🚀 Staff Data Engineer, Vehicle Software

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.

Role Summary

At Rivian & Volkswagen Group, our mission is to develop vehicles powered by software and data. We leverage fleet‑scale telemetry to enable vehicle intelligence, improve performance, and accelerate sustainability.

We are seeking a Senior Data Engineer to lead the design and evolution of our analytics and data infrastructure. In this role, you will architect scalable data systems, mentor junior engineers, and drive best practices for data quality and governance. Working closely with data scientists, ML engineers, and our central data platform team, you will ensure that Rivian’s next generation of machine learning and analytics products are built on a foundation of robust, reliable, and high‑quality data. This is an opportunity to influence technical direction, own critical data pipelines, and shape Rivian’s approach to applied AI/ML data infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Architect and own large‑scale ETL pipelines and distributed data processing workflows for vehicle telemetry and charging datasets.
• Define and implement data modeling strategies that support complex analytical and ML workloads.
• Establish and enforce best practices for data quality, validation, and governance across teams.
• Lead the design of scalable and cost‑efficient data systems leveraging Spark, Databricks, Airflow, and cloud‑native tools.
• Collaborate with cross‑functional partners to ensure data is provisioned, discoverable, and reliable for ML model training and production deployments.
• Drive the migration of datasets into unified catalogs and semantic telemetry systems, influencing Rivian’s long‑term data architecture roadmap.
• Evaluate and introduce new data technologies to improve scalability, observability, and developer efficiency.

Qualifications

• B.S. in Computer Science, Data Engineering, or related field.
• Proficiency in SQL and Python for data wrangling and analysis.
• Familiarity with ETL workflows, data pipelines, or cloud platforms (AWS/GCP/Azure).
• Familiarity with testing, TDD and testing frameworks like pytest.
• Hands‑on experience with Spark, Databricks, or Airflow a plus.
• Strong attention to detail, with an interest in data quality and reliability.
• Eagerness to learn and grow within a fast‑paced applied ML environment.

Pay Disclosure

Salary Range/Hourly Rate for Palo Alto, California Based Applicants: $167,400 - 209,300 USD (actual compensation will be determined based on experience, location, and other factors permitted by law).

Benefits Summary

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.

Equal Opportunity

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information or characteristics, physical or mental disability, marital/domestic partner status, age, military/veteran status, medical condition, or any other characteristic protected by law. We are also committed to ensuring compliance with all applicable fair employment practice laws regarding citizenship and immigration status.

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is committed to ensuring that our hiring process is accessible for persons with disabilities. If you have a disability or limitation, such as those covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, that requires accommodations to assist you in the search and application process, please email us at

Candidate Data Privacy

Rivian and VW Group Technologies (“Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies”) may collect, use and disclose your personal information or personal data (within the meaning of the applicable data protection laws) when you apply for employment and/or participate in our recruitment processes (“Candidate Personal Data”). This data includes contact, demographic, communications, educational, professional, employment, social media/website, network/device, recruiting system usage/interaction, security and preference information. Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies may use your Candidate Personal Data for the purposes of (i) tracking interactions with our recruiting system; (ii) carrying out, analyzing and improving our application and recruitment process, including assessing you and your application and conducting employment, background and reference checks; (iii) establishing an employment relationship or entering into an employment contract with you; (iv) complying with our legal, regulatory and corporate governance obligations; (v) recordkeeping; (vi) ensuring network and information security and preventing fraud; and (vii) as otherwise required or permitted by applicable law.

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies may share your Candidate Personal Data with (i) internal personnel who have a need to know such information in order to perform their duties, including individuals on our People Team, Finance, Legal, and the team(s) with the position(s) for which you are applying; (ii) Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies affiliates; and (iii) Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies’ service providers, including providers of background checks, staffing services, and cloud services.

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies may transfer or store internationally your Candidate Personal Data, including to or in the United States, Canada, and the European Union and in the cloud, and this data may be subject to the laws and accessible to the courts, law enforcement and national security authorities of such jurisdictions.

Please see our Candidate Data Privacy Notice (English) and Candidate Data Privacy Notice (Serbian) for more information.

Please note that we are currently not accepting applications from third party application services.

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