During just two years as contingent workforce lead program manager for Rivian, Chelsea Cox began setting up the electric vehicle manufacturer’s first-ever managed services program during the pandemic shutdowns of early 2020. Her team was able to get the new MSP up and running by mid-2020.

“We all had to jump in and trust each other right away,” she says. “There was a lot of trust placed in me and the rest of the team.”

Since then, Cox and her team have obtained a new vendor management system and launched MSP 2.0 — which entails using technology such as cloud-based computing to make the system more flexible. Changes that would have taken months previously can be implemented in just a couple of weeks.

The program proved its utility when Rivian needed to set up Covid-19 testing for operations at their manufacturing facility in Normal, Illinois. The MSP was able to bring in more than 40 trained Covid testers to meet an immediate temporary need, helping Rivian work efficiently and ensure a safe workplace.

With electric vehicles in high demand, Cox anticipates more than doubling the program’s headcount by the end of the year. She plans to take the program global and continue to use technology to enhance efficiency and reduce cost.