Demo

Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Motion Planning, Autonomy

Rivian
Palo Alto, CA Full Time
POSTED ON 10/1/2025
AVAILABLE BEFORE 1/21/2026
About Rivian

Rivian is on a mission to keep the world adventurous forever. This goes for the emissions-free Electric Adventure Vehicles we build, and the curious, courageous souls we seek to attract.

As a company, we constantly challenge what’s possible, never simply accepting what has always been done. We reframe old problems, seek new solutions and operate comfortably in areas that are unknown. Our backgrounds are diverse, but our team shares a love of the outdoors and a desire to protect it for future generations.

Role Summary

We are seeking Machine Learning Engineers to help us train and deploy models used for decision-making aspects of the Rivian Autonomy stack. Real world driving is complex and requires reasoning accounting for multi-modal and probabilistic future possibilities. We use Machine Learning with millions of miles of driving data to power these workflows and are looking for an ML engineer who will lead and develop the AI strategy across a variety of projects. Most importantly, your work will have a critical impact on the daily experience and safety of our customers, which is critical to the mission at Rivian.

If you are passionate about applying Machine Learning and data mining to the driving domain and shipping improvements to our customers, we would like to talk with you!

Responsibilities

  • Examining all aspects of successful model design from data and supervision quality to model design and validation strategy.
  • Taking charge of optimizing, supervising, and enhancing on-road performance for models moving towards production during the development phase.
  • Recognized as a key technical authority within the department, offering guidance on current and future technology decisions.
  • Possessing an in-depth grasp of the business and operational implications of various technology tradeoffs, effectively balancing them according to the company's needs.
  • Empowering fellow engineers by crafting easily extendable and collaborative designs and code.
  • Displaying the ability to influence and foster consensus, even during challenging technical discussions.

Qualifications

  • M.S. or Ph.D. in Machine Learning or a related field
  • 6 years of experience working on production ML systems.
  • Expert level knowledge and experience Python and PyTorch or TensorFlow
  • Solid understanding of state-of-the-art models and approaches or perception, prediction, or planning in the self-driving space.
  • Capable of working in a fast-paced development environment
  • Good team player with excellent communication skills that can build team consensus.
  • Passionately motivated to take ideas from development validation to a verified product
  • Self-motivated: Demonstrated ability to set direction and guide the team towards it
  • Hands-on approach: Proactively identifies and fills in gaps where needed.
  • Good understanding of linear algebra, geometry, algorithms, and data structures
  • Experience with Automotive Self-Driving or similarly complex Robotics Systems.

Pay Disclosure

Salary Range for California Based Applicants: $228,000.00 - $285,000.00 (actual compensation will be determined based on experience, location, and other factors permitted by law).

Benefits Summary: 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.

Equal Opportunity

Rivian is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local fair employment practices laws. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information or characteristics, physical or mental disability, marital/domestic partner status, age, military/veteran status, medical condition, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Rivian 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.

Candidate Data Privacy

Rivian may collect, use and disclose your personal information or personal data (within the meaning of the applicable data protection laws) when you apply for employment and/or participate in our recruitment processes (“Candidate Personal Data”). This data includes contact, demographic, communications, educational, professional, employment, social media/website, network/device, recruiting system usage/interaction, security and preference information. Rivian may use your Candidate Personal Data for the purposes of (i) tracking interactions with our recruiting system; (ii) carrying out, analyzing and improving our application and recruitment process, including assessing you and your application and conducting employment, background and reference checks; (iii) establishing an employment relationship or entering into an employment contract with you; (iv) complying with our legal, regulatory and corporate governance obligations; (v) recordkeeping; (vi) ensuring network and information security and preventing fraud; and (vii) as otherwise required or permitted by applicable law.

Rivian may share your Candidate Personal Data with (i) internal personnel who have a need to know such information in order to perform their duties, including individuals on our People Team, Finance, Legal, and the team(s) with the position(s) for which you are applying; (ii) Rivian affiliates; and (iii) Rivian’s service providers, including providers of background checks, staffing services, and cloud services.

Rivian may transfer or store internationally your Candidate Personal Data, including to or in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union and in the cloud, and this data may be subject to the laws and accessible to the courts, law enforcement and national security authorities of such jurisdictions.

Please see our Candidate Data Privacy Notice for more information.

Please note that we are currently not accepting applications from third party application services.

To any candidates interested in a position with Rivian, please be aware of recruiting phishing scams impersonating Rivian. As a general practice, Rivian recruiting does not conduct interviews or communicate with candidates over Microsoft Teams.

Please visit Rivian’s Careers page for career opportunities at Rivian. If you believe you may have been a victim of identity theft because of the phishing scam impersonating Rivian, please go to www.IdentityTheft.gov where you can report and recover from identity theft. For more information about recommended computer security practices, please go to resources on the FTC’s consumer information site where you can learn how to protect yourselves online and avoid phishing attacks.

Salary : $228,000 - $285,000

If your compensation planning software is too rigid to deploy winning incentive strategies, it’s time to find an adaptable solution. Compensation Planning
Enhance your organization's compensation strategy with salary data sets that HR and team managers can use to pay your staff right. Surveys & Data Sets

What is the career path for a Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Motion Planning, Autonomy?

Sign up to receive alerts about other jobs on the Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Motion Planning, Autonomy career path by checking the boxes next to the positions that interest you.
Income Estimation: 
$77,900 - $95,589
Income Estimation: 
$101,387 - $124,118
Income Estimation: 
$101,387 - $124,118
Income Estimation: 
$119,030 - $151,900
Income Estimation: 
$119,030 - $151,900
Income Estimation: 
$149,493 - $192,976
Income Estimation: 
$149,493 - $192,976
Income Estimation: 
$184,796 - $233,226

Sign up to receive alerts about other jobs with skills like those required for the Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Motion Planning, Autonomy.

Click the checkbox next to the jobs that you are interested in.

  • Brand Management Skill

    • Income Estimation: $60,568 - $79,988
    • Income Estimation: $66,102 - $83,695
  • Branding Skill

    • Income Estimation: $58,961 - $76,665
    • Income Estimation: $65,700 - $87,740
View Core, Job Family, and Industry Job Skills and Competency Data for more than 15,000 Job Titles Skills Library

Job openings at Rivian

Rivian
Hired Organization Address Memphis, TN Full Time
About Rivian Rivian is on a mission to keep the world adventurous forever. This goes for the emissions-free Electric Adv...
Rivian
Hired Organization Address St Louis, MO Full Time
About Rivian Rivian is on a mission to keep the world adventurous forever. This goes for the emissions-free Electric Adv...
Rivian
Hired Organization Address Raleigh, NC Full Time
About Rivian Rivian is on a mission to keep the world adventurous forever. This goes for the emissions-free Electric Adv...
Rivian
Hired Organization Address Social Circle, GA Full Time
About Rivian Rivian is on a mission to keep the world adventurous forever. This goes for the emissions-free Electric Adv...

Not the job you're looking for? Here are some other Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Motion Planning, Autonomy jobs in the Palo Alto, CA area that may be a better fit.

AI Assistant is available now!

Feel free to start your new journey!