Sr. Staff Electrical FA 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.

Reliability is at the core of Electric Adventure Vehicles. This position is in Tustin, CA, at the center of Rivian's Engineering and R&D hub. As a Sr. Staff Electrical FA Engineer on the Tustin Failure Analysis team, you will play a key role in generating insight through conducting failure analysis investigations for all Rivian products from the system to component level.

The Sr. Staff Electrical FA Engineer will perform both deep dive and rapid response triage level failure analysis investigations, specializing in the electronics, electrical, electromechanical and energy storage systems within Rivian's full line of vehicle, adventure and charging products.

• Lead the technical discipline of EE FA, and be the FAME team subject matter expert (SME) in PCB Failure Analysis.
• Facilitate and lead failure analysis activities for incidents originating from reliability testing for new product development and from fielded systems.
• Assure the root cause is identified at the most detailed level. Drive corrective actions defined from your analyses cross-functionally.
• Be an integral part of the EE failure analysis team in the Tustin FA lab. Work closely with all FA engineers on the team in both Tustin, CA and in the production facility Normal, IL.
• Actively drive collaboration with existing engineering teams (e.g., low-voltage electronics (LVE), electronic power conversion (EPC), drive unit / propulsion, battery, charging, etc.) to define the requirements for specific electrical failure analyses, identify deficiencies and develop/improve manufacturing processes, validate predictive models, etc.
• Maintain constant dialogue with engineering teams on the existing and growing capabilities of the FA labs and team.
• Mentor and train junior level electrical engineers in the field of electrical failure and root cause analysis.
• Create strong partnerships with design, manufacturing, quality and other teams at Rivian to drive and promote Failure Analysis services within the company. This can be in the form of summarized capability reports and collaborative accomplishment.
• Prepare failure analysis reports with clear, concise, logical explanations and exceptional visualizations. Present findings to all levels of Rivian engineering and leadership (e.g., project, design, executive, etc. teams). Have the ability to communicate key findings at all levels of technical understanding.
• Work with reliability engineering and testing & development teams to recreate failure modes that are intermittent or difficult to replicate. Utilize environmental testing equipment, such as highly accelerated life testing (HALT) and other methods, to precipitate failures as a precursor to in-depth failure analysis. Use results/data to advise/consult on the best path(s) forward to address findings with the cross-functional teams.
• Provide independent insight into supplier FA investigations, and work with key stakeholders such as Supplier Development and our HV and LVE teams. Trouble shoot issues at contract manufacturers to ensure reliability and quality is maintained.
• Lead executive reviews related to critical priority failure analysis results.

• Required: MSc/PhD in Electrical Engineering and 8/6+ years relevant EE FA industrial experience, preferably in the automotive, consumer electronics, aerospace, or other regulated industry.
• Required: Strong academic background and/or experience in the testing and analysis of electronic components, printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs), and energy storage sub-systems (battery testing is desired but not required).
• Required: Extensive experience (4+ years) with Low Voltage PCBA Failure Analysis including failure isolation, and both non-destructive and destructive failure analysis techniques.
• Required: Have a thorough understanding of electrical testing methods and limitations and hands-on and demonstrated experience with the common test equipment used for EE failure analysis such as digital multimeters (DMMs); power supplies; oscilloscopes; inductance, capacitance and resistance (LCR) meters; insulation resistance (IR) meters; lock-in thermography (LIT), scanning acoustic microscopy (C-SAM); HiPot testers; curve tracers/ source-measure units (SMUs) and time domain reflectometry (TDR), parametric and signal analyzers.
• Required: Extensive experience with high voltage electrical failures in components such as power inverters, motors and other drive train components.
• Required: Extensive experience performing fundamental failure analysis investigations.
• Required: Experience preparing formal reports summarizing analysis data and results.
• Required: Experience presenting data and results to all levels of engineering and leadership.
• Strongly desired: Hands-on experience with the application and use of common FA Lab capabilities including optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, 2D radiography, computed tomography (CT), infrared imaging, microprobing, microsectional analysis, sample preparation, component disassembly and acid decapsulation.
• Desired: Familiarity with various rechargeable lithium-ion battery chemistries and their fundamental failure mechanism theories is highly desirable.
• Experience with specifying and procuring electrical and battery cell Failure Analysis equipment is highly desirable, and working knowledge of all of this equipment is a requirement.
• A desire to create a respectful, fun, inclusive and inspiring team and company culture is a must!

Salary Range/Hourly Rate for California Based Applicants: $159,200-$199,000 (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.

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.