Lead Functional Safety Engineer, Propulsion & Chassis

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies; Irvine (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies seeks a Staff Functional Safety Engineer in the Propulsion and Dynamics domain to own the functional safety strategy for propulsion, dynamics and chassis features across vehicle programs. You will define how it is applied across the domain, setting safety architecture patterns and analysis methods that other engineers build against.

You will act as the technical authority for these features’ functional safety across Rivian, VW, Audi, Porsche, and Scout

Qualifications

• 10+ years in the automotive industry as a systems or functional safety engineer.
• Deep ISO 26262 expertise (Parts 3, 4, 6, 9)
• Proven experience with vehicle dynamics, propulsion and chassis systems.
• Demonstrated technical leadership without direct authority
• Experience defending safety arguments to external assessors, certification bodies, or OEM customers.

Responsibilities

• Own the functional safety architecture across multiple vehicle programs — define the safety concept patterns, redundancy strategies, and ASIL decomposition approaches that senior engineers implement against.
• Lead the highest‑complexity safety analyses: system and software HARA, FTA, FMEA, and DFA, with ownership of dependent/common‑cause failure analysis across redundant channels, power supplies, and communication paths.
• Set and defend FTTI/FDTI/FRTI budgets and safe‑state definitions; adjudicate when availability requirements conflict with fault‑reaction requirements.
• Define the domain's requirements strategy, FSR/TSR/SWSR structure, traceability model, and quality bar in the requirements tool, rather than only authoring within it.
• Own the safety validation strategy for the domain: fault insertion campaigns, HIL and vehicle‑level coverage, release qualification criteria, and the evidence chain that closes each safety goal.
• Serve as the technical counterpart to Tier 1 suppliers and external assessors; review and challenge supplier safety cases, DIAs, and analysis deliverables.
• Drive cross‑domain safety alignment with propulsion, ADAS, E/E architecture, and software platform teams, resolving interface‑level safety conflicts and freedom‑from‑interference arguments.
• Mentor senior and mid‑level functional safety engineers; run technical reviews, calibrate analysis quality across the team, and grow the domain’s bench strength.
• Establish and evolve team‑level methodology — analysis templates, review checklists, tooling, and AI‑assisted workflows that increase throughput while preserving ISO 26262 review discipline.
• Own the chassis safety case and traceability evidence through Start of Production sign‑off, and represent it to program leadership.

Skills

Functional Safety

ISO 26262

System Safety

Mentoring

Leadership

Safety Analysis

Education

Electrical/Electronic Engineering

Mechatronics

Job description

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies seeks a Staff Functional Safety Engineer in the Propulsion and Dynamics domain to own the functional safety strategy for propulsion, dynamics and chassis features across vehicle programs. You will define how it is applied across the domain, setting safety architecture patterns and analysis methods that other engineers build against.

You will act as the technical authority for these features’ functional safety across Rivian, VW, Audi, Porsche, and Scout