Subject Matter Expert, Crash Structures

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 SME - Structural Crash is a senior system-level engineering role responsible for defining, executing, and validating vehicle strategies to achieve superior crash performance in compliance with FMVSS, UNECE, US NCAP, and Euro NCAP regulations. This role combines technical expertise, strategic vision, and cross-functional influence to optimize vehicle safety, energy management, and HW domains. The SME leads concept development, designs validation methods, oversees vehicle build-up, and ensures robust execution of crash performance strategies.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategy, concept, and execution for crash performance, influencing vehicle architecture and program decisions.
• Design, evaluate, and implement multiple validation methods, leveraging first principles, physical testing, CAE guidance, and cross-domain integration to optimize predictive accuracy and program efficiency.
• Develop vehicle-level integration plans, coordinating structures, and related domains.
• Utilize first principles, test, and CAE guidance to predict system-level behavior and evaluate design alternatives.
• Oversee component-, subsystem- and vehicle-level testing, ensuring proper build-up, instrumentation, and correlation with CAE predictions.
• Creation, review and management of safety hard points across all design phases.
• Define, execute, and refine test plans aligned with DVP and regulatory requirements and consumer protocol targets.
• Identify potential performance gaps, provide solutions, and balance trade-offs across safety, cost, HW domains, and program timelines.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure system-level optimization.
• Serve as technical authority for crash on all programs.
• Mentor engineering teams on system-level integration, method development, and crash strategy.
• Monitor global crash standards (FMVSS, UNECE, NCAP, IIHS) and integrate best practices into programs.
• Track and report program-level metrics, including first-pass performance, correlation accuracy, and method effectiveness.
• Deep expertise in vehicle crash performance, including load path design, energy management, and system interactions.
• Proven experience in system-level engineering and integration, connecting multiple vehicle domains for optimized crash performance.
• Strong background in vehicle build-up, testing, validation, and method design, leveraging CAE, first principles, and physical tests.
• Ability to innovate and develop new methods for validation, integration, and predictive modeling of crash performance.
• Strong problem-solving and trade-off analysis skills, balancing safety, performance, cost, and HW domains.
• Exceptional communication and influencing skills, able to present complex technical trade-offs to leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams, drive decisions without direct authority, and manage multiple priorities.
• Proactive, results-driven, with a strategic mindset to anticipate challenges and ensure successful program outcomes.
• Strategic Thinking: Ability to think long-term and align integration efforts with broader company objectives and strategies.
• Influence: Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to build consensus and advocate for the needs of the team and the business.
• Decisiveness: Capable of making high-impact decisions under pressure, balancing the needs of multiple stakeholders.
• Resilience: Able to navigate challenges and setbacks with composure, ensuring continued progress toward goals.
• Leadership: Motivated by high-quality delivery and capable of driving change and continuous improvement in integration processes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related field.
• 15+ years experience in automotive safety, vehicle testing, or system integration.
• Ability to travel to vehicle and component launch locations.
• Strong working knowledge of FMVSS, ECE, NCAP and other automotive safety evaluation preferred.
• Proven project management experience, with expertise in tracking milestones, managing risks, and coordinating teams.
• Strong problem-solving skills, with the ability to anticipate and address potential roadblocks in safety system development.
• Excellent communication and organizational skills, ensuring clear expectations and structured execution of safety initiatives.

Pay Disclosure

Salary Range/Hourly Rate range for California Based Applicants: $171,100-$213,900 (actual compensation will be determined based on experience, location, and other factors permitted by law).

Benefits Summary: Rivian provides robust medical/Rx, dental and vision insurance packages for full-time employees, their spouse or domestic partner, and children up to age 26. Coverage is effective on the first day of employment, and Rivian covers most of the premiums.

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 click.appcast.io.

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.