Sr. Electronics Design and Characterization Engineer (Zonal BMS)

The role

You will drive design review and hardware characterization for vehicle electronics, focusing on Zonal ECUs. You will develop test plans, execute characterization testing, and provide feedback to design engineers to optimize designs.

What you will do

• Develop detailed design verification and characterization test plans and requirements.
• Execute characterization testing plans according to project milestones.
• Own test coverage reports and analysis.
• Perform bench-level characterization at IC and PCBA levels.
• Characterize protection and diagnostic behavior across fault conditions.
• Lead electronic fuse testing efforts for Zonal ECUs.
• Provide early feedback to design engineers regarding design decisions and testability.
• Support creation and present Design for Testability (DFT) reports.
• Follow characterization schedules and communicate status.
• Write automation scripts and instrumentation drivers using Python.

Required qualifications

• BS/MS or equivalent work experience in Electrical Engineering or related field.
• 7+ years of experience in electronics design, characterization and validation testing.
• Experience using lab instrumentation like oscilloscopes, power supplies, electronic loads, digital multimeters, DAQ, source measure units, current probes, and switch matrices.
• Strong understanding of Electrical Engineering fundamentals and circuit analysis.
• Experience in scripting and data analysis using Python.
• Demonstrated use of AI tools (Claude, Claude Code, Copilot, Cursor, or similar) to write and refactor test code and to analyze characterization data.

Nice to have

• Hands-on characterization experience with zonal/body controllers, power distribution or e-fuse modules, or motor/actuator drivers.
• Familiar with low-level firmware and C programming.
• Experience with Altium Designer.
• Working knowledge of vehicle electrical systems and communication buses (Ethernet, SPI, CAN, LIN, SENT, etc.) and diagnostic protocols (UDS, XCP).
• Experience in developing automated test setups.
• Experience designing custom PCBAs, load emulation boards, or high-current test fixtures.
• Practical understanding of automotive power fundamentals: load dump and transient immunity (ISO 7637 / ISO 16750), inrush and inductive kickback, current sensing methods (shunt vs. Hall), grounding an
• Familiarity with ISO 26262 functional safety concepts and characterization evidence for ASIL-rated components.
• Experience in Databricks or similar environment.
• Proficient with using electronics simulation applications such as LTspice, PSpice, SIMetrix

Benefits

• competitive base salary
• annual company performance bonus program
• equity in the form of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)
• health coverage
• retirement savings
• time off
• family planning programs

About the company

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is a joint venture between two industry leaders. They address the challenges of electric vehicles through technology for software-defined vehicles.