Senior Software Engineer, Motion Planning, Autonomy

Rivian; Palo Alto, Irvine (CA, CA); On-site; USD 165,000 - 206,000; Full time

Job summary

Rivian seeks Senior Software Engineers to lead data pipelines for the Large Driving Model (LDM) and own data curation strategies that fuel the models. You will surface high-value examples, refine evaluation benchmarks, and work directly with modeling teams to accelerate performance.

If you are strong in Python, experienced with autonomous systems data, and comfortable navigating complex data challenges independently, we want to hear from you.

Qualifications

• B.S. or M.S. in Computer Science, Data Science, Robotics, Engineering, or a related field.
• 3+ years of experience as a Software Engineer, Data Analytics Engineer, Machine Learning Engineer, or Motion Planning Engineer.
• Advanced proficiency in Python and SQL is required, with a proven track record of building production-grade data products.
• Hands-on experience with distributed data processing frameworks (e.g., Spark, Ray) and cloud infrastructure.
• Solid understanding of data-centric AI, dataset curation strategies, and model evaluation methodologies.
• Experience handling large-scale sensor data or complex robotics telemetry.
• Demonstrated ability to work autonomously, taking projects from a vague concept to a verified, high performing product.
• Strong ability to communicate technical trade-offs and collaborate effectively within a fast-paced team environment.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain scalable data mining pipelines to extract rare and critical driving scenarios from massive fleet datasets.
• Lead the curation and analysis of large-scale training sets to improve the robustness and generalization of the LDM.
• Design and implement rigorous evaluation frameworks to measure model performance against real-world baselines.
• Provide technical guidance and code reviews for junior and mid-level engineers, ensuring high standards for code quality and system design.
• Partner closely with modeling engineers to define data requirements and iterate on rapid experimental loops.
• Identify trends, anomalies, and data distribution shifts that impact model training and validation.
• Contribute to the design of data infrastructure, making informed decisions on tradeoffs between data quality, scale, and compute efficiency.
• Transition experimental data strategies

Skills

Python

SQL

Distributed data processing

Cloud infrastructure

Data-centric AI

Sensor data handling

Education

B.S./M.S. in Computer Science, Data Science, Robotics, Engineering

Tools

Spark

Ray

Job description

About Rivian

Rivianis on a mission to keep the world adventurous forever. This goes for the emissions-free Electric Adventure Vehicles we build, and the curious, courageous souls we seek to attract.

As a company, we constantly challenge what’s possible, never simply accepting what has always been done. We reframe old problems, seek new solutions and operate comfortably in areas that are unknown. Our backgrounds are diverse, but our team shares a love of the outdoors and a desire to protect it for future generations.

Role Summary

We are seeking Senior Software Engineers to play a pivotal role in the development of our Large Driving Model (LDM). In this role, you will take ownership of the data pipelines and curation strategies that fuel our models. You will be responsible for building miners that surface high-value examples, refining evaluation benchmarks, and collaborating directly with modeling teams to accelerate performance. If you are a strong individual contributor with a deep background in Python, a passion for autonomous systems, and the ability to navigate complex data challenges independently, we want to hear from you.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain scalable data mining pipelines to extract rare and critical driving
  scenarios from massive fleet datasets.
• Lead the curation and analysis of large-scale training sets to improve the robustness and
  generalization of the LDM.
• Design and implement rigorous evaluation frameworks to measure model performance against real-world baselines.
• Provide technical guidance and code reviews for junior and mid-level engineers,
  ensuring high standards for code quality and system design.
• Partner closely with modeling engineers to define data requirements and iterate on rapid experimental loops.
• Identify trends, anomalies, and data distribution shifts that impact model training and validation.
• Contribute to the design of data infrastructure, making informed decisions on tradeoffs between data quality, scale, and compute efficiency.
• Transition experimental data strategies

Qualifications

• B.S. or M.S. in Computer Science, Data Science, Robotics, Engineering, or a related field.
• 3+ years of experience as a Software Engineer, Data Analytics Engineer, Machine Learning Engineer, or Motion Planning Engineer.
• Advanced proficiency in Python and SQL is required, with a proven track record of building production-grade data products.
• Hands-on experience with distributed data processing frameworks (e.g., Spark, Ray) and cloud infrastructure.
• Solid understanding of data-centric AI, dataset curation strategies, and model evaluation methodologies.
• Experience handling large-scale sensor data or complex robotics telemetry.
• Demonstrated ability to work autonomously, taking projects from a vague concept to a verified, high performing product.
• Strong ability to communicate technical trade-offs and collaborate effectively within a fast-paced team environment.

Pay Disclosure

The salary range for this role is $164,700.00- $205,900.00 for California based applicants. This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employee’s position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, specific competencies, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, shift, and organizational needs.
The successful candidate may be eligible for annual performance bonus and equity awards.
We offer a comprehensive package of benefits for full-time and part-time employees, their spouse or domestic partner, and children up to age 26, including but not limited to paid vacation, paid sick leave, and a competitive portfolio of insurance benefits including life, medical, dental, vision, short-term disability insurance, and long-term disability insurance to eligible employees. You may also have the opportunity to participate in Rivian’s 401(k) Plan and Employee Stock Purchase Program if you meet certain eligibility requirements. Full-time employee coverage is effective on their first day of employment. Part-time employee coverage is effective the first of the month following 90 days of employment. More information about benefits is available at rivianbenefits.com.
This job is not expected to be closed any sooner than September 20, 2026.

Equal Opportunity

Rivian is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local fair employment practices laws. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information or characteristics, physical or mental disability, marital/domestic partner status, age, military/veteran status, medical condition, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Rivian is committed to ensuring that our hiring process is accessible for persons with disabilities. If you have a disability or limitation, such as those covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, that requires accommodations to assist you in the search and application process, please email us at [e-mail].

Candidate Data Privacy and Technology

Rivian may collect, use and disclose your personal information or personal data (within the meaning of the applicable data protection laws) when you apply for employment and/or participate in our recruitment processes (“Candidate Personal Data”). This data includes contact, demographic, communications, educational, professional, employment, social media/website, network/device, recruiting system usage/interaction, security and preference information. Rivian may use your Candidate Personal Data for the purposes of (i) tracking interactions with our recruiting system; (ii) carrying out, analyzing and improving our application and recruitment process, including assessing you and your application and conducting employment, background and reference checks; (iii) establishing an employment relationship or entering into an employment contract with you; (iv) complying with our legal, regulatory and corporate governance obligations; (v) recordkeeping; (vi) ensuring network and information security and preventing fraud; and (vii) as otherwise required or permitted by applicable law.

Rivian may share your Candidate Personal Data with (i) internal personnel who have a need to know such information in order to perform their duties, including individuals on our People Team, Finance, Legal, and the team(s) for which you are applying; (ii) Rivian affiliates; and (iii) Rivian’s service providers, including providers of background checks, staffing services, and cloud services.

Rivian may transfer or store internationally your Candidate Personal Data, including to or in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union and in the cloud, and this data may be subject to the laws and accessible to the courts, law enforcement and national security