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Staff Sustaining Reliability Engineer

Rivian

Rivian

United States · Normal, IL, USA
Posted on Jan 30, 2026

Job Description

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

If you’re energized by complex systems, real-world testing, and solving problems that haven’t been solved before, Rivian’s Sustaining Reliability Engineering team is where you can make a measurable impact. Here, your work in test development strategy, verification test execution, and data-driven decision-making directly shapes the EV products our customers rely on every day.


Responsibilities

  • Research and strategically implement vehicle, component, module, and system testing to provide early detection of production quality and reliability issues during mass production through ongoing reliability testing, manufacturing verification testing, HALT & HASS testing and burn in testing.
  • Develop test methods and equipment to execute them.
  • Develop post-test teardown analysis procedures and procure tooling and equipment to execute this activity.
  • Document summary reports to communicate test and teardown analysis results.
  • Work with quality, manufacturing, systems, design, and process engineering teams to ensure manufacturing quality & reliability; make recommendations to improve design and manufacturing processes.
  • Assess manufacturing changes and risks and develop test plans to verify them.
  • Strategic identification and prioritization of issues identified in reliability testing.
  • Own escalation and root cause analysis for failures identified in tests.
  • Support creation of a data system for continuous monitoring of articles under test and reporting results.
  • Support creation of reporting system for test results and recurring overall program status reports for management review.
  • Closed loop with field reliability team and data to ensure issues in field are captured in manufacturing reliability program.
  • Cascade reliability risks from the design and DFMEA to process PFMEA and control plan.

Qualifications

  • 5-10 years of industry experience in a test engineering role.
  • 3 years minimum test engineering experience within electrification to include either high voltage batteries, drive units, traction motors or power inverters/converters.
  • Minimum requirement is a Bachelor of Science in Engineering.
  • Experience working in a test facility, preferably in an automotive environment.
  • Experience with Ongoing Reliability Testing, Highly Accelerated Stress Screening and governing equations for different types of failure mechanisms.
  • Experience with reliability statistics including Weibull Analysis.
  • Experience with statistical software for reliability, such as JMP or the ReliaSoft suite.
  • Advanced understanding of physics of failure.
  • Expert understanding of root cause analysis techniques and demonstrated experience applying them.
  • Experience in establishing reliability requirements and test program development.
  • Experience developing custom test fixtures and testing plans.
  • Experience leading cross function problem solving activities.
  • Experience with facilitating FMEAs and leading cross functional teams.
  • A deep understanding of reliability concepts and applying data analysis to drive priorities.
  • Working knowledge of failure analysis techniques & equipment such as optical microscopy, SEM, CT, X-Ray, EDS.
  • A desire to contribute to a respectful, fun, inclusive and inspiring team culture.

Bonus nice to have

  • Experience with deploying reliability testing guidelines and inventing new ways of testing.
  • Working knowledge of a coding language, preferably Python.
  • Experience in a startup environment and scaling teams from a blank slate.

Pay Disclosure

Salary Range for Illinois Based Applicants: $156,200 - $195,300 (actual compensation will be determined based on experience, location, and other factors permitted by law).
Benefits Summary: Rivian 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, and Rivian covers most of the premiums.



Equal Opportunity

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

Rivian 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 candidateaccommodations@rivian.com.

Candidate Data Privacy

Rivian 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 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 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 affiliates; and (iii) Rivian’s service providers, including providers of background checks, staffing services, and cloud services.

Rivian may transfer or store internationally your Candidate Personal Data, including to or in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, 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 note that we are currently not accepting applications from third party application services.