The posting
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 As a Senior Staff Mechanical Engineer, you will serve as a technical authority and people leader for the mechanical development of our next-generation traction inverter systems from initial concept through mass production. You will own the end-to-end mechanical architecture of critical subsystems including busbars, metal housings, sealing interfaces, HV/LV harnesses, stampings and PCBAs, while directly managing a team of mechanical engineers. This role demands both deep technical expertise and the organizational influence to align cross-functional teams, drive supplier strategy, and shape engineering standards across the broader Power Electronics organization. This position is based at our Carson, CA facility and reports directly to the Mechanical Engineering Director. Responsibilities Directly manage, mentor, and develop a team of mechanical engineers, setting clear goals, providing technical guidance, and conducting performance reviews. Define team structure, workload allocation, and hiring needs in partnership with the Mechanical Engineering Director. Cultivate a culture of engineering excellence and continuous improvement within the team. Serve as the principal mechanical architect for traction inverter assemblies, owning design decisions from system-level packaging through component-level detail using CATIA V6/3DEXPERIENCE. Define and enforce mechanical design standards, design guidelines, and best practices across the Power Electronics engineering team. Lead architecture reviews and design phase gate decisions, ensuring solutions are scalable, manufacturable and aligned with program objectives. Design and engineer complex subsystems including high-pressure die castings, injection-molded plastics, busbars, sheet metal, HV/LV harnesses, sealing interfaces and PCBA mechanical integration. Own the full mechanical release cycle in ENOVIA, governing data integrity, design maturity, and BOM accuracy across multiple concurrent programs. Drive weekly technical reviews with suppliers to resolve open design items, enforce DFM alignment, and maintain delivery commitments. Act as the senior technical escalation point for Supply Chain and Supplier Quality on critical path issues. Support the generation of high-impact engineering documents including Component Technical Specifications (CTS), Statements of Work (SOW), system-level DFMEAs, and assembly manuals. Establish and maintain top-level assembly BOMs with full attribute integrity across complex, multi-variant product configurations Lead mechanical readiness for pre-production and production line commissioning, including the design of test fixtures, assembly aids, and error-proofing solutions. Partner with Manufacturing Engineering as a senior stakeholder in production line design, validation and launch. Own the root cause investigation process for field failures and prototype escapes, driving systemic design improvements and lessons learned documentation that benefit future programs. Support the development and execution of Design Verification (DV) test plans, ensuring long-term reliability and regulatory compliance. Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering or a related engineering discipline; Master’s degree preferred. 8+ years of engineering experience specifically in the development and packaging of Power Electronics assemblies. High-level proficiency in CATIA V5 or V6 (3DEXPERIENCE), specifically within Part Design and Assembly Design workbenches. Proven track record designing for high-pressure die casting, injection molding and sheet metal fabrication at production scale. Deep expertise in high-voltage busbar design, HV/LV wire harness routing and integration and sealing/gasket systems. Practical experience with joining and integration technologies: laser welding, press-fit, soldering, heat staking and thermal interface materials (TIM). Expert command of GD&T (ASME Y14.5) and a track record developing system-level DFMEAs and validation plans spanning mechanical, electrical and thermal domains. Working knowledge of the ENOVIA Product Lifecycle Management environment. Extensive experience managing external technical suppliers, ensuring quality and timeline adherence. Demonstrated ability to lead structured root-cause analysis (8D, Fishbone, 5-whys) on complex field and manufacturing failures. General knowledge of mechanical best practices for PCBA design and integration. Prior experience in the Automotive industry (Tier 1 or OEM), ideally in EV powertrain or high-voltage systems. Thrives in a fast-paced environment. Proficiency with Microsoft Project, Visio, and the standard Office suite. Pay Disclosure The salary range for this role is USD 176,200-220,300 for Southern 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. You can apply for this role through careers.rivian.com (or through internal-careers-rivian.icims.com if you are a current employee). This job is not expected to be closed any sooner than February 6, 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 [email protected]. 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. Please note that we are currently not accepting applications from third party application services.
Directly manage, mentor, and develop a team of mechanical engineers, setting clear goals, providing technical guidance, and conducting performance reviews. Define team structure, workload allocation, and hiring needs in partnership with the Mechanical Engineering Director. Cultivate a culture of engineering excellence and continuous improvement within the team. Serve as the principal mechanical architect for traction inverter assemblies, owning design decisions from system-level packaging through component-level detail using CATIA V6/3DEXPERIENCE. Define and enforce mechanical design standards, design guidelines, and best practices across the Power Electronics engineering team. Lead architecture reviews and design phase gate decisions, ensuring solutions are scalable, manufacturable and aligned with program objectives. Design and engineer complex subsystems including high-pressure die castings, injection-molded plastics, busbars, sheet metal, HV/LV harnesses, sealing interfaces and PCBA mechanical integration. Own the full mechanical release cycle in ENOVIA, governing data integrity, design maturity, and BOM accuracy across multiple concurrent programs. Drive weekly technical reviews with suppliers to resolve open design items, enforce DFM alignment, and maintain delivery commitments. Act as the senior technical escalation point for Supply Chain and Supplier Quality on critical path issues. Support the generation of high-impact engineering documents including Component Technical Specifications (CTS), Statements of Work (SOW), system-level DFMEAs, and assembly manuals. Establish and maintain top-level assembly BOMs with full attribute integrity across complex, multi-variant product configurations Lead mechanical readiness for pre-production and production line commissioning, including the design of test fixtures, assembly aids, and error-proofing solutions. Partner with Manufacturing Engineering as a senior stakeholder in production line design, validation and launch. Own the root cause investigation process for field failures and prototype escapes, driving systemic design improvements and lessons learned documentation that benefit future programs. Support the development and execution of Design Verification (DV) test plans, ensuring long-term reliability and regulatory compliance.
Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering or a related engineering discipline; Master’s degree preferred. 8+ years of engineering experience specifically in the development and packaging of Power Electronics assemblies. High-level proficiency in CATIA V5 or V6 (3DEXPERIENCE), specifically within Part Design and Assembly Design workbenches. Proven track record designing for high-pressure die casting, injection molding and sheet metal fabrication at production scale. Deep expertise in high-voltage busbar design, HV/LV wire harness routing and integration and sealing/gasket systems. Practical experience with joining and integration technologies: laser welding, press-fit, soldering, heat staking and thermal interface materials (TIM). Expert command of GD&T (ASME Y14.5) and a track record developing system-level DFMEAs and validation plans spanning mechanical, electrical and thermal domains. Working knowledge of the ENOVIA Product Lifecycle Management environment. Extensive experience managing external technical suppliers, ensuring quality and timeline adherence. Demonstrated ability to lead structured root-cause analysis (8D, Fishbone, 5-whys) on complex field and manufacturing failures. General knowledge of mechanical best practices for PCBA design and integration. Prior experience in the Automotive industry (Tier 1 or OEM), ideally in EV powertrain or high-voltage systems. Thrives in a fast-paced environment. Proficiency with Microsoft Project, Visio, and the standard Office suite.
