Staff Software Engineer, Viz & Sim Applications, Autonomy

Rivian • Palo Alto, CA

39d

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.

We are seeking a Staff Software Engineer to serve as our subject matter expert in high-performance browser-based rendering. You will be the architect behind our next-generation visualization platform, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in a web browser. In this role, you will take ownership of our 3D rendering engine—a customized fork of Foxglove Studio based on Three.js—to visualize petabytes of complex sensor data. You will be obsessed with frame rates and memory management, enabling us to stream and render million-point dynamic point clouds and fused camera feeds at a smooth 60 FPS. Your work will directly empower our engineers to analyze autonomous behaviors with precision and speed.

Requirements

• Bachelor's or Master's in Computer Science, Computer Graphics, or related field
• 8+ years of relevant industry experience (or equivalent)
• Deep understanding of the graphics pipeline, 3D mathematics (linear algebra, matrices, quaternions), and GPU architecture. Proven experience writing raw GLSL or WGSL shaders
• Web Technologies: Expert-level proficiency in TypeScript and React. Mastery of browser APIs including WebGL/WebGPU, WebWorkers, and OffscreenCanvas
• Extensive experience with web-based 3D engines (e.g., Three.js, Babylon.js). You don't just use the library; you understand its internals and can patch it when necessary
• Performance Engineering: A track record of optimizing high-throughput data applications. Experience using WASM (WebAssembly) with C++ or Rust to accelerate compute-heavy tasks in the browser

Nice To Haves

• Familiarity with robotics data structures (Point Clouds, Transformations/TF) and formats like MCAP or ROS bags. Experience with video encoding/decoding standards (H.264/H.265) and the WebCodecs API

Responsibilities

• Core Rendering Engine Development: Lead the architectural evolution of our web-based 3D visualization platform (Three.js/WebGL). Dive deep into the rendering loop to eliminate bottlenecks and ensure consistent 60 FPS performance.
• High-Performance Streaming: Design and implement efficient pipelines using WebWorkers, WebAssembly, and related technologies to decode and render high volume streaming datasets (LiDAR point clouds, radar, cameras, semantic scene understanding) in real-time without blocking the main thread
• Shader Development: Write and optimize custom GLSL/WGSL shaders to support new renderable types and visual effects
• Advanced Visualization Techniques: Implement complex visualization features, such as Birds-Eye-View (BEV) fused camera projections, volumetric rendering, and temporal data alignment
• Technical Leadership: Serve as a source of knowledge for 3D graphics within the team. Mentor other engineers, establish best practices for graphics programming, and drive the adoption of next-generation web standards
• Tooling & Infrastructure: Use modern profiling tools to monitor rendering performance and memory usage
• Collaboration: Partner closely with Product Managers, UX Designers, and Autonomy Engineers to define requirements for immersive, reactive data tools that define the industry standard for autonomy visualization

Benefits

• 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.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees