The Senior Thermal Development and Calibration Engineer at Rivian is responsible for developing and validating vehicle climate comfort features from early definition through production sign-off. This role requires a strong understanding of HVAC systems and thermal comfort behavior, as well as the ability to translate customer needs into actionable requirements. The engineer will work closely with cross-functional teams to ensure feature performance aligns with customer expectations. A focus on real-world conditions and system behavior under various scenarios is essential for success in this position.

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Automotive Engineering, or a related engineering discipline
• Minimum 5+ years of experience in automotive HVAC, thermal systems, feature development, controls, or calibration
• Demonstrated experience developing and validating vehicle climate comfort behavior
• Strong understanding of HVAC system operation, refrigerant and heat pump systems, and occupant comfort behavior
• Experience creating test plans, validation procedures, and engineering documentation tied to requirements and sign-off criteria
• Strong communication skills and the ability to drive alignment across multiple engineering teams

• Support vehicle-level climate comfort feature development from concept through launch readiness and post-SOP improvement
• Define feature use cases, operating states, triggers, inhibits, fallback behavior, and customer-facing acceptance criteria
• Translate climate comfort intent into clear cross-functional requirements for vehicle systems, software, calibration, and subsystem teams
• Develop calibration strategies and tuning plans for HVAC and thermal comfort features across program milestones
• Lead calibration maturation for vehicle features across various testing environments
• Create and maintain validation plans, test procedures, and pass/fail criteria aligned to feature requirements
• Plan and execute vehicle-level testing for climate comfort features in various environmental conditions
• Analyze test data, identify gaps to target, and drive issue triage and root cause closure
• Collaborate with software and implementation teams to define detailed feature logic and calibration needs
• Partner with attribute teams to align comfort targets and performance sign-off expectations
• Interface with thermal subsystem teams on required validation conditions for feature success
• Collaborate with UI/UX teams to ensure settings behavior supports the intended feature experience
• Drive readiness reviews using milestone-based KPI tracking for requirement and calibration maturity
• Communicate results, open issues, risks, and recommendations to engineering leadership
• Support post-launch issue resolution and incorporation of field learnings into future feature updates

• 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.