Rivian is on a mission to keep the world adventurous forever. This goes for the emissions-free Electric Adventure Vehicles we build, and the curious, courageous souls we seek to attract.
As a company, we constantly challenge what’s possible, never simply accepting what has always been done. We reframe old problems, seek new solutions and operate comfortably in areas that are unknown. Our backgrounds are diverse, but our team shares a love of the outdoors and a desire to protect it for future generations.
Role Summary
The Senior Manager of Perceived and Design Quality is responsible for leading the
Perceived Quality attribute and Design Quality delivery teams across both day-to-day
operations and long-term departmental strategy and planning.
The core objective of this exciting and varied Design Studio attribute is to ensure that
the sensory experience and design execution of Rivian products live up the promise of
our brand. You will lead a diverse team of experts to cultivate the emotional connection
which bonds customer to product through class-leading sensory interaction, both overt
and unarticulated. Within this role, you can expect to be heavily involved in all phases of
product design, development and production - through early attribute consumer
research, benchmarking, and target setting - converting subjective sensory inputs into
objective engineering specifications. You will facilitate the creation of detailed A-Surface
and CAD geometry, implement world-class interface design, and coordinate key
stakeholders to drive best-in-class vehicle-level craftsmanship. Following Production
Release your team will transfer into launch, to ensure that the physical embodiment of
the design concept is delivered at scale and to the required quality level.
This role is dynamic, fast-paced, and multi-faceted where success is dependent upon
operating and collaborating cross-functionally within the business including at Executive
Leadership level. This extremely varied and exciting role allows you to participate in all
areas of the design, development and production process and directly impact the
customer experience.
The ideal candidate has strong leadership experience, is self-motivated, technically
proficient, can influence others, has excellent communication skills, ability to create
strong relationships, is process driven, extremely well-organized, and inquisitive.
This opening is in Irvine, CA and will report directly to the Senior Director of Perceived
and Design Quality.
Responsibilities
Work with the Senior Director to define departmental strategy including team
vision / mission, short/medium/long term objectives and process development
including integration within the overall company project management plan.
Responsible for Perceived and Design Quality deliverables across business and
project, with a focus on meeting timing, cost and quality requirements.
Planning and scheduling for the attribute across all projects - including allocation
of resource and expenditure, generation of project plans, definition of key metrics
and measures of performance.
Manage departmental project budgets including all team travel, raising purchase
orders for expenditure, and supporting cost efficiency initiatives.
Own departmental resource allocation within business operations and managing
resource deployed specific projects and activities.
staffing, tracking individual performance and progress vs project objectives.
Act as Subject Matter Expert for the Perceived and Design Quality attribute and
represent the primary escalation / approval route for the team on projects.
Drive efficiency within departmental operations, optimize process plans,
resource, expenditure and timing to deliver business benefit without impact to
quality.
Perceived Quality:
Lead the team to develop vehicle-level craftsmanship for Rivian products.
Facilitate competitive benchmarking to establish Bill of Design criteria for
craftsmanship excellence.
Review and approve Design criteria with Concept, Core, and Subject Matter
Expert teams.
Ensure delivery of proven interface characteristics into program master sections
Establish a master deck detailing specifications for every visible part interface.
Define and provide target specifications to Studio, Engineering, and Supplier
teams.
Lead the team within interface maturation process.
craftsmanship.
Partner with Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing to ensure robust
feasibility of design.
Support dimensional variation analysis and risk assessment studies.
Translate feasibility requirements into concise Studio direction.
Track performance to established targets through key metrics and data
visualization.
Virtually validate data for craftsmanship excellence.
Verify Studio and Engineering conformance to inputs.
Translate requirements into a detailed build standard.
Lead handoff of build standard to production teams.
Lead issue discovery and resolution process for prototype builds.
Ability to support urgent Leadership initiatives or program deliverables as
required with minimal notice or instruction.
Participate in product launch initiatives to meet timing and craftsmanship
milestones and objectives.
Design Quality:
Lead the team to direct integration and coordination efforts between Studio,
Color Material Finish (CMF), Craftsmanship and Design Quality.
Develop and maintain program-specific "Critical to Styling" part catalog.
Track and ensure the readiness of Design Quality (DQ) critical inputs.
craftsmanship excellence.
Jointly co-validate Design criteria with Concept, Core, and Subject Matter Expert
teams.
Support translating Studio's appearance quality expectations into Rivian Quality
Standards.
Establish strategic objectives with Engineering to deliver exceptional
craftsmanship.
Verify the accuracy of part-level texture direction.
Support part-level documentation for dual or complex texture execution.
Support the translation of the Color Direction Document into the Appearance
Validation Matrix.
Coordinate the development and build of fixtures or bucks supporting Harmony
layups.
Coordinate, facilitate, and track incoming and outgoing Critical to Styling part
deliveries.
Support "Soft" assembly of Critical to Styling parts to harmony fixtures or bucks.
Coordinate System evaluations with Studio, CMF, PQ, and Engineering.
Record Critical to Styling issues and drive resolution.
Highlight DQ risks during prototype / launch build events.
Support Vehicle Color Harmony Assessment events at Supplier sites and the
General Assembly plant.
Drive color harmony and appearance issues to resolution.
Facilitate Studio, ad-hoc part submission requests.
Support CMF Master risk migration.
Lead disposal of obsolete Critical to Styling parts.
Qualifications
Bachelor’s in Engineering or technical discipline, Masters preferred.
5+ years’ experience with Craftsmanship and Perceived Quality at a global
Automotive company.
Knowledge of part and assembly tolerance stack analysis.
Proficient+ experience in Catia or similar CAD software.
Proficient understanding of GD&T.
Must pass a Munsell Hue Test with Superior Discrimination
Strong statistical awareness and vision of what high quality looks like.
Strong understanding of material impact on overall craftsmanship and
perceived quality.
Experience with statistical qualification of machinery, equipment, and gauges
is preferred.
Must be willing to travel 10%.
Equal Opportunity
Rivian is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local fair employment practices laws. 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.
Rivian 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 candidateaccommodations@rivian.com.
Candidate Data Privacy
Rivian 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 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) recordkeeping; (vi) ensuring network and information security and preventing fraud; and (vii) as otherwise required or permitted by applicable law.
Rivian 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 affiliates; and (iii) Rivian’s service providers, including providers of background checks, staffing services, and cloud services.
Rivian may transfer or store internationally your Candidate Personal Data, including to or in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, 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.
Please note that we are currently not accepting applications from third party application services.