Senior Vehicle Dynamics Engineer
Rivian•Irvine, CA
•Onsite
About The Position
Rivian is looking for a Senior Vehicle Dynamics Engineer to join our Southern California-based team. In this role, you won’t just be a passenger in the development process, you’ll be the one shaping how our vehicles interact with the road (and the dirt). You will help bridge the gap between traditional mechanical hardware tuning and the software defined architectures with active chassis controls. Your mission is to deliver the "Rivian DNA" driving experience.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Automotive Engineering, or a related field.
- 3–5 years of automotive experience in vehicle dynamics or chassis development.
- Proficiency in data acquisition tools (CANape, Dewesoft, or similar).
- You thrive in the gray area where subjective meets objective.
- You are comfortable with rapid iteration and possess a deep passion for automotive tech.
Nice To Haves
- Familiarity with simulation software (CarSim, CarMaker, or ADAMS) is a plus.
Responsibilities
- Chassis Hardware: Tuning and optimizing springs, anti-roll bars, and bushings.
- Damper Tuning: Optimizing valve codes for passive damping to ensure a robust baseline.
- Tire Development: Evaluate tire submissions and guide the development process to achieve the full vehicle attribute targets.
- Active Damping: Semi-active or fully active hydraulic control strategies.
- Air Suspension: Manage the ride heights and load leveling calibrations.
- Electronic Power Steering (EPS): Tuning steering feel and effort build.
- Subjective Evaluations: Conduct ride comfort, limit handling, and off-road capability assessments. You must be able to translate a "feel" into actionable engineering direction.
- Objective Testing: Instrument vehicles and analyze data (VBox, Dewesoft, MATLAB) to validate performance against internal metrics.
- Sim Synergy: Provide real-world subjective to objective correlation data to refine their models and use their virtual tuning results to hit the ground running during physical testing
Benefits
- paid vacation
- paid sick leave
- life insurance
- medical insurance
- dental insurance
- vision insurance
- short-term disability insurance
- long-term disability insurance
- annual performance bonus
- equity awards
- 401(k) Plan
- Employee Stock Purchase Program
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
