Software Engineer, Body Controls

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies•Palo Alto, CA

About The Position

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is a joint venture between two industry leaders with a clear vision for automotive’s next chapter. From operating systems to zonal controllers to cloud and connectivity solutions, we’re addressing the challenges of electric vehicles through technology that will set the standards for software-defined vehicles around the world. The road to the future is uncharted. By combining our expertise across connectivity, AI, security and more, we’ll map a new way forward. Working together, we’ll create a future that’s more connected, more intelligent, more sustainable for everyone. We are seeking a talented and driven Systems Engineer focusing on the development of advanced vehicle safety systems, to join our body and lighting controls systems team. In this role, you will drive the design, development, and validation of passive safety systems, ensuring configurability, safety, and globally compliance. You will work closely with cross-functional teams, in hardware, firmware, regulatory, and brand to deliver cutting-edge solutions that enhance the vehicle safety and align with our commitment to innovation and quality.

Requirements

Bachelors Degree in Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field
Minimum of 2 years of experience with systems design and integration (automotive or adjacent industry)
Strong technical writing. You can turn vague product ideas into something engineers can build and testers can verify.
Excellent communication skills
Experience with definition and decomposition of passive safety systems (e.g., pre and post-crash behaviors, seatbelt reminder, child presence detection, EDR, active restraints systems etc.)
Designing for software-defined vehicles, where features change via configuration and OTA rather than rewiring.
Experience with system verification and test automation (SIL/vHIL/HIL environments)
Experience with DFMEA/STPA and associated tools
ISO 26262 and SOTIF (ISO 21448) experience.
Writing or reviewing automated tests in SIL, virtual HIL, or HIL.
Reading C/C++ and Python well enough to debug with firmware engineers and review pull requests.
Fluency with Git workflows (branching, merging, code review, CI).
Interest in AI-assisted tooling for requirements, traceability, and test generation

Responsibilities

Define and document vehicle, subsystem and component requirements & attributes for: passive safety features, vehicle control systems, and internally developed controller components, throughout the development lifecycle
Work cross functionally across HW, SW, and with brand feature teams to align across teams and brands
Support feature verification test case definition & ensure traceability to all respective requirements
Ensure vehicle quality through comprehensive functional analysis using hierarchical DFMEA and STPA
Ensure passive safety compliance to appropriate automotive standards (NCAP, EU-NCAP, homologation, etc.)
Coordinate the system delivery and timing to ensure achievement of development milestones.