Sr. Staff Systems Engineer Autonomy

Rivian; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 265,000 - 331,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Life insurance

Short-term disability

Long-term disability

401(k) Plan

Employee Stock Purchase Program

Paid vacation

Paid sick leave

Job summary

Rivian seeks an experienced architect to define, validate, and maintain a coherent system architecture balancing high-performance compute with safety and redundancy for autonomous driving. This is a senior, individual-contributor role guiding AV architecture across sensing, compute, and actuation domains.

The candidate will lead trade-off studies, coordinate with hardware, software, regulatory, and leadership teams, and maintain rigorous architectural documentation for audits and future vehicle

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in a technical field with focus on autonomous systems.
• Experience leading architecture of complex AV/system-of-systems from concept to deployment.
• Knowledge of sensor data pipelines and safety standards.

Responsibilities

• Synthesize architectures from sensing, compute, and actuation into unified autonomy architecture.
• Lead trade-off studies and data-driven recommendations to leadership.
• Lead fail-operational strategy for autonomy to achieve minimum risk maneuvers.
• Identify gaps and drive mitigations with cross-functional teams.
• Ensure infrastructure systems are sized and redundant for autonomy demands.
• Maintain a big-picture view to standardize interfaces across platforms.
• Maintain architectural diagrams and design assumptions for audits.
• Represent Autonomy team in vehicle-level design reviews.
• Drive cross-functional consensus on architecture and roadmap.

Skills

ML-driven AV stacks

LiDAR

Radar

Cameras

GNSS

IMU

Edge compute

ISO 26262

SOTIF ISO 21448

Strong communication

Education

Master’s or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Robotics, Systems Engineering or related field

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

Your mission is to define, validate, and maintain a coherent system architecture that balances high-performance compute requirements with the rigorous safety and redundancy standards of autonomous driving. This is a high-impact, individual contributor role for a seasoned expert who has previously steered the architectural direction of large-scale autonomous vehicle (AV) programs.

Responsibilities

• Synthesize architectures and requirements from the Sensing, Compute, and Actuation into a unified autonomy architecture and set of requirements for the hardware and vehicle platform teams.
• Lead trade-off studies to resolve conflicting requirements and providing data-driven recommendations to the leadership
• Lead the Fail-Operational strategy for different failure modes or degradations within the autonomy sensing, compute and actuation to execute a minimum risk maneuver.
• Identify functional/performance gaps in current architectures. Lead stakeholder engagement to devise and implement mitigations that resolve bottlenecks.
• Coordinate with cross-functional teams to ensure infrastructure systems—including Low-Voltage Power Distribution, Connectivity, and Thermal Management (Coolant Flow)—are appropriately sized and redundant to meet autonomy demands during nominal and fail-operational scenarios.
• Maintain a "big picture" view to ensure architectural coherence. Identify opportunities to standardize interfaces and modules across various hardware versions and vehicle platforms to reduce complexity and engineering overhead.
• Maintain a rigorous, systematic record of architectural diagrams, interface documents, and design assumptions to ensure long-term maintainability and traceability for audits.
• Serve as the primary representative for the Autonomy team in vehicle-level architectural design reviews.
• Drive cross-functional consensus among software and hardware engineering, regulatory compliance, and executive leadership regarding the technical architecture and strategic roadmap.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree (Master’s or Ph.D.) in Computer Science, Robotics, Systems Engineering or a related technical field .
• 10+ years (Master’s)/8+ years (Ph.Ds) of experience in systems engineering or software development in autonomous driving or robotics industry, preferably in leading the architecture of a complex system-of-systems from initial concept through production or large-scale deployment.
• Expertise in ML-driven autonomous vehicle stacks, coupled with a forward-looking grasp of state-of-the-art architectures, methodologies, and emerging technologies in the AV space.
• Extensive knowledge of sensor modalities (LiDAR, radar, high-res cameras, GNSS, IMU) and how to manage their data pipelines.
• Experience of selecting and optimizing edge-compute platforms while managing power and thermal constraints
• Familiarity with functional safety standards (ISO 26262) and SOTIF (ISO 21448).
• Excellent team player with strong communication and presentation skills.

Pay Disclosure

The salary range for this role is $265,000-$331,300 for San Francisco 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.

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.

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) 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.

How We Use AI in Our Hiring Process: To ensure transparency, we want candidates to know that Rivian uses iCIMS Talent Cloud Artificial Intelligence (TCAI) and AI-enabled tools to assist with screening, reviewing, organizing and highlighting profiles and applications that match the key requirements for each role.

AI does not make hiring decisions: Qualified candidate applications are reviewed by a member of our team, and all decisions throughout the process are made by humans. We use AI to support efficiency and consistency, not to replace human judgment. We are committed to a fair, thoughtful, and equitable experience for every candidate.

Participation in AI profile matching is entirely voluntary. If you prefer that your profile not be used in this process, you can opt out at any time. Opting out means your profile will be excluded from automated matching and will not be surfaced for additional roles through this system. Your current application remains active and will not be affected in any way.