Sr. Development Engineer

Rivian•Wittmann, AZ

About The Position

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. As a Senior Development Engineer, you will lead hands-on prototype vehicle development, commissioning, and debug activities across vehicle software, instrumentation, and test assets. The role is centered on getting development vehicles, support assets, and custom test systems built, operational, and ready for field, chamber, track, and proving-ground use. Recent work in this role has included creating and modifying test vehicles, enabling ADAS test assets, executing software updates, and diagnosing vehicle-level issues on early-development platforms.

Requirements

Strong hands-on engineering capability across vehicle systems, electrical integration, prototype hardware, and software-enabled development work.
Experience commissioning, debugging, and supporting prototype or early-development vehicles.
Working knowledge of low-voltage systems and controller / network integration.
Experience with CAN and diagnostic/development tools such as CANalyzer, CANape, or similar analysis environments.
Ability to troubleshoot across software, controls, wiring, network communication, and physical hardware integration boundaries.
Experience building, modifying, or integrating prototype fixtures, instrumentation, support hardware, or custom development assets.
Comfortable operating in ambiguous development environments where rapid problem solving, self-direction, and practical execution are required.
Familiarity with Jira / Confluence workflows and documenting technical work clearly enough for cross-functional follow-through.
Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Software, Mechatronics, Aerospace, or similar engineering discipline.
3+ years of automotive prototype, vehicle integration, or development engineering experience preferred.

Responsibilities

End to end ownership of prototype vehicle commissioning and activation of early-development and test assets, including software bring-up, certificate provisioning, and restoring non-operational vehicles to usable condition.
Diagnose and resolve vehicle-level software, electrical, and integration issues on development vehicles, including OTA failures, CAN-related faults, and unexpected system behavior in the field.
Utilize, support or directly create software and controls concepts for prototype systems, including automated fault-injection or data-capture tools; develop and apply AI-assisted analysis tools for validation routine optimization.
Execute and support development testing in dynamic, environmental, and off-road conditions.
Collect, analyze, and interpret development data from CAN, vehicle networks, instrumentation, and logs to turn observations into actionable problem statements and next steps.
Support ADAS and system-integration testing by preparing instrumentation, enabling target assets, configuring vehicles, and maintaining support infrastructure required for track and proving-ground execution.
Provide practical technical support to peers and partner teams by helping configure development tools, debug setups, and transfer working knowledge needed to keep testing moving.
Travel as needed (up to 50%) to support prototype vehicles, remote test events, environmental testing, proving-ground activity, and other high-urgency development work.