Analytics & Data Engineer​/AI Architect

About Us

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is a joint venture between two industry leaders with a clear vision for automotive’s next chapter. From operating systems to zonal controllers to cloud and connectivity solutions, we’re addressing the challenges of electric vehicles through technology that will set the standards for software‑defined vehicles around the world.

The road to the future is uncharted. By combining our expertise across connectivity, AI, security and more, we’ll map a new way forward. Working together, we’ll create a future that’s more connected, more intelligent, more sustainable for everyone.

The Core Data team is focused on building and scaling a best‑in‑class data platform that empowers the entire organization. As a Staff Engineer, you will be instrumental in setting the organizational direction for data engineering best practices and driving large‑scale, high‑impact projects. This role requires a technical leader who can streamline processes for exponential growth and incorporate emerging technologies, including AI/ML.

This high‑impact role requires progressive experience, focusing on architectural strategy and technical leadership. You will be responsible for defining the governance, ingestion, and analytics standards necessary for the organization to scale gracefully. You will drive technical decisions regarding our data infrastructure, particularly leveraging Infrastructure as Code and modern data orchestration to ensure efficiency and accessibility across multiple domain teams.

• Set the standard for data engineering best practices while directly contributing to high‑impact projects.
• Streamline tools and processes across ingestion, governance, and analytics to allow the organization to scale gracefully.
• Lead the management and operation of the infrastructure for efficient, incident‑free dbt‑core operations across multiple domain teams.
• Architect and maintain scalable ELT pipelines and data models for optimal data accuracy and consistency.
• Drive the utilization of AI/ML models and agents for automation and diagnostics within data and validation pipelines.
• Provide technical guidance, templated code, best practices, and comprehensive user documentation to the engineering community.
• Partner with platform engineers to integrate new tools and frameworks, leading implementation and deployment efforts.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, a relevant technical field or equivalent practical experience.
• Expertise in Python, Spark, dbt, and SQL.
• Proficient in data modeling principles and schema design for analytics.
• Proficient in scalable data pipelines on cloud platforms, preferably AWS, GCP, Azure.
• Proficient in modern cloud data platforms, such as Databricks, Snowflake, or Google Big Query.
• Experience deploying and maintaining scalable software, reliability, testing, and monitoring.

Preferred Qualifications

• 8+ years of proven experience in senior or staff positions in data engineering and analytics engineering
• Experience with implementing a large‑scale data governance framework.
• Understanding of AI/ML models as applied to data analytics or automation.
• Experience with a modern data ingestion tool like Fivetran.
• Experience with version control systems (e.g., Git) and CI/CD workflows for data engineering projects.
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code tools (Terraform highly preferred).
• Experience with any data quality, data security, and monitoring initiatives.

Salary Range for California (Palo Alto) Based Applicants
: $146,900-$183,600 (actual compensation will be determined based on experience, location, and other factors permitted by law).

Salary Range for California (Irvine) Based Applicants
: $135,100-$168,900 (actual compensation will be determined based on experience, location, and other factors permitted by law).

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies 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.

Rivian and…