Role SummaryThe Occupant Safety Engineer contributes to the development of occupant safety performance, assisting in simulation analysis, data processing, and cross-functional collaboration to meet regulatory and internal safety targets. This role provides an opportunity to apply fundamental engineering skills while gaining hands-on experience in occupant protection systems.
Responsibilities- Support the development of occupant safety CAE models for FMVSS, UNECE, US NCAP, IIHS, Euro NCAP, and other standards, at the component, system, and vehicle levels.
- Assist in analyzing and optimizing interior and restraint systems to meet safety regulations.
- Work closely with Design Release Engineers (DREs) and other cross-functional teams to integrate safety-related design changes.
- Assist in coordinating component-level tests and supplier collaboration to ensure design feasibility and performance compliance.
- Perform basic Design of Experiments (DOE) studies to understand safety performance trade-offs.
- Learn and apply Python and other scripting tools for post-processing simulation and test data analysis.
- Support safety testing activities, helping ensure test setups align with design and regulatory requirements.
Qualifications- Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related field.
- 2+ years experience in automotive safety
- Hands On CAE experience, ideally explicit simulation in LS-DYNA
- Working knowledge of FMVSS, ECE, NCAP and other automotive safety evaluation preferred.
- Excellent communication and organizational skills, ensuring clear expectations and structured execution of tasks.
Personal Attributes:- Demonstrates foundational knowledge of occupant safety engineering and is eager to expand expertise.
- Proactively contributes to team objectives, taking initiative in problem-solving.
- Seeks guidance but is beginning to show signs of autonomy in technical tasks.
- Collaborates effectively across teams, offering alternative perspectives when appropriate.
- Communicates viewpoints respectfully while actively listening to others.
- Recognizes change and expresses support for process improvements.
- Ability to travel to vehicle and component launch locations
- Willingness to work around a physical testing environment and extended work hours at times.
Pay DisclosureThe salary range for this role is $107,000-133,700 for Southern California based applicants. This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employee's position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, specific competencies, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, shift, and organizational needs.
The successful candidate may be eligible for annual performance bonus and equity awards.
We offer a comprehensive package of benefits for full-time and part-time employees, their spouse or domestic partner, and children up to age 26, including but not limited to paid vacation, paid sick leave, and a competitive portfolio of insurance benefits including life, medical, dental, vision, short-term disability insurance, and long-term disability insurance to eligible employees. You may also have the opportunity to participate in Rivian's 401(k) Plan and Employee Stock Purchase Program if you meet certain eligibility requirements. Full-time employee coverage is effective on their first day of employment. Part-time employee coverage is effective the first of the month following 90 days of employment. More information about benefits is available at rivianbenefits.com.
You can apply for this role through careers.rivian.com (or through internal-careers-rivian.icims.com if you are a current employee). This job is not expected to be closed any sooner than October 30, 2026.