Sr. Staff Simulation 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.

If you are aligned with our mission, we want you to join our team. We're looking for a highly motivated, experienced, multi-disciplined, CAE engineer to challenge what is possible in the development of our electronic hardware components. Help Rivian lead the way in the future of the EV industry.

• Lead structural and thermo-mechanical design risk assessments for low-voltage electronics assemblies in cutting-edge vehicle electrical hardware.
• Conduct multi-scale numerical simulations (e.g., random vibrations, shock, thermal-cycling) on electronics assemblies to meet functional performance and reliability targets.
• Lead thermal/structural strategy, conceptualize design, and perform numerical simulations to address a variety of thermal/structural design challenges for leading-edge vehicle electrical hardware.
• Conduct and define vehicle thermal targets, partnering with thermal attributes for our components within the vehicle.
• Develop electronic cooling and packaging solutions for next generation vehicle architectures and electronic systems. .
• Develop strategies for optimizing thermal and mechanical components by minimizing mass, cost and material usage.
• Provide detailed and actionable design suggestions including thermal stack-up, cooling layout and material selection to engineers responsible for detailed design of vehicle electronics.
• Provide detailed and actionable design recommendations, including enclosure stiffness targets, thermal stack-up, cooling layout, and material selection, to engineers responsible for detailed electronics assembly design.
• Develop material characterization plans and maintain the simulation material database for commonly used electronics components, polymers, and elastomers.
• Provide reliability engineers with simulation support for root-cause analysis during the testing and validation phases.
• Collaborate within multidisciplinary teams to ensure product and engineering excellence.

• M.S. / Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent.
• 7 years (Ph.D) / 10 years (M.S.) of relevant industry experience working on problems in Structural Mechanics and electronic cooling solutions, including heat sink and thermal interface materials.
• Solid understanding of theoretical and experimental structural mechanics with good domain knowledge in the following areas: Non-Linear analysis, Explicit Analysis, Linear Dynamics and Vibrations, Coupled Thermal-Structural analysis.
• Proficient with FEA solvers, preferably Abaqus, and Optistruct.
• Proficient in pre/post processing tools such as Hypermesh, Ansa/Meta, etc.
• Strong expertise with computational modeling and common CFD analysis tools, such as Flotherm, Ansys Icepack, Star CCM.
• Excellent understanding of failure modes in metals, plastics, and elastomers.
• Proficient with using Python/Matlab for running analysis and post-analysis data processing.
• Experience developing and leading other multidisciplinary engineers.
• Excellent communication skills across all functions and levels.
• Excellent documentation practices.
• Fluent written and spoken English.

Salary Range for Palo Alto, CA based applicants: $191,000 - $239,000 annually (Actual compensation will be determined based on experience, location and other factors permitted by law).

Salary Range for Irvine, CA based applicants: $176,000 - $220,000 annually (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 and part-time employees, their spouse or domestic partner, and children up to age 26. Full Time Employee coverage is effective on the first day of employment. Part-Time employee coverage is effective the first of the month following 90 days of employment.

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 candidateaccommodations@rivian.com.

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.