Senior Aerothermal & HVAC Systems Engineer

Rivian; Irvine (CA); On-site; USD 122,000 - 152,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) Plan

Employee Stock Purchase Program

Paid time off & health benefits

Job summary

Rivian in Irvine, CA seeks a Sr. Aerothermal Development Engineer to lead thermal system testing, data analysis, and control strategy development for HVAC and propulsion cooling.

You will coordinate cross-functional teams across Studio, Thermal, Interior, Exterior, and Controls, while traveling up to 30% for testing in varied climates. Strong emphasis on CFD correlation and root-cause analysis supports vehicle-level sign-off.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Graduate Degree in Engineering (Mechanical/Aerospace) with thermodynamics/heat transfer background.
• 2-5 years in automotive thermal system development, HVAC design, or electronics cooling with data analysis.
• Experience in thermal instrumentation, data acquisition, and large dataset post-processing.
• Knowledge of CAN/LIN/Ethernet and relevant debugging tools.
• Familiarity with aerothermal simulations and data-driven problem-solving.

Responsibilities

• Lead thermal system development testing including travel to off-site locations for extreme conditions.
• Develop test procedures aligned to user stories and attribute requirements.
• Specify instrumentation and ensure data acquisition accuracy and robustness.
• Address design gaps using empirical data and drive root cause analysis.
• Collaborate on HVAC and propulsion conditioning hardware/software development.
• Present analysis results to leadership and cross-functional teams.

Skills

Thermal analysis

Data analysis

HVAC development

Testing leadership

Control strategies

Thermal instrumentation

CAN/LIN/Ethernet

CFD interpretation

Education

Bachelor's or Graduate Degree in Engineering (Mechanical/Aerospace)

Tools

CFD software

Data acquisition systems

Job description

Rivian in Irvine, CA seeks a Sr. Aerothermal Development Engineer to lead thermal system testing, data analysis, and control strategy development for HVAC and propulsion cooling.

You will coordinate cross-functional teams across Studio, Thermal, Interior, Exterior, and Controls, while traveling up to 30% for testing in varied climates. Strong emphasis on CFD correlation and root-cause analysis supports vehicle-level sign-off.