Senior Manager of Cybercab General Assembly last February, according to his profile.
“I am especially proud of what we achieved together as a team, from the WEOL project to the launch of the Cyber Cab,” he wrote, without explaining the project.
Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said in April that Tesla had begun building the two-seat robotaxi at Giga Texas.
It opened Cybercab rides to the public in Austin on September 4, and the Texas registry listed 319 Cybercabs as of last week.
Before Tesla, Kerns spent 14 years and six months at Volkswagen of America, the US arm of Volkswagen Group, Rivian’s partner in a software joint venture.
He rose from Assistant Manager of the Paint Shop in 2009 through roles in paint, final assembly and finish to Director of Assembly from March 2021 to January 2024.
Monzavi’s Exit
Monzavi announced on LinkedIn in April that he had been named Director of R2 General Assembly ahead of the production ramp, after more than four years in quality and operations roles at Normal.
His profile now lists the director role from November 2025 to September 2026, after stints as Senior Operations Manager for General Assembly, Manufacturing Quality Manager and Quality Management Systems Lead Auditor since July 2021.
“I’m incredibly excited to share that I’m joining Zellerfeld Shoe Company Inc. as Vice President of Operations,” Monzavi wrote on LinkedIn on August 24.
“A special thank you to Rivian and everyone there,” he wrote, adding that he would be “cheering for Rivian from the sidelines.”
The R2 Ramp
The R2 is built in a 1.1 million-square-foot building added to the Normal campus, which houses its body shop, general assembly, and end-of-line operations.
Rivian has said the expansion lifts the plant’s planned capacity to 215,000 vehicles a year, including up to 155,000 R2s.
Kerns arrives as Rivian scales R2 output at Normal, where it started a second production shift before the end of September, a spokesperson told EV earlier this week.
Rivian had begun building the R2 on a single shift, and an R2 Group Leader wrote in April that he was preparing to ramp production “on night shift.”
The company has said a third shift will follow in 2027.
Chief Operating Officer Javier Varela said in July that the second shift would not add material volume until the fourth quarter.
Rivian delivered a record 19,248 vehicles in the third quarter and has guided to 65,000 to 70,000 deliveries this year, including 20,000 to 25,000 R2s.
It does not report R2 output separately, but a recall filing showed at least 2,481 R2s built by August 10, and Cox Automotive estimates it sold 3,456 R2s in the US in the third quarter.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer RJ Scaringe said in September that the ramp was gated by suppliers, not the plant.
“We can only ramp as fast as our slowest ramping supplier,” he said.
Leadership Changes
The hire comes amid turnover at Rivian.
Chief Financial Officer Claire McDonough is leaving for GE Vernova at the end of the month, a day after the company reports its third quarter results.
Rivian has also cut jobs in several rounds since June 2025, most recently eliminating title and registration roles this week.
On the manufacturing side, Vice President of Manufacturing Tim Fallon left in 2024 and later joined Stellantis.
