Rivian · 2 hours ago
Sr / Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Perception
Palo Alto, CA
Full-time
Onsite
Senior Level, Lead/Staff
$179K/yr - $285K/yr
5+ years expRivian is on a mission to keep the world adventurous forever, focusing on emissions-free Electric Adventure Vehicles. The Sr./Staff ML Engineer within Rivian’s Perception Team will be responsible for developing and optimizing machine learning algorithms for autonomous vehicles, collaborating with cross-disciplinary teams to enhance customer-facing features.
AutomotiveElectric VehicleManufacturingTransportation
Responsibilities
Independently own the design, development, testing, deployment, and maintenance of perception ML models and supporting software for autonomous vehicle applications—including both onboard and cloud environments
Drive the creation and continuous improvement of production-ready perception models for real-time embedded deployment (object detection, tracking, segmentation, pose estimation, scene understanding, etc.), ensuring robustness, performance, and resilience
Architect and build scalable data pipelines and training infrastructure to support ML model iteration with large, complex multi-modal datasets, including auto-labeling and data augmentation capabilities
Develop tools and processes to evaluate and measure the performance and health of perception and/or cabin-monitoring systems, and ensure integration with downstream autonomy modules
Analyze, debug, and optimize perception system performance, from offline metrics and simulation validation to live, in-vehicle operation, addressing limitations like manual labeling bandwidth, ground truth availability, and real-world heterogeneity
Collaborate tightly with teams across machine learning, sensor systems, embedded platform, planning, infrastructure, and data engineering to deliver integrated, customer-impacting autonomous features
Share technical direction, mentor junior engineers, publish internal guidance, and help shape Rivian’s technical roadmap in perception
Stay abreast of state-of-the-art research in machine learning, computer vision, and autonomous driving; drive adoption of best practices and pioneer new approaches where appropriate
Qualification
Required
BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical/Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical field
5+ years of experience (Sr.), or 7+ years (Staff), developing and deploying deep learning models for autonomous vehicles, robotics, or other safety-critical, real-time embedded systems
Expert proficiency with Python and one or more deep learning frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow); strong C++ skills for performance-critical, production code
Demonstrated experience architecting, training, and evaluating perception models (2D or 3D, including sequential models), with exposure to deployment on real vehicles and/or production robotic systems
Track record in building or leveraging complex training infrastructure (cloud and/or cluster-based) and working with large-scale datasets in distributed environments
Hands-on experience with several of the following: Vision foundation models, temporal/spatial modeling, attention/transformer architectures, auto-labeling systems, data augmentation for diverse sensor configurations
Sensor signal decoding (camera, radar, lidar), multi-modal sensor fusion, pose/trajectory estimation, action or intent recognition, and state-of-the-art driver/passenger monitoring
System and algorithmic optimization, robust software engineering best practices, and empirical performance analysis
Highly effective communicator and team collaborator; demonstrated ability to partner across technical specialties and organizational boundaries to deliver end-to-end solutions
Preferred
Bonus: Prior work in cabin monitoring (e.g., gaze estimation, facial expression analysis, action recognition), experience building auto-labeling tools, cloud-based ML ops, or open-source contributions to perception research
Benefits
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 overs most of the premiums.
Company
Rivian
Rivian is an automotive technology company that develops products and services to advance the shift to sustainable mobility.
10001+ employees
H1B Sponsorship
Rivian has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (38)
2024 (70)
2023 (54)
2022 (79)
2021 (21)
Funding
Current Stage
Public CompanyTotal Funding
$21.93BKey Investors
Volkswagen GroupUS Department of EnergyIllinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity
2025-06-30Post Ipo Equity· $1B
2024-11-25Post Ipo Debt· $6.6B
2024-05-02Grant· $827M
Leadership Team
Robert Scaringe
Chief Executive Officer
Claire McDonough
Chief Financial Officer
Recent News
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