Functional Safety Engineer - Body & Thermal Systems

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies

$100K — $130K *
Manufacturing & Automotive
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Degree in Electrical/Electronic Engineering, Mechatronics, Robotics, or a related field.
  • 2-3 years of automotive experience at OEM or Tier 1 in functional safety or systems engineering.
  • Hands-on skills in electronic hardware fault diagnosis and circuit debugging.
  • Experience with robotics systems in areas like servo control, position sensing, or actuator design is a plus.
  • Familiarity with AI and machine learning as it relates to automotive safety.
  • Strong knowledge of ISO 26262 and proficient interpersonal communication skills.

Responsibilities

  • Ensure functional safety for body and thermal features across the vehicle development lifecycle.
  • Contribute to feature requirements and offer guidance on hazard identification from electrical malfunctions.
  • Conduct HARA and generate safety goals, along with performing DFMEA, FTA, and FMEDA.
  • Develop safety mechanisms, including redundancy architectures and hardware diagnostics, focusing on electronic system integrity.
  • Create and implement test cases for safety mechanisms using LabCar and vehicle test assets, ensuring thorough data analysis and reporting.
  • Act as a representative of the functional safety team in cross-functional collaboration with Diagnostics, Platform, Controls, and Electrical Systems teams.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive health and wellness benefits package.
  • Eligibility for annual performance bonus and equity options.
Full Job Description
Role Summary

This role sits within the Functional Safety Engineering team focused on the vehicle's body and thermal systems (climate control, lighting, and other electrically driven features). The FuSa engineer is responsible for ensuring these systems meet rigorous safety standards throughout the full development lifecycle, from early requirements through validation. They lead safety analyses (HARA, DFMEA, FTA, TSC) and design safety mechanisms like redundancy architectures and hardware diagnostics to prevent electrical or software faults from causing unsafe vehicle behavior. The role bridges multiple teams - including Controls, Diagnostics, and Electrical Systems - making it a central coordinating function for safety across the vehicle.

Responsibilities
  • Primarily responsible for ensuring functional safety in the design, development, and validation of Body and thermal features, with a strong focus on electrical and electronic system integrity across the full vehicle development lifecycle.
  • Contribute to feature requirements and provide functional safety guidance on feature definition, including the identification of hazards arising from electrical malfunctions and software/hardware interactions.
  • Perform vehicle-level HARA and generate safety goals; conduct safety analyses including DFMEA, FTA, and FMEDA; and develop safety requirements using the company's requirements management toolchain.
  • Develop safety mechanisms such as redundancy architectures, hardware diagnostics, system health monitors and fail-safe designs, applying hands-on knowledge of electronic circuits to validate safety-critical systems including sensor signal chains and actuator diagnostics.
  • Develop test cases to verify and validate safety mechanisms on LabCar and Vehicle test assets, incorporating HiL environments, and deliver thorough data analysis and reporting.
  • Represent the functional safety team across internal and external development activities, collaborating closely with Diagnostics, Platform, Controls, and Electrical Systems teams to achieve system safety objectives.


Qualifications
  • Degree in Electrical/Electronic Engineering, Mechatronics, Robotics, or a closely related discipline.
  • 2-3 years of experience within the automotive industry at an OEM or Tier 1 supplier, working within functional safety or systems engineering.
  • Hands-on experience with electronic hardware fault diagnosis, including circuit debugging and CAN/LIN/Ethernet network analysis, with a practical understanding of electrical failure modes from system to component level.
  • Experience with robotics systems is a strong advantage, particularly in areas such as servo control, position sensing, or electromechanical actuator design.
  • Familiarity with AI and machine learning concepts as applied to automotive safety.
  • Proven knowledge of ISO 26262 with strong interpersonal skills and the ability to present technical information clearly to senior management and external stakeholders.
Total Rewards

Total compensation packages for full-time positions include base salary, eligibility for an annual performance bonus, and eligibility for equity.

In addition, our benefits package has been designed to support the health and wellness of our employees. For more information on RV Tech's comprehensive benefits package for full-time employees, check out our Global Benefits Site.

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

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