Functional Safety Engineer – Body & Thermal Systems

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is a joint venture between two industry leaders with a clear vision for automotives next chapter. From operating systems to zonal controllers to cloud and connectivity solutions were addressing the challenges of electric vehicles through technology that will set the standards for software-defined vehicles around the world.

The road to the future is uncharted. By combining our expertise across connectivity AI security and more well map a new way forward. Working together well create a future thats more connected more intelligent more sustainable for everyone.

This role sits within the Functional Safety Engineering team focused on the vehicles 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.

• 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 companys 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.

• 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.

Full-time positions include base salary eligibility for an annual performance bonus and eligibility for equity.

In addition to base salary Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies offers benefits tailored to the local market. For more information on the benefits available for full-time employees check out our Global Benefits Site.

External candidates can apply for this role through the Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies careers site ( If you are a current employee please apply through our internal job board.

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. 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. We are also committed to ensuring compliance with all applicable fair employment practice laws regarding citizenship and immigration status.

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies 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

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies 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 and Volkswagen Group Technologies 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) record keeping; (vi) ensuring network and information security and preventing fraud; and (vii) as otherwise required or permitted by applicable law.

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies 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 and Volkswagen Group Technologies affiliates; and (iii) Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies service providers including providers of background checks staffing services and cloud services.

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies may transfer or store internationally your Candidate Personal Data including to or in the United States Canada 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.

If you provide a mobile telephone number as part of your application or during the recruitment process Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies may use that number to contact you via SMS text message for recruitment-related purposes including scheduling logistics and status updates. Message and data rates may apply. You may opt out of SMS communications at any time by replying STOP to any text message you receive from us. Consent to receive SMS messages is not a condition of applying for or being considered for employment.

Please see our Candidate Data Privacy Notice (English) and Candidate Data Privacy Notice (Serbian) for more information.

--

Please note this job posting represents an open active vacancy. Additionally we are not currently accepting applications from third party application services.

Required Experience:

IC