Electrical Design Intern: EV Hardware & Prototyping

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies; Irvine (CA); On-site; USD 42,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies in Irvine, CA, is seeking an Electrical Design Engineering Intern to work with senior engineers on cutting-edge zonal hardware for power distribution and control. You should be hands-on, curious, and eager to learn in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

The internship runs September 21 to December 18, 2026, in person at our Irvine office. This role provides exposure to hardware validation, lab testing, and cross-functional collaboration with

Qualifications

• Currently enrolled in an accredited graduate degree program in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering.
• Experience with audio amplifier design or testing.
• Strong coursework or hands-on project foundation in analog/digital circuit design, microcontrollers, and power basics.
• Hands-on experience with standard electrical lab equipment (oscilloscopes, multimeters, function generators, logic analyzers, soldering).
• Experience with EDA tools for schematic capture and PCB layout (Altium, Cadence Allegro, KiCAD).
• Strong problem-solving, curiosity, and willingness to learn in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

• Assist senior engineers across the hardware design process from schematic capture to PCB layout reviews and lab validation.
• Design, bring up, test, and debug low-voltage zonal control modules and evaluation boards.
• Support testing on power electronics subsystems and verify signal integrity across CAN, SPI, Ethernet, and analog/digital I/O.
• Perform hands-on root cause analysis, troubleshooting, and failure investigations on PCBA prototypes.
• Collaborate with mechanical, thermal, software, and validation teams to ensure smooth hardware integration into prototypes.
• Assist with hardware validation across EVT/DVT phases and vehicle-level testing.

Skills

Electrical Engineering

Computer Engineering

Audio amplifier design

EE fundamentals

Lab equipment

EDA tools

Education

Graduate degree program in Electrical Engineering

Graduate degree program in Computer Engineering

Tools

Altium

Cadence Allegro

KiCAD

Job description

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies in Irvine, CA, is seeking an Electrical Design Engineering Intern to work with senior engineers on cutting-edge zonal hardware for power distribution and control. You should be hands-on, curious, and eager to learn in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

The internship runs September 21 to December 18, 2026, in person at our Irvine office. This role provides exposure to hardware validation, lab testing, and cross-functional collaboration with