Staff Battery Cell Engineer

Description:

Rivian is seeking a Staff Battery Cell Engineer to lead the development and validation of lithium-ion battery cells for electric vehicles. The role spans the full lifecycle of battery cells—from conceptual design to mass production—ensuring performance, safety, durability, and cost-effectiveness. The engineer will collaborate with cross-functional teams including materials, mechanical, modeling, manufacturing, and pack design engineers to integrate cells into vehicle battery packs.

This role involves hands-on testing, developing cell technical roadmaps, creating DFMEA/PFMEA for cell design and manufacturing, vendor management, and overseeing validation and characterization processes. The engineer will also apply advanced electrochemical techniques to identify degradation mechanisms, propose mitigation strategies, and contribute to Rivian’s intellectual property in battery technology.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead cell design and development from concept to mass production.

• Develop cell technical roadmap and strategy for current and future products.

• Build strategic relationships with vendors and collaborate with purchasing.

• Decompose vehicle requirements into cell specifications; integrate with pack design.

• Oversee vendor DFMEA/PFMEA, PPAP, and line audits; manage action items.

• Develop and execute test methods to evaluate lithium-ion battery chemistries.

• Support modeling and validation efforts for cell performance and safety.

• Apply electrochemical techniques (EIS, GITT, CV, PITT) to analyze cell behavior.

• Use test data to support battery management system algorithms.

• Optimize cell handling and measurement processes on assembly lines.

• Train other engineers and technicians in battery cell technology.

Qualifications:

• MS in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or Materials Science (PhD preferred).

• 5+ years of hands-on experience with lithium-ion battery testing.

• Strong understanding of cell components, electrochemistry, and cell design.

• Experienced in DFMEA/PFMEA, PPAP, line audits, and cell validation.

• Familiarity with dQdV, dVdQ, and common electrochemical testing methods.

• Knowledge of lithium-ion battery trends, fast-charging, and lifetime estimation is a plus.

• Strong communication, project management, and teamwork skills.