Hiring: Staff Functional Safety Engineer Company: Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies Location: Irvine, CA Job Posted Time: 2026-09-10 11:57:08 Employment Type: Full-time About the job Experience: •10+ years in the automotive industry (or equivalent) as a systems and/or functional safety engineer, including demonstrated IC-level safety concept development. Required Skills: •Own the functional safety architecture across multiple vehicle programs — define the safety concept patterns, redundancy strategies, and ASIL decomposition approaches that senior engineers implement against. •Lead the highest-complexity safety analyses: system and software HARA, FTA, FMEA, and DFA, with particular ownership of dependent/common-cause failure analysis across redundant channels, power supplies, and communication paths. •Set and defend FTTI/FDTI/FRTI budgets and safe-state definitions; adjudicate when availability requirements conflict with fault-reaction requirements. •Define the domain's requirements strategy, FSR/TSR/SWSR structure, traceability model, and quality bar in the requirements tool, rather than only authoring within it. •Own the safety validation strategy for the domain: fault insertion campaigns, HIL and vehicle-level coverage, release qualification criteria, and the evidence chain that closes each safety goal. •Serve as the technical counterpart to Tier 1 suppliers and external assessors; review and challenge supplier safety cases, DIAs, and analysis deliverables. •Drive cross-domain safety alignment with propulsion, ADAS, E/E architecture, and software platform teams, resolving interface-level safety conflicts and freedom-from-interference arguments. •Mentor senior and mid-level functional safety engineers; run technical reviews, calibrate analysis quality across the team, and grow the domain's bench strength. Qualifications: •Degree in Electrical/Electronic, Mechatronics, or similar engineering discipline. •Deep, hands-on ISO 26262 expertise (Parts 3, 4, 6, 9) applied at an OEM or Tier 1, with a track record of concepts that reached production. •Proven experience with vehicle dynamics, propulsion and chassis systems. •Demonstrated technical leadership without direct authority — mentoring engineers, driving methodology adoption, and aligning cross-functional stakeholders. •Strong V&V grounding: fault injection, HIL, DVP&R development, requirements coverage analysis, CAN/LIN/Ethernet/FlexRay. •Bonus: experience leveraging AI-assisted tools to accelerate safety analysis while maintaining ISO 26262 rigor and review discipline. Compensation: •$171,100 - $235,300 / year •Competitive benefits and rewards package •In addition to a competitive base salary, full-time positions may be is eligible to participate in our annual company performance bonus program Interested candidates, please apply directly through the job posting on company's career page or try via AI auto apply on this platform. Don't miss this opportunity to join a forward-thinking team!