Sr. Staff Hardware Systems Architect - Connectivity/Wireless

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

As an hardware architect, you will lead efforts within the Hardware Systems Architecture team to develop a full understanding of wireless/connectivity related product features and attributes, collaborate cross-functionally to decompose them into technical requirements, and ultimately define their respective vehicle sub-system and constituent module architectures. In later stages of development, you will leverage these insights to support the definition of system performance criteria and methodologies for the validation team to test these systems against their requirements.

This role spans the full range of wireless technologies including WiFi, BT/BLE, 4G/5G, GNSS, V2X, and UWB as they relate to vehicle sub-system for telematics, infotainment, vehicle access, and related domains, ultimately driving their respective RF, network, compute and power architectures.

Responsibilities

• Work cross-functionally with hardware architecture, systems engineers, hardware design and software application teams to factor functional, performance, industry and regulatory requirements into their respective sub-systems, identify the key metrics and trade-offs, and optimize them using data and analysis, to distill clear system-level and module-level architecture requirements.

• Model system-level trade-offs concerning distributed compute, network and other resources, considering dimensions like power efficiency, end-to-end latencies, compute/memory utilization, and scalability, to help produce optimal systems architectures.

• Establish key vendor and industry relationships to map the space of available and future connectivity standards and technologies, and use this to build out a scalable connectivity/wireless roadmap for RVT

• Guide the development of mock-ups or prototypes to study next-gen technologies, establish proofs-of-concept, test modelled assumptions, and/or serve as reference platforms.

• Support the effort of the system validation team to build comprehensive test plans that surface key system-level performance metrics, locate bottlenecks or chokepoints, and identify over-/under-design scenarios relative to the defining system requirements.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or a related field, and a track record of 8+ years of hands-on experience in relevant industries, including automotive, aerospace, or relevant consumer applications.

• Deep familiarity with the landscape of wireless technologies related to typical automotive applications like telematics (LTE, 5G), infotainment (WiFi, BT), geolocation (GNSS), secure entry (BLE, UWB, NFC), ADAS (V2X), and their metrics and methodologies for performance evaluation at the RF, protocol and systems application levels.

• Familiarity with system design and/or certification related to Connect Car Consortium (CCC) and/or Made for iPhone (MFi) keyless entry systems at the module and system levels.

• Experience designing and/or validating embedded RF systems optimized for distributed architecture settings, including automotive, aerospace, robotics or other analogous domains.

• Foundation in RF and electrical engineering fundamentals, and hands-on familiarity with related test and measurement equipment, e.g., logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, DMMs, network analyzers, etc.

• Solid grasp of the power related aspects of distributed embedded architectures, including efficient utilization of low-power states, wake propagation and sequencing.

• Conversant with wireless technologies like GNSS, BLE, LTE, 5G, Wi-Fi, and/or UWB, and their performance evaluation at the protocol and systems integration levels.

Total Rewards

We build the exceptional — and we believe the people doing that work should be rewarded accordingly. In addition to a competitive base salary, full-time positions may be is eligible to participate in our annual company performance bonus program.

Payments are discretionary and not guaranteed; actual amounts depend on company results and the terms of the plan in effect, and require active employment at the time of payout. This role is also eligible for equity in the form of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), subject to board approval and the terms of our equity incentive plans, including applicable vesting requirements.

In addition to our compensation programs, we invest in our people with a comprehensive benefits package designed to support the health, wellbeing, and financial future for full-time employees — including health coverage, retirement savings, time off, and family planning programs. Offerings vary by country. Learn more about our global benefit programs .

External candidates can apply for this role through the Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies careers site ( https://rivianvw.tech/#careers ). If you are a current employee, please apply through our internal job board .

Equal Opportunity

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 candidateaccommodations@rivian.com.