Sr. Staff Electronic Design Engineer (ADAS Hardware)

Rivian; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 237,000 - 296,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid vacation

Equity awards

401(k) Plan

Job summary

Rivian is seeking a highly experienced Senior Staff Electronic Design Engineer to lead the development and sustainment of ADAS and Autonomy platforms. You will architect and design high‑compute ECUs and drive robust, high-speed interfaces within Rivian's sensor suite, collaborating across software, mechanical, thermal, and reliability teams.

The role requires ownership of field issue debugging, hardware changes post-SOP, and mentoring engineers while ensuring manufacturability and reliability of

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering or related field.
• 8+ years in electronic hardware design, with focus on digital/mixed-signal designs.
• Experience with high-compute SoCs and neural accelerators.
• Familiarity with autonomy software stack and drivers.
• Strong SI/PI knowledge and PCB stack-up specs.

Responsibilities

• Bridge mechanical, thermal, reliability, and software teams.
• Address field issues and hardware changes post-SOP.
• Root cause analyses for complex field problems.
• Define architecture and design for ADAS high compute systems.
• Design high-speed circuits with RAP processor in sensor suite.
• Lead verification using high-speed test equipment.

Skills

Leadership & mentoring

Cross-functional collaboration

Problem solving

Strong communication

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering or related field

Tools

Altium Designer

OrCAD

High-speed test equipment

PCIe

MIPI CSI C-PHY

10 Gigabit Ethernet

PCB layout guidance

Job description

About Rivian

Rivian is 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 looking for a highly experienced and technically adept Senior Staff Electronic Design Engineer to play a pivotal role in the development and long-term sustainment of our next-generation ADAS and Autonomy platforms. This is a critical leadership position responsible for the architectural definition and detailed PCBA design of high-compute electronic control units (ECUs) that run the entire autonomy software stack on Rivian vehicles.

The ideal candidate will possess a deep understanding of electronic design principles and a proven track record of bringing complex, high-speed designs from concept through production and beyond. Beyond initial development, you will serve as a technical anchor for the company, leading the debugging of field issues and navigating supply chain-driven hardware changes post product launch. You will be a key contributor to a multidisciplinary team, collaborating across software, mechanical, thermal, reliability, and systems domains to deliver and maintain robust, high-performance autonomy solutions.

Responsibilities

• Act as a technical generalist and leader who can bridge the gap between mechanical, thermal, reliability, and software teams.


• Address field issues and manage hardware changes initiated by field failures or supply chain volatility post-SOP.


• Perform root cause analyses and recommend corrective actions for complex field problems.


• Collaborate with vehicle and architecture teams to provide product architectural definition and detailed design of ADAS high compute systems.


• Design high-speed digital circuits integrating Rivian's RAP processor into the overall vehicle sensor suite.


• Implement and validate high-speed serial communication protocols including PCIe, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, and MIPI CSI C-PHY for high-resolution camera data.


• Perform low-level electrical validation on all interfaces including measuring and interpreting eye diagrams for high speed IO.


• Drive schematic capture and provide rigorous PCB layout guidance to ensure performance, reliability, and manufacturability within the vehicle's sensor suite and cooling solutions.


• Act as a technical lead and mentor to the engineering team, fostering a culture of technical excellence and intellectual curiosity.


• Expertly utilize high-speed test equipment (high-bandwidth oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, etc.) to troubleshoot and characterize complex hardware-software interactions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field.


• 8+ years of progressive experience in electronic hardware design, with a significant portion focused on complex digital and mixed-signal designs.


• Proven experience designing platforms with high-compute SoCs, including familiarity with neural network accelerators, high-performance GPUs, and the complex system requirements associated with implementing them.


• Familiarity with the autonomy software stack, with specific emphasis on low-level board support such as drivers, Linux OS, hypervisors, bootloaders, and firmware.


• Strong mastery of electrical engineering fundamentals including power delivery networks and analog circuit design.


• Solid understanding of signal integrity (SI) and power integrity (PI) principles, with experience specifying PCB stack-up requirements.


• Proficiency with schematic capture tools (Altium Designer and OrCAD).


• Hands-on experience with laboratory equipment for hardware bring-up, characterization, and methodical root cause analysis.


• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to lead cross-domain conversations and drive organizational clarity.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience integrating high-compute hardware into complex liquid cooling solutions within an automotive environment.


• Signal integrity Analysis experience using tools such as Ansys HFSS or Keysight ADS.


• Experience with automotive industry standards and processes (e.g., ISO 26262, AEC-Q100).


• Ability to write or modify scripts (Python, Bash) to automate data generation and hardware testing on high-speed interfaces.


• Experience performing impact analysis and validation for component substitutions in a high-volume production environment.


• Team leading skills are a big plus.


• Experience with automotive ECUs is a big plus.

Pay Disclosure

Pay Range: The salary range for this role is $237,000 - $296,000 annually for Bay Area 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.

Benefits

• paid vacation


• paid sick leave


• a competitive portfolio of insurance benefits including life, medical, dental, vision, short-term disability insurance, and long-term disability insurance to eligible employees


• participation 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

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.

Candidate Data Privacy

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) with the position(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 authorities of such jurisdictions.