Process, Questions & AI Prep Tips
Rivian is a leading electric vehicle manufacturer building adventure-focused trucks and vans with a strong software-defined vehicle philosophy. Engineering challenges include building the connected vehicle platform, over-the-air update infrastructure, fleet management for commercial vans, driver assistance systems, and the embedded software stack that runs on Rivian's vehicles.
A 30-minute call about your background in embedded systems, connected vehicle platforms, or automotive software and your interest in EV engineering.
A 60-minute coding interview covering algorithms and systems programming. Embedded systems or real-time OS concepts may appear for firmware roles.
Design a Rivian system such as the OTA update distribution system, fleet telematics pipeline, vehicle-to-cloud data sync, or driver assistance feature architecture.
Two to three rounds covering deep embedded or cloud systems design, coding, and behavioral interviews.
Design Rivian's OTA (over-the-air) update system that safely updates software on 100,000 vehicles.
How would you build a fleet telematics platform that ingests real-time data from Rivian's commercial van fleet?
Design the vehicle-to-cloud data pipeline that syncs driving logs, diagnostics, and sensor data.
How would you implement a rollback mechanism for OTA updates that detects failed updates and restores previous versions?
Design Rivian's connected services backend that enables remote lock, unlock, and pre-conditioning.
How would you build a predictive maintenance system that detects battery degradation patterns?
Design the in-vehicle infotainment system architecture with offline capability and cloud sync.
How would you implement a software-defined vehicle feature flag system that enables/disables vehicle capabilities remotely?
Design a route planning system that accounts for charging station availability and battery range.
Tell me about a time you shipped safety-critical software with zero tolerance for failure.
Study automotive software development standards including ISO 26262 functional safety and AUTOSAR software architecture.
Understand OTA update architecture for embedded systems — delta updates, A/B partition schemes, and how to ensure update safety for safety-critical vehicle components.
Review CAN bus, LIN, and automotive Ethernet protocols that are used for intra-vehicle communication.
Rivian uses a Linux-based vehicle OS — knowledge of embedded Linux, real-time operating systems, and device drivers is valuable.
EV-specific engineering knowledge including battery management systems, charging protocols (CCS, CHAdeMO, NACS), and thermal management is a differentiator.
Safety is paramount — demonstrate a safety-first engineering mindset where you proactively consider failure modes.
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