Sr. Staff RF Systems Engineer

The posting, as Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies wrote it

ABOUT US

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is a joint venture between two industry leaders with a clear vision for automotive’s next chapter. From operating systems to zonal controllers to cloud and connectivity solutions, we’re 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, we’ll map a new way forward. Working together, we’ll create a future that’s more connected, more intelligent, more sustainable for everyone.

ROLE SUMMARY

The Senior Staff RF Systems Engineer is the technical anchor across our wireless ecosystem [ 5G/Cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, UWB, GNSS, and V2X ] spanning the full life of a radio-centric ECU from the design table to global launch.

This is a hands-on individual contributor role at the top of our IC ladder: you design and simulate the RF systems that ship, own the homologation strategy that gets them certified into every region we sell into, and set the validation standards other engineers build against.

You bridge silicon-level design, board and system-level implementation, and global regulatory launch, and you are the person leadership turns to when RF is the open question blocking a program, whether that question is “will this architecture close the link budget,” “will this ECU pass FCC and RED,” or “why is this unit failing in the chamber.”

This role will be 3 days onsite in Palo Alto and report to a Distinguished Design Engineer.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• RF Design & Product Development
• RF Product Design & Simulation Design, simulate, and prototype RF products and communication modules for automotive ECUs, including component selection, PCB layout/fabrication, and packaging within the ECU enclosure. Use HFSS and cascaded device analysis to close link budgets before hardware is ever cut.
• Understanding of The System Requirements & Architecture Define and maintain ECU-level RF design requirements, consistent with system-level allocations and regulatory limits ; ensure key design decisions align with product capability targets across cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, UWB, GNSS, and V2X domains.
• Design Review & Scoping Review proposals and requirements specs to assess compliance against existing unit capabilities versus development needs; scope and drive development activities for new requirements.
• Technology & Silicon Evaluation Lead characterization and competitive benchmarking of next-generation chipsets, front-end modules, and antenna systems. Your data drives component selection decisions with multi-year architectural consequences; represent RF design requirements directly to silicon vendors and influence their roadmaps.
• Global Homologation Leadership
• Certification Strategy Own the end-to-end RF certification strategy for radio-centric ECUs across FCC, RED/CE,

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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) https://assets.ctfassets.net/2md5qhoeajym/53otRWdzXPzSdWPgiel5T/07c61b0eed2d91f2f403f788fd20d315/RVTech_Candidate_Data_Privacy_Notice_-_Nov_2024.pdf and Candidate Data Privacy Notice (Serbian) https://assets.ctfassets.net/2md5qhoeajym/40xUZMehbGToclkLqWXW0E/eb5b553bd8af7c607066253fbb227bda/RVTech_Candidate_Data_Privacy_Notice_-_Nov_2024_Serbian.pdf for more information.

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