Sr. Vehicle Hardware Engineering CAE 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.

Role Summary

In this position, you will use CAE tools to drive solutions for Cockpit system components & Interior system components performing under airbag deployment loads. You will ensure these components meet all government and Rivian internal requirements for Safety/ Durability/ NVH/ & Perceived Quality. Collaboration with cross-functional teams will be essential to find optimal solutions that satisfy all Interior system requirements and company goals.

This is a fully onsite role based at our engineering Headquarters in Irvine California.

Responsibilities

• Lead subsystem level Safety, Durability, & NVH CAE analysis of Cockpit & Interior Trim subsystems of Rivian's vehicles including but not limited to:
  Linear, Non-Linear, Static, Dynamic, NVH, Fatigue, and abuse load analysis. These will include airbag deployments, knee impact loads, cold impact, ingress-egress loads etc .
• Develop and execute analysis plans to analyze and optimize Interior Cockpit subsystems & Interior Trims including Cross-car beam, Instrument Panel, Interior Trim pillars, & Over Head Systems. Utilize CAE tools to ensure subsystem-level performance meets safety, durability, NVH, and other attribute targets, while also supporting optimal resource utilization plans.
• Lead 1-2 concurrent CAE-intensive projects, each involving small cross-functional teams of 3-5 people. These teams may include Design Engineers, Material Engineers, Supplier Engineers (onsite & offshore), and Attributes team members. Ensure the timely delivery of high-quality simulation results and their effective utilization to drive design development in a fast-paced program cycle.
• Capture the joints, clips, snaps, surface welds, multi-stage connections, hard point definitions, and boundary conditions according to the Cockpit and Interior Trim system simulation standards and requirements. Employ appropriate model build requirements for safety, NVH, durability, and airbag deployment analysis of those components.
• Predict and improve the subsystem level performance of those components especially to meet the regulatory requirements like FMVSS 208 & FMVSS 226.
• Demonstrate good understanding of the airbag interactions to identify potential issues and develop countermeasure solutions.
• Collaborate closely with respective Engineering, Subject Matter Experts, & Attributes teams to define the modelcontents, loads, boundary conditions, & performance targets.
• Utilize advanced techniques in Ls-Dyna, Abaqus, & Optistruct for appropriate simulation of the system behavior under various conditions.
• Collaborate with the material suppliers to collect the CAE material models and check for their applicability for Cockpit & Interior Trim simulations.
• Explain the failure modes through animations/ stress contours/ strain energy plots and devise countermeasures to address those identified failure modes while zooming out to consider other system requirements such as DFM/ DFA/ Durability/ safety/ NVH/ PQ etc.
• Explain analysis assumptions and the basis of countermeasures using first principles. Demonstrate to Design Engineers on how to apply these principles to achieve robust design development.
• Develop new analytical methods and subsystem level virtual validation procedures while implementing automation techniques and employing AI tools. These procedures should lead to highly predictive simulation models that correlate well with physical tests at the material, component, and subsystem levels. This will reduce the number of physical tests as well as CAE iterations.
• Follow and proactively improve/ maintain documentation for Best Practices, Design Standards, Test Procedures, and Technical…