Sr. Simulation Engineer

About Rivian

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.

If you are aligned with our mission, we want you to join our team. We're looking for a highly motivated, experienced, multi-disciplined, CAE engineer to challenge what is possible in the development of our electronic hardware components. Help Rivian lead the way in the future of the EV industry.

• Lead structural and thermo-mechanical design risk assessments for low-voltage electronics assemblies in cutting-edge vehicle electrical hardware.
• Conduct multi-scale numerical simulations (e.g., random vibrations, shock, thermal-cycling) on electronics assemblies to meet functional performance and reliability targets.
• Lead thermal/structural strategy, conceptualize design, and perform numerical simulations to address a variety of thermal/structural design challenges for leading-edge vehicle electrical hardware.
• Conduct and define vehicle thermal targets, partnering with thermal attributes for our components within the vehicle.
• Develop electronic cooling and packaging solutions for next generation vehicle architectures and electronic systems. .
• Develop strategies for optimizing thermal and mechanical components by minimizing mass, cost and material usage.
• Provide detailed and actionable design suggestions including thermal stack-up, cooling layout and material selection to engineers responsible for detailed design of vehicle electronics.
• Provide detailed and actionable design recommendations, including enclosure stiffness targets, thermal stack-up, cooling layout, and material selection, to engineers responsible for detailed electronics assembly design.
• Develop material characterization plans and maintain the simulation material database for commonly used electronics components, polymers, and elastomers.
• Provide reliability engineers with simulation support for root-cause analysis during the testing and validation phases.
• Collaborate within multidisciplinary teams to ensure product and engineering excellence.

• M.S. / Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent.
• 7 years (Ph.D) / 10 years (M.S.) of relevant industry experience working on problems in Structural Mechanics and electronic cooling solutions, including heat sink and thermal interface materials.
• Solid understanding of theoretical and experimental structural mechanics with good domain knowledge in the following areas:
  Non-Linear analysis, Explicit Analysis, Linear Dynamics and Vibrations, Coupled Thermal-Structural analysis.
• Proficient with FEA solvers, preferably Abaqus, and Optistruct.
• Proficient in pre/post processing tools such as Hypermesh, Ansa/Meta, etc.
• Strong expertise with computational modeling and common CFD analysis tools, such as Flotherm, Ansys Icepack, Star CCM.
• Excellent understanding of failure modes in metals, plastics, and elastomers.
• Proficient with using Python/Matlab for running analysis and post-analysis data processing.
• Experience developing and leading other multidisciplinary engineers.
• Excellent communication skills across all functions and levels.
• Excellent documentation practices.
• Fluent written and spoken English.

Salary Range for Palo Alto, CA based applicants: $191,000 - $239,000 annually (Actual compensation will be determined based on experience, location and other factors permitted by law).

Salary Range for Irvine, CA based applicants: $176,000 - $220,000 annually (Actual compensation will be determined based on experience, location and other factors permitted by law).

Rivian provides robust medical/Rx, dental and vision insurance packages for full-time and part-time employees, their spouse or domestic partner, and children up to age 26. Full Time…