Sr. RF Test and Integration Engineer

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies in Palo Alto seeks an experienced RF test automation engineer to own the design, development, and deployment of automated test solutions for RF-enabled ECUs. You will work across RF instrumentation, OTA environments, and manufacturing test to validate performance and reliability.

You will design test equipment for Wi‑Fi, Bluetooth/BLE, LTE/5G, UWB, NFC, and GNSS, collaborate with RF, antenna, and electronics teams, and lead integration with software

Qualifications

• BS/MS in Electrical Engineering or equivalent.
• 5+ years designing automated test equipment for electronics with RF/wireless focus.
• Hands-on experience with Wi‑Fi, Bluetooth, LTE/5G, UWB, NFC, GNSS tests.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of automated RF test solutions for connectivity and vehicle access ECUs.

Skills

RF test

Python

AI coding agents

Automated test equipment

Automotive RF

Education

BS/MS in Electrical Engineering

5+ years experience

Tools

Vector signal analyzers

Spectrum analyzers

VNAs

Power meters

RF switch matrices

LitePoint

R&S CMW/CMX

Job description

About Us

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is a joint venture between two industry leaders with a clear vision for automotive’s next chapter. From operating systems to zonal controllers to cloud and connectivity solutions, we’re addressing the challenges of electric vehicles through technology that will set the standards for software-defined vehicles around the world.

The road to the future is uncharted. By combining our expertise across connectivity, AI, security and more, we’ll map a new way forward. Working together, we’ll create a future that’s more connected, more intelligent, more sustainable for everyone.

Role Summary

In this role, you will be part of the team that develops automated test systems for Rivian's RF-enabled electronic control units (ECUs) — including telematics control units, vehicle access and passive entry modules, connectivity gateways, and antenna modules. These ECUs integrate Wi‑Fi, Bluetooth/BLE, cellular (LTE/5G), UWB, NFC, and GNSS radios, and validating them requires test solutions that span RF instrumentation, shielded/OTA environments, embedded firmware, and high-volume manufacturing.

Our team's solutions include internal-facing software, low-level firmware, data management platforms, and custom electromechanical and RF hardware. These solutions get deployed internally within RV Tech, at contract manufacturing facilities, and at the brand’s vehicle factories.

You will be an individual contributor with a multi-disciplinary role leading the implementation of vertical RF test solutions for design characterization, reliability, validation, and manufacturing. The primary responsibility of this role is to own the technical aspects of one or more RF test automation projects, from requirements gathering through deployment and sustaining.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of automated RF test solutions for connectivity and vehicle access ECUs, from test requirements through deployment at Rivian labs and at contract manufacturers.
• Design and build automated test equipment for wireless technologies: Wi‑Fi, Bluetooth/BLE, cellular (LTE/5G), UWB, NFC, and GNSS — including conducted and over-the-air (OTA) setups, shield boxes/chambers, RF switch matrices, and cabled path calibration.
• Work with the RF, antenna, and electronics design teams to define test requirements and agree on testing strategies for TX power, EVM, sensitivity, spurious emissions, throughput, ranging accuracy, TTFF, and link robustness.
• Provide system requirements to the software and hardware automation teams based on the specifications of a given RF ECU, including RF path budgets, calibration strategy, and fixture design.
• Develop custom test sequences in Python following software engineering best practices and our standard automation framework, using AI coding agents to accelerate development while owning code quality, review, and validation.
• Integrate firmware, hardware, and software end-to-end — bring‑up of DUT boards, radio test modes and chipset vendor test commands, bootloaders and flashing flows, and instrument control layers.
• Build test solutions for reliability lab settings (HALT/HASS, thermal, vibration, life test, long‑duration soak) as well as high-volume manufacturing (cycle time, parallel test, station replication).
• Create well documented test cases, calibration procedures, and operating procedures for RF test systems.
• Lead the deployment process of test equipment using GR&R, CPK, stress test, and fault injection at contract manufacturers and at Rivian.
• Work with validation, reliability, EMC, regulatory/homologation, carrier certification, and product launch teams to ensure test solutions meet their requirements.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• BS/MS or equivalent work experience in Electrical, Electronics, or RF Engineering.
• 5+ years of relevant working experience designing automated test equipment (ATE) for electronics, with meaningful time spent on RF/wireless products.
• Hands‑on experience testing two or more of: Wi‑Fi, Bluetooth/BLE, cellular (LTE/5G), UWB, NFC, GNSS.
• Experience with RF test instrumentation such as vector signal analyzers/generators, wireless connectivity testers (e.g., LitePoint, R&S CMW/CMX, Anritsu), spectrum analyzers, VNAs, GNSS simulators, power meters, programmable attenuators, and RF switch matrices.
• Practical understanding of RF fundamentals: path loss and cable/fixture calibration, VSWR and return loss, shielding and isolation, de‑embedding, and conducted vs. OTA measurement tradeoffs.
• Ability to read electrical circuits and schematics, navigate PCB layouts (including RF traces and antenna feeds), and understand manufacturer's product data sheets.
• Experience working in the automotive, wireless/consumer electronics, semiconductor, or aerospace industries.
• Familiarity with vehicle communication protocols (CAN, CAN‑FD, DoIP, Automotive Ethernet, LIN, etc.).
• Experience with industrial buses and protocols (USB, VISA, GPIB, Ethernet, Serial, RS‑485, SPI, I²C, etc.).
• Experience supporting deployment of automated test equipment in manufacturing environments.
• Experience with automation instrumentation such as programmable power supplies, multiplexers, DMMs, signal generators, and multifunction DAQ devices.
• Solid experience programming in Python.
• Demonstrated use of AI coding agents (Claude Code, Copilot, Cursor, or similar) to write, refactor, and test automation code, with sound judgment about where AI‑generated code needs human verification.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with UWB ranging accuracy characterization (FiRa/CCC digital key) and passive entry/passive start system testing.
• Experience with carrier and regulatory certification programs (PTCRB, GCF, FCC/CE) and pre‑scan testing.
• Experience with GNSS multi‑constellation testing, spoofing/jamming scenarios, and record‑and‑playback systems.
• Firmware or embedded development experience (C/C++), including chipset RF test modes and vendor toolchains.
• Experience designing custom PCBAs, RF fixtures, or antenna test jigs.
• Experience with anechoic or reverberation chamber measurements and positioner automation.