Sr. Battery Engineer

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. 

The Battery Product Excellence Team is in search of a mechanical / electrical engineer that desires to be front and center in production of the most critical components of an electric vehicle; the HV Battery. In this role, we are looking for a candidate that is organized, hands-on, can collaborate cross-functionally with ease, and can use first principles to drive continuous design improvements to a given component or system.

As a Sr. Battery Engineer, you will be responsible for components and assemblies related to hv battery packs built in our Normal, IL manufacturing plant and/or components and full assemblies purchased from outside vendors, such as modules and battery packs.

The ideal candidate will build upon previous design and release experience to lead continuous improvement projects, manage suppliers for change implementation and issue resolution, and communicate lessons learned back into our product development teams to prevent recurrence.

• Lead the analysis and coordination for changes to externally developed modules and battery packs currently in production with the Validation, Reliability, and Supplier Development Engineering teams at Rivian and with the supplier
• Collaborate with Rivian Purchasing and Supplier Development Engineering teams to ensure alignment and clear communication to suppliers for externally supplied modules and battery packs
• Coordinate with Rivian’s Field Analysis teams to ensure battery related field issues have clear owners at Rivian or the supplier driving root cause analysis and permanent corrective action
• Collaborate with the Rivian Manufacturing, Process, and Quality teams to understand battery design related concerns impacting production quality, rate, and yield
• Drive technical root cause analysis and mitigation action development to ensure designs concerns identified are permanently resolved.
• Communicate lessons learned from serial production to product development and other cross-functional teams as part of Prevent Recurrence
• Lead DFMEA change efforts and ensure proper linkage to PFMEA and Control Plan
• Prepare and/or support rework plans and validate rework requirements
• Coordinate builds for prototype, pilot, and Start of Production activities for new programs with other cross- functional stakeholders
• Identify, investigate, and lead the implementation of continuous improvement opportunities focusing on cost reduction, manufacturing cycle time, and quality enhancements

• 3+ years of work experience in Battery/Automotive/Aerospace/related industries with a bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline at minimum
• Working knowledge of EV HV battery architecture and functionality
• Previous experience with product launches, production schedules, and release engineering (including CAD design, GD&T, and PLM interface).
• Strong communication, multitasking, and interpersonal skills, both in presentation and technical writing
• Excellent problem-solving skills with a focus on core engineering principles
• Mechanical engineering experience required, electronics / controls experience a plus
• Passion for working on products that involve the intersection of mechanical, electrical, and software engineering
• Willingness to expand upon existing knowledge base of electro-mechanical systems
• Self-starter, must be willing to run to and seek out issues
• Passion for testing and teardowns to find the root cause of an issue
• Knowledge of high voltage safety best practices
• Experience with issue tracking and collaboration tools (Jira, Trello, Gitlab, Asana, Confluence, etc.)
• Proficiency using CAN/Ethernet tools for debugging purposes a plus
• Background with CATIA V6 (3Dx) CAD Design and Enovia a plus

The salary range for this role is USD 111,000 - 138,700 for Illinois 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.

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  View email address on ev.careers .

Candidate Data Privacy

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. 

Please note that we are currently not accepting applications from third party application services.