Staff Technical Writer, Service Engineering

Rivian Automotive; Plymouth (MI); On-site; USD 102,000 - 128,000; Full time

Job summary

Rivian Automotive in Plymouth, MI, seeks a Staff Technical Writer, Service Engineering, to own the documentation strategy for Rivian's service network. You will author and govern service manuals, bulletins, and labor standards while coordinating with Diagnostics, Quality, and Labs teams.

Expect to mentor writers, influence standards, and enable efficient serviceability across Rivian’s vehicle programs. The role reports to the Sr. Manager, Service Documentation.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Technical Communications, Engineering, Automotive Technology, or related field.
• 5+ years of experience in technical writing or service documentation in automotive or similar complex field.
• Experience translating complex engineering information into clear technical content for skilled trades.
• Experience developing and setting standards for service manuals, repair procedures, or labor catalogs.
• Advanced comfort reviewing 3D CAD models, drawings, and BOMs to support procedures.
• Strong project management skills with multiple concurrent deliverables against deadlines.
• Excellent written communication and ability to convey trade-offs to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Proven ability to mentor or lead other technical writers.

Responsibilities

• Own as primary technical content owner for vehicle systems and programs.
• Author, edit, and maintain service manual repair procedures with specs and tools.
• Lead creation of service bulletins, field actions, and recall docs across teams.
• Develop labor time standards and timestamp data with time studies.
• Maintain consistent part naming conventions and system classifications.
• Establish validation standards and quality gates for procedures.
• Coordinate with illustration team for diagrams and visuals.
• Manage multiple complex documentation tasks across programs in Jira.
• Synthesize field feedback and usage data to drive revisions.
• Promote standards and AI-assisted tools to improve productivity and quality.
• Mentor writers and participate in design reviews for downstream impact.

Skills

Technical writing

Project management

Clear communication

Cross-functional

Mentoring

Education

Bachelor's degree in technical communications/engineering/automotive technology

Tools

DITA/XML

CCMS

Oxygen

CATIA

3DExperience

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.

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

The Staff Technical Writer, Service Engineering owns the technical content strategy and documentation that enables Rivian's service network to safely and efficiently repair, diagnose, and maintain Rivian vehicles. Leveraging deep, cross-program expertise across service manual procedures, technical service bulletins, field service actions, and labor code content spanning Rivian's full vehicle portfolio (R1, R2, EDV, and off-vehicle products), you will use professional concepts and company objectives to resolve complex, often ambiguous, documentation and serviceability challenges in creative and effective ways.

This role reports to the Sr. Manager, Service Documentation, within Rivian's Service Engineering organization.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary technical content owner for vehicle systems and programs, authoring, editing, and maintaining service manual repair procedures, including step-by-step instructions, torque specifications, part callouts, and special tool requirements.
• Lead the creation and publication of technical service bulletins, field service actions, campaigns, and recall documentation, coordinating across Service Engineering, Diagnostics, and Quality teams and driving resolution on ambiguous or time-critical issues.
• Own the development and governance of labor time standards and labor code entries across programs, partnering with the Service Lab team to validate procedure steps and time studies, and establishing best practices for time-study methodology.
• Define and maintain consistent, industry-standard naming conventions and system/subsystem classifications for service parts, procedures, and labor operations across the documentation team, ensuring consistency at scale across vehicle programs.
• Establish risk-based validation standards and quality gates for service procedures and other high-impact content, defining what must be confirmed, by whom, and with what evidence before release.
• Ensure corrections are verified, traceable to their source and rationale, communicated to impacted stakeholders, and checked for downstream effects on procedures, labor operations, illustrations, parts references, and training.
• Use content defects, validation findings, field feedback, and available usage signals to assess whether revisions solve the underlying problem and inform future standards and product feedback.
• Partner with the Technical Illustration team to scope, request, and review graphics, exploded views, and diagrams, setting the visual and structural standard other writers follow for complex procedures.
• Manage the most complex, concurrent documentation assignments across vehicle programs, tracking progress and dependencies in Jira, and holding cross-functional partners accountable to change-management and launch milestones.
• Synthesize field feedback, service tickets, and usage data across programs to identify systemic content gaps, driving proactive revisions that improve clarity, accuracy, and technician efficiency at scale.
• Champion authoring standards, structured content practices, and AI-enabled tools across the Service Documentation team, driving adoption to improve authoring speed, consistency, and content quality.
• Mentor and coach other Technical Writers, sharing best practices in CAD review, labor time studies, and authoring methodology to raise the technical bar across the team.
• Represent Service Documentation in cross-functional design and change reviews, providing technical input on the downstream serviceability and documentation impact of proposed vehicle design changes.
• Design and continuously improve the documentation lifecycle—from intake and authoring through review, validation, publication, change control, and feedback correction—reducing avoidable delays and rework without compromising quality.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Technical Communications, Engineering, Automotive Technology, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years of experience in technical writing, service documentation, or technical publications, ideally within automotive, heavy equipment, or another complex mechanical/electrical industry.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex, ambiguous engineering information into clear, accurate, and actionable technical content for a skilled trade audience, including for first-of-a-kind or undefined vehicle programs.
• Extensive experience developing, maintaining, and setting standards for service manuals, repair procedures, labor time standards, or parts catalogs.
• Advanced comfort reviewing and interpreting 3D CAD models, engineering drawings, and BOMs to support procedure development and identify serviceability issues.
• Strong project management skills, with a proven track record of managing the most complex, concurrent documentation deliverables against vehicle program and change-management deadlines.
• Excellent written communication skills and close attention to technical accuracy, consistency, and usability, with the ability to convey complex technical trade-offs to both technical and non-technical stakeholders and leadership.
• Proven ability to build effective working relationships across a highly matrixed engineering and service organization, and to influence outcomes with teams outside direct reporting lines.
• Proven track record of exercising independent judgment on new or undefined assignments, and of mentoring or informally leading other technical writers.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with EV systems, high-voltage components, or automotive diagnostic content.
• Hands-on automotive repair, technician, or service lab experience.
• Familiarity with CATIA, 3DExperience, or similar CAD/PLM tools.
• Experience with DITA/XML, component content management systems (CCMS), or structured authoring tools such as Oxygen.
• Experience using AI-assisted authoring or workflow tools to scale technical documentation output across a team.

Pay Disclosure

The salary range for this role is $102,300 to $127,900 for Plymouth, MI 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 Plan 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 your 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 your; (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.