Data Engineer - Driving Model, Autonomy

Position: Staff Data Engineer - Large Driving Model, Autonomy
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

We are seeking a Staff Data Engineer to drive the advancement of our Large Driving Model (LDM). The successful candidate will be responsible for the end-to-end data strategy that fuels our models, from mining and curation to experimental collaboration. You will build the pipelines that surface high-value examples, refine evaluation benchmarks, and partner closely with modeling teams to accelerate model performance.

Your work will directly influence the intelligence and safety of our autonomous capabilities, serving as a critical pillar in our mission. If you are an independent technical leader, highly analytical, and passionate about data-centric AI, we would like to talk with you!

Responsibilities

• Build scalable data mining pipelines to extract rare and critical driving scenarios from fleet data.
• Curate and analyze large-scale training datasets to improve the robustness and generalization of the Large Driving Model.
• Design and enhance evaluation frameworks to rigorously measure model performance against complex real-world baselines.
• Collaborate closely with modeling engineers to define data requirements and iterate on rapid experimental loops.
• Identify trends, anomalies, and data distribution shifts that impact model training and validation.
• Serve as a key technical authority within the department, offering guidance on current and future data infrastructure and strategy.
• Navigate complex tradeoffs between data quality, scale, and compute budgets, ensuring architectural decisions align with company priorities.
• Empower fellow engineers by crafting easily extendable and collaborative designs and code.
• Display the ability to influence and foster consensus across data and modeling teams, even during challenging technical discussions.

Qualifications

• B.S. or M.S. in Computer Science, Data Science, Robotics, Engineering, or a related field.
• 8+ years of experience as a Data Engineer or Machine Learning Engineer, preferably within the autonomous driving, robotics, or LDM space.
• Demonstrated potential or experience in technical leadership (TLM), capable of mentoring engineers and managing project roadmaps.
• Demonstrated ability to set direction and guide the team towards it.
• Expert level knowledge and experience in Python, SQL, and distributed data processing frameworks.
• Solid understanding of data-centric AI, dataset curation strategies, and model evaluation methodologies.
• Experience with large-scale sensor data (LiDAR, Camera) or complex robotics systems.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
• Capable of working in a fast-paced development environment.
• Good team player with excellent communication skills that can build team consensus.
• Passionately motivated to take ideas from experimental validation to a verified product.
• Hands-on approach:
  Proactively identifies and fills in gaps where needed.

Pay Disclosure

The salary range for this role is $ - $ for California based applicants. This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employee's position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, specific competencies, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, shift, and organizational needs.

The successful candidate may be eligible for annual performance bonus and equity awards.

We offer a comprehensive package of benefits for full-time and part-time employees, their spouse or domestic partner, and children up to age 26, including but not limited to paid vacation, paid sick leave, and a competitive portfolio of insurance benefits including life, medical, dental, vision, short-term disability insurance, and long-term disability insurance to eligible employees. You may also have the opportunity to participate in Rivian's 401(k) Plan and Employee Stock Purchase Program if you meet certain eligibility requirements.

Full-time employee coverage is effective on their first day of employment. Part-time employee coverage is effective the first of the month following 90 days of employment. More information about benefits is available at

You can apply for this role through  (or through inte if you are a current employee). This job is not expected to be closed any sooner than March 6, 2026.

Equal Opportunity

Rivian is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local fair employment practices laws. All qualified…