Staff Data Scientist, Planner Eval, Autonomy

Palo Alto, CA, United States

About Us:

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 Data Scientists to help us build the infrastructure, metrics, and analysis frameworks that evaluate the performance and safety of Rivian's Autonomy stack — with a specific focus on planning and decision-making systems. 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.

This role is ideal for someone who enjoys working end-to-end: from designing statistical evaluations, building big data pipelines, and writing tools that directly support engineering velocity. If you’re a data scientist who thrives in engineering-heavy environments, values statistical precision, and wants to shape the safety story of autonomy — we’d love to hear from you.

Responsibilities:

Analyze large datasets to extract meaningful insights related to the decision-making aspects of the Rivian Autonomy stack.
Design, implement, and maintain metrics to evaluate the quality and performance of our system’s driving behavior.
Define and maintain evaluation datasets used for simulating and predicting on-road performance.
Collaborate with motion planning and controls teams to understand data requirements and ensure alignment with product goals.
Identify trends, anomalies, and areas for improvement within the simulation and real-world driving data.
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:

B.S. or M.S. in Data Science, Statistics, Engineering, or a related field.
8+ years of experience as a Data Scientist, preferably within the autonomous driving or automotive industry.
Expert level knowledge and experience in Python and SQL.
Solid understanding of statistical analysis and machine learning techniques.
Experience with Automotive Self-Driving or similarly complex Robotics Systems.
Familiarity with time-series analysis and large-scale datasets.
Excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
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.

Pay Disclosure:

Salary Range for California Based Applicants: $209,800 - $262,200 (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, and Rivian covers most of the premiums.

Company Statements:

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