Electrical Engineering Failure Analysis 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

Reliability is at the core of Electric Adventure Vehicles. This position is in Irvine, CA, at the centre of Rivian's Engineering and R&D hub. As an Electrical FA Engineer on the Irvine Failure Analysis team, you will play a key role in generating insight through conducting failure analysis investigations using industry-leading low voltage test equipment for proof, diagnostic, breakdown, and preventive maintenance testing for all Rivian products from the vehicle to component level.

The Electrical FA Engineer will perform both deep dive and rapid response triage level failure analysis investigations, specializing in the low voltage electrical, silicon level die and modular electronic systems within the vehicles.

Responsibilities

• Be an integral part of the EE failure analysis team in the Irvine FA lab. Work closely with the electrical FA engineers on the team both in Irvine, CA and in the production facility Normal, IL.
• Perform both deep dive and rapid response triage failure analysis investigations, specializing in the entire vehicle's modular electronics.
• Demonstrated hands-on experience with standard electrical test equipment, including digital multimeters (DMMs), bench power supplies, oscilloscopes, LCR meters, insulation resistance (IR) meters, and HiPot testers for basic bring-up and fault isolation.
• Proficiency using curve tracers / source-measure units (SMUs) and time-domain reflectometry (TDR) for characterization and localization of opens, shorts, and impedance discontinuities.
• Experience with non-destructive fault isolation on PCBAs and harnesses via probing, continuity and resistance checks, and in-circuit functional verification.
• Ability to apply thermal and infrared imaging (including lock-in thermography where applicable) to identify hotspots, leakage paths, and over stressed components.
• Use of 2D X-ray and 3D CT imaging to inspect solder joints, voids, misalignment, bond wires, and internal assembly defects prior to destructive analysis.
• Experience with scanning acoustic microscopy (C-SAM) for detection of delamination, voiding, and internal package defects.
• Skilled in visual inspection and optical microscopy (low and high magnification) to document damage, wear, contamination, and manufacturing anomalies.
• Hands-on use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS/EDX) for detailed fractography, surface analysis, and elemental composition.
• Familiarity with spectroscopic methods such as Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy for organic and polymeric material identification in electronic assemblies.
• Experience performing destructive analysis, including mechanical cross-sectioning, mounting, polishing, and etching to reveal internal structures, interfaces, and failure sites.
• Hands-on background with advanced destructive methods such as focused ion beam (FIB) cross-sectioning, acid decapsulation, die inspection, and die probing for semiconductor and IC-level failures.
• Experience with dye-and-pry / dye penetrant techniques to reveal open solder joints, cracks, and hidden interfacial defects.
• Familiarity with basic mechanical and materials testing (e.g., pull/shear of wire bonds, solder joint strength, connector insertion/extraction) as part of root-cause validation.
• Collaborate with existing engineering teams (e.g. power conversion, power train, battery cell, materials development, etc.) to help define the needs for electronics and battery specific failure analysis, and identify where they may need help in development of manufacturing processes, or validation of predictive models, etc. Maintain a constant dialogue on the existing and growing capabilities of the FA team.
• Perform failure analysis activities for incidents originating from reliability testing for new product development and from fielded systems. Assure that root cause is identified at the most detailed level.
• Prepare failure analysis reports with exceptional visualizations and direct the communication and presentation of findings to project teams and at executive reviews.
• Work with reliability engineering and testing to recreate failure modes that are intermittent or hard to replicate. Utilize environmental testing equipment, HALT and other methods to be able to precipitate failures as a precursor to in depth failure analysis. Use results to field and the best path in terms of addressing the finding with the cross functional teams.
• When applicable, travel to support field failure analyses…