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Automotive Engineer Jobs in Riverside, CA (NOW HIRING)

A good understanding of vehicle physics and automotive engineering. * Passion for Rivian's mission and commitment to fostering an inclusive, respectful, and collaborative workplace. * 1-3 years ...

A good understanding of vehicle physics and automotive engineering. * Passion for Rivian's mission and commitment to fostering an inclusive, respectful, and collaborative workplace. * 1-3 years ...

Software Engineer

Jurupa Valley, CA · Hybrid

$110K - $125K/yr

Practical knowledge in software engineering & automotive engineering * Skills in translating vehicle-level requirements into software requirements. * Proficient in creating software design documents ...

Software Engineer

Riverside, CA · On-site

$115K - $125K/yr

Practical knowledge in software engineering & automotive engineering * Skills in translating vehicle-level requirements into software requirements. * Proficient in creating software design documents ...

Automotive Assembler The Automotive Assembler installs, assembles, and finishes mechanical ... Follow detailed work instructions, engineering drawings, torque specifications, and quality ...

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Sheet metal layout & CNC programming experience * Knowledge of automotive systems * Knowledge of manufacturing processes * Engineering Mathematics * Finite element analysis (FEA) experience Required ...

Mechanical Engineer

Riverside, CA · On-site

$95K - $120K/yr

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Automotive Engineering, or related field * Minimum 3-5 years of experience in engineering, technical support, field service, heavy ...

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Knowledge of automotive systems * Knowledge of manufacturing processes * Engineering Mathematics Required Skills * Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings and written specifications

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Automotive Engineer information

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How much do automotive engineer jobs pay per hour?

As of Jun 15, 2026, the average hourly pay for automotive engineer in Riverside, CA is $36.32, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $32.36 and $36.11 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What engineers make $300,000 a year?

Senior automotive engineers with extensive experience, advanced skills in design and systems integration, and leadership roles can earn salaries approaching or exceeding $300,000 annually, especially in high-demand industries or companies. Such compensation often includes bonuses, stock options, and other incentives, typically requiring advanced degrees and specialized certifications.

What is the highest paid automotive engineer?

The highest paid automotive engineers typically work in senior or executive roles such as lead engineers, R&D managers, or specialized consultants, often earning over $150,000 annually. Salaries vary based on experience, location, and industry sector, with those in advanced research, electric vehicle development, or working for major automakers or tech companies earning the highest compensation.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as an Automotive Engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as an Automotive Engineer, you need a solid background in mechanical engineering principles, problem-solving skills, and a relevant degree in automotive or mechanical engineering. Familiarity with CAD software, simulation tools, and knowledge of industry standards such as ISO and SAE, as well as certifications like Professional Engineer (PE), are typically required. Strong teamwork, effective communication, and adaptability help you collaborate with multidisciplinary teams and respond to rapidly changing technologies. These skills ensure successful vehicle design, compliance with safety standards, and innovation in a competitive automotive market.

What Does an Automotive Engineer Do?

Automotive engineers design, develop, and test the mechanical components and subsystems of vehicles. As an automotive engineer, you may be asked to create engineering specifications, conduct design reviews, provide technical direction to other staff, modify existing parts in a lab, or perform various analyses. In some cases, automotive engineers perform emergency tests and checks to search for manufacturing defects and decide whether or not a recall should be ordered.

What engineers make $500,000?

Senior automotive engineers with extensive experience, advanced skills in design and systems, and leadership roles can earn salaries approaching or exceeding $500,000, especially in high-paying industries or companies. Such compensation often includes bonuses, stock options, or profit sharing, and typically requires advanced degrees and certifications. These roles are usually found in executive or specialized engineering positions within the automotive sector.

What does an automotive engineer do?

An automotive engineer is responsible for designing, developing, and testing vehicles and their subsystems. They work on improving the performance, safety, and efficiency of cars, trucks, and other automobiles. Their work often involves collaborating with other engineers to create new technologies, address regulatory requirements, and solve engineering challenges in vehicle production. Automotive engineers may specialize in areas such as structural design, electronics, or powertrain systems.

What are some common challenges automotive engineers face when working on new vehicle models?

Automotive engineers often encounter challenges related to balancing innovative design with strict safety and regulatory standards. They must also work within tight project timelines and budget constraints, all while ensuring that new technologies are both reliable and manufacturable at scale. Collaboration across multidisciplinary teams—including designers, software specialists, and manufacturing engineers—is essential to address issues such as integration of electronics, fuel efficiency, and sustainability. Navigating these complexities requires strong problem-solving skills and adaptability.

What is the difference between Automotive Engineer vs Mechanical Engineer?

AspectAutomotive EngineerMechanical Engineer
CredentialsBachelor's in Mechanical, Automotive, or related fields; possibly certifications like SAE or ASEBachelor's in Mechanical Engineering; professional engineer (PE) license optional
Work EnvironmentAutomotive manufacturing plants, R&D labs, design studiosFactories, design offices, research labs across various industries
Industry UsageAutomotive industry focus on vehicle design, testing, and productionBroad industry application including aerospace, manufacturing, energy, and more

Automotive Engineers specialize in vehicle design, testing, and manufacturing within the automotive industry, often requiring specific automotive certifications. Mechanical Engineers have a broader scope, working across multiple industries with similar foundational skills. Both roles share core engineering principles but differ in industry focus and application.

What jobs can automotive engineers do?

Automotive engineers can work in vehicle design, development, testing, and manufacturing. They often specialize in areas such as powertrain systems, safety features, or electronics, and may work in research labs, production plants, or design studios. Strong skills in CAD software, physics, and materials science are essential for these roles.
What are the most commonly searched types of Automotive Engineer jobs in Riverside, CA? The most popular types of Automotive Engineer jobs in Riverside, CA are:
What are popular job titles related to Automotive Engineer jobs in Riverside, CA? For Automotive Engineer jobs in Riverside, CA, the most frequently searched job titles are:
What job categories do people searching Automotive Engineer jobs in Riverside, CA look for? The top searched job categories for Automotive Engineer jobs in Riverside, CA are:
What cities near Riverside, CA are hiring for Automotive Engineer jobs? Cities near Riverside, CA with the most Automotive Engineer job openings:
Durability Data Analytics Engineer

Durability Data Analytics Engineer

Rivian

Irvine, CA

$96K - $120K/yr

Other

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Retirement, PTO

Posted 7 days ago


Rivian rating

7.4

Company rating: 7.4 out of 10

Based on 156 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

17th of 44 rated automakers


Job description

About Rivian
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 Durability Attribute engineers predict and test the range of loads and stresses Rivian vehicles will experience over life and need to be durable for-a challenging prediction problem with many unknowns. With access to large-scale vehicle fleet data and software-defined vehicles that offer greater scope for control and autonomy, vehicle durability is at the forefront of data-driven engineering at Rivian ensuring the "Forever" in Rivian's mission of Keeping the World Adventurous Forever.
As a Durability Data Analytics Engineer, you will be part of the collaborative team of simulation, test, and data analytics engineers making Rivian vehicles adventurous yet durable for our customers. You will work with real-world, virtual, and vehicle test data, to identify, classify, and predict customer travel, driving, road surfaces, and other use cases, as well as undesirable events such as ground strikes or recovery events that impact loads on the vehicle and cause lifetime degradation. You will also develop and correlate a hybrid of data- and physics-based models to predict loads and vibrations at various suspension, body, and propulsion components to reduce the need for repeated complex-physics simulations and instrumented vehicle tests. Through your work, you will have the opportunity to improve process automation, efficiency, and standardization of vehicle durability target development.
Responsibilities
  • Fleet Data Analytics:
    • Develop fleet data analyses mapping travel, driving, road infrastructure, and vehicle usage across the US and other markets. Build classification models to identify usage archetypes, usage frequency, and their correlations.
  • Data-Driven Modeling and Standardization: ,
    • Develop and validate machine learning models to estimate vehicle loads, drive events, fatigue damage, and vibration spectra from vehicle CAN data signals, wheel-force transducer data, or accelerometer data.
    • Develop models to standardize vibration spectra at different vehicle locations across vehicle variants and platforms.
    • Learn from simulation and test data to develop a library of regression models for variance in component loads and fatigue damage with variations in system design parameters and usage types.
  • Process Optimization:
    • Automate processes such as component block cycle development and accelerated duty cycle development from real-world duty cycle.
    • Apply machine learning on past CAE results to develop ways to reduce the number of CAE test cases and runs.

Qualifications
  • Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or Computer Science.
  • A good understanding of vehicle physics and automotive engineering.
  • Passion for Rivian's mission and commitment to fostering an inclusive, respectful, and collaborative workplace.
  • 1-3 years experience in data analytics for automotive or related engineering applications.
  • Experience with Python (Pandas, Numpy), PySpark, Matlab, and SQL applied to big datasets. Project or research experience with large time series datasets is desired.
  • Demonstrated expertise with various machine learning techniques applied to automotive use data, test data, or simulation data.
  • Experience in fatigue life estimation (e.g., Rainflow counting, Miner's Rule) and statistical methods (e.g., Weibull analysis)
  • Demonstrated experience in analytical writing (reports, white papers, publications) and clear-and-concise presentations, with attention to detail.

Pay Disclosure
The salary range for this role is $96,700 - $120,900 for California (Bay area) based applicants. This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employee's position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, specific competencies, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, shift, and organizational needs.
The successful candidate may be eligible for annual performance bonus and equity awards.
We offer a comprehensive package of benefits for full-time and part-time employees, their spouse or domestic partner, and children up to age 26, including but not limited to paid vacation, paid sick leave, and a competitive portfolio of insurance benefits including life, medical, dental, vision, short-term disability insurance, and long-term disability insurance to eligible employees. You may also have the opportunity to participate in Rivian's 401(k) Plan and Employee Stock Purchase Program if you meet certain eligibility requirements. Full-time employee coverage is effective on their first day of employment. Part-time employee coverage is effective the first of the month following 90 days of employment. More information about benefits is available at rivianbenefits.com.
You can apply for this role through careers.rivian.com (or through internal-careers-rivian.icims.com if you are a current employee). This job is not expected to be closed any sooner than 4/30/2026.
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
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.

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About Rivian

Sourced by ZipRecruiter

Rivian is a pioneering automotive industry player headquartered in Irvine, California. Established in 2009, the company has made notable advancements in developing sustainable transportation solutions. It is widely recognized for its electric adventure vehicles: the R1T pickup and the R1S SUV. Rivian is dedicated to creating a positive shift in societal mobility and emphasizes sustainability, innovation, and adventure as part of its core values. Their mission is to keep the world adventurous forever - a testament to their commitment in transitioning the world to sustainable transportation. Rivian's achievements are numerous, with one of the most notable being securing a significant multi-billion dollar investment from Amazon for the production of electric delivery vans.

Industry

Automobile dealers

Company size

10,000+ Employees

Headquarters location

Irvine, CA, US

Year founded

2009