Rivian · 1 week ago
Staff CAE Engineer - Chassis & Body
Irvine, CA
Full-time
Hybrid
Senior Level, Lead/Staff
$138K/yr - $183K/yr
8+ years expRivian is on a mission to keep the world adventurous forever by building emissions-free Electric Adventure Vehicles. The Staff CAE Engineer will utilize CAE tools for Body Structure and Chassis system components, ensuring compliance with durability requirements while collaborating with cross-functional teams to achieve optimal solutions.
AutomotiveElectric VehicleManufacturingTransportation
Responsibilities
Lead subsystem level Durability CAE analysis of Body Structures & Chassis subsystems of Rivian’s vehicles including but not limited to: Linear, Non-Linear, Static, Dynamic, NVH, Fatigue, and abuse load analysis, while also plan & execute optimal resource utilization
Develop and execute analysis plans to analyze and optimize various Body Structure subsystems, including structural components (top hats, underbody, dash structure, front end) and accessory mounts (including trailer hitch). Similarly, create and execute analysis plans for Chassis subsystems, including structural components (subframes, knuckles, lower control arms, links) and suspension systems. Utilize CAE tools to ensure subsystem-level performance meets durability and other attribute targets
Lead multiple concurrent CAE-intensive projects, each involving small cross-functional teams of 3-5 people. These teams may include Design Engineers, Material Engineers, Supplier Engineers (onsite & offshore), and Attributes team members. Ensure the timely delivery of high-quality durability simulation results and their effective utilization to drive design development in a fast paced program cycle
Capture the welds, connections, hard point definitions, and boundary conditions according to the body structure & chassis system simulation standards and requirements. Employ appropriate model build requirements for stiffness, linear strength, non-linear strength, and fatigue analysis of complex chassis systems with elaborate welds, joints and combination of thin & thick structural components
Predict and improve the local and global stiffness of body structure systems, knuckles, links, and other subsystems and interactively work with MultiBody Dynamic (MBD) analysis team
Extract relevant duty cycle and abuse loads from the Vehicle Dynamics Loads. Analyze these loads to determine envelope stresses and identify critical load conditions for each chassis subsystem. Conduct detailed nonlinear analysis of these critical load cases. Predict potential bolt slip and preload loss
Utilize advanced fatigue prediction techniques in nCode for seam weld fatigue & parent metal fatigue calculations with appropriate load histories extracted from Road Load Data (RLD) inputs from Dynamics team and CARLOS test standards
Explain the durability failure modes through animations / time slices and devise countermeasures to address those while zooming out to consider other system requirements such as safety, NVH, DFM, GD&T, & DFMEA etc
Demonstrate understanding of materials basics and experience in representing them in domain specific CAE format, benchmarking similar materials, and showing material level CAE correlation
Demonstrate a strong understanding of various weld representation and analysis techniques. Explain how these techniques capture the influence of different manufacturing processes on weld behavior, strength, and heat-affected zone
Explain analysis assumptions and the basis of countermeasures using first principles. Mentor Design Engineers on how to apply these principles & critical thinking to achieve robust design development
Develop new analytical methods and subsystem level virtual validation procedures. These procedures should lead to highly predictive simulation models that correlate well with physical tests at the material, component, and subsystem levels. This will reduce the number of physical tests as well as CAE iterations
Conduct data-driven root cause analysis of field failures. Develop simulation methods to replicate these failures and provide verified countermeasures
Proactively develop/ improve/ maintain documentation for Best Practices, Design Standards, Test Procedures, and Technical Specifications
Qualification
Required
BS in Engineering with 12+ years of progressively responsible Automotive CAE experience or MS in Engineering with 8+ years of relevant experience with demonstrated success
Expertise in automotive durability simulations with ABAQUS, LS-DYNA, Optistruct/ NASTRAN, and nCode
Trustworthy & adventurous technical leadership to drive effective design solutions
Ability to communicate clearly to a broad audience through verbal and written methods to facilitate collaboration and drive project success
A deep passion and self motivation for continuous improvement of capabilities & performance of self and team
Open mindset to anticipate challenges and expertise with problem solving by gathering appropriate resources to overcome complex technical roadblocks and drive innovation
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.
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
The Orlando Sentinel
2026-01-17
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