The role at Rivian focuses on defining, validating, and maintaining a coherent system architecture for autonomous driving. The individual will work within a diverse team that shares a passion for the outdoors and aims to create emissions-free Electric Adventure Vehicles. This high-impact position requires a seasoned expert with extensive experience in steering the architectural direction of large-scale autonomous vehicle programs. The main focus is to balance high-performance compute requirements with rigorous safety and redundancy standards.

• 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 the autonomous driving or robotics industry.
• Expertise in ML-driven autonomous vehicle stacks and knowledge of state-of-the-art architectures and methodologies.
• Extensive knowledge of sensor modalities such as LiDAR, radar, high-res cameras, GNSS, and IMU.
• Experience in 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.

• Synthesize architectures and requirements from Sensing, Compute, and Actuation into a unified autonomy architecture.
• Lead trade-off studies to resolve conflicting requirements and provide data-driven recommendations.
• Lead the Fail-Operational strategy for different failure modes or degradations within the autonomy system.
• Identify functional and performance gaps in current architectures and implement mitigations.
• Coordinate with cross-functional teams to ensure infrastructure systems meet autonomy demands.
• Maintain a 'big picture' view to ensure architectural coherence across various hardware versions.
• Identify opportunities to standardize interfaces and modules to reduce complexity.
• Maintain a rigorous record of architectural diagrams, interface documents, and design assumptions.
• Serve as the primary representative for the Autonomy team in vehicle-level architectural design reviews.
• Drive cross-functional consensus regarding the technical architecture and strategic roadmap.

• Employees at Rivian are often offered comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k) with company match, ESPP and potential RSU grants, performance bonuses, and generous time off including paid parental and sick leave. Perks can include 24/7 mental-health coaching and therapy, Hinge Health for Anthem enrollees, tuition assistance and professional development, plus on-site food and a wide range of employee discounts on items like computers, mobile phones, home loans, and pet care.