Senior Lead - Corporate Business Development

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

As a key member of Rivian's Corporate Business Development team, you will lead the structuring and execution of commercial partnerships, joint ventures, and other high-impact external engagements that support Rivian's mission and company goals. Reporting to the Director of Corporate Business Development, you will own deal processes end to end, including strategy formulation, financial modeling, due diligence, project management across a variety of stakeholders and workstreams, negotiation, and deal execution. You will work with senior leaders, internal cross-functional partners, and our most important external partners. This role focuses on leading strategic, complex transactions across multiple stakeholder groups.

The Corporate Business Development team leads Rivian's flagship deals, including the 100,000-unit Electric Delivery Van (EDV) partnership with Amazon, the technology joint venture with Volkswagen Group, and the 50,000-unit robotaxi program with Uber. Day one, you will step directly into live workstreams on the next-generation EDV program, electrical architecture and component sharing with VW, and the R2-based robotaxi service agreement with Uber. You will also lead a portfolio of smaller, high-value strategic deals, carrying them from origination through to close.

This position offers considerable autonomy and significant potential for career progression within Rivian. We are hiring for someone who can grow into broader leadership of the function.

• Owns Rivian's flagship commercial relationships: direct accountability for structuring and advancing programs with Amazon, VW, and Uber
• Turns ambiguity into board-ready decisions: builds the model, drafts the term sheet or MOU, and brings a structured recommendation — with risks and alternatives — to executive leadership
• Sits across the table from senior counterparties: represents Rivian with credibility in negotiations with partner executives and their advisors
• Carries deals through to delivery: ensures commitments survive the hand-off from signing to operating teams

Responsibilities

• Evaluate commercial partnerships, investments, joint ventures, and other external opportunities from both a qualitative and quantitative perspective.
• Drive strategic deals from origination through diligence, negotiation, and close, serving as the relationship owner, negotiator, and external face of Rivian.
• Build financial and scenario models from scratch to support valuation, return expectations, and the economics that feed term sheets and MOUs; partner with Finance for the most complex modeling
• Draft and iterate term sheets, MOUs, and deal structures in partnership with Legal and outside counsel.

• Partner with senior leaders to shape strategy and solutions for complex questions, engaging business executives, subject matter experts, and cross-functional teams.
• Distill complex findings and build clear, compelling business cases for review by Rivian's executive team and Board of Directors.
• Bring well-structured recommendations to leadership with the key risks, trade-offs, and a clear ask — and exercise sound judgment on which decisions to make independently and which to escalate.

• Project manage multiple deal workstreams concurrently across Finance, Legal, Engineering, Product, and Operations with competing timelines
• Support hand-off and execution following deal close, ensuring commitments are carried through with internal partners.
• Maintain a strong pulse on automotive, EV, autonomy, and technology market dynamics to surface emerging strategic opportunities.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional experience in corporate finance transactions — mergers & acquisitions, private placements, public equity or securities offerings — or in corporate development, corporate business development, or top-tier management consulting.
• Demonstrated track record leading large, complex transactions or partnerships from origination through close, with personal ownership of negotiated terms.
• Exceptional Excel and PowerPoint skills are a must, including building rigorous financial models from scratch and producing polished, board-ready presentations.
• Demonstrated ability to lead big, complex deals and to sit comfortably and credibly in front of senior leaders, both internally and across counterparties.
• Strong financial, research, and analytical skills, with the ability to assimilate data, extract insights, and make informed recommendations with conviction.
• Sound judgment to navigate ambiguity and high-stakes decisions — including the ability to structure a recommendation, lay out the risks, and know when to decide versus escalate
• Depth of thinking that holds up under scrutiny: able to deconstruct the logic of a deal thesis and defend it in detail with executive and technical audiences.
• Highly organized with strong attention to detail - we are responsible for everything.
• Ability to problem-solve and proactively project manage numerous workstreams with competing timelines.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to convey complex ideas in plain English to senior management.
• Self-starter mentality with the ability to work autonomously and drive projects to completion.
• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Business, Economics, or a related quantitative field.

• Experience in automotive, EV, autonomous systems, mobility, energy, or technology.
• Experience structuring or managing joint ventures or multi-party strategic alliances.
• Prior preparation of materials for investment committees, executive committees, or Boards.
• MBA or advanced degree in business, finance, or a related discipline.

Pay Disclosure

The salary range for this role is USD 173,000-216,300 for applicants in Palo Alto, California. 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 an 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 on 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 December 31, 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 [email protected].

Candidate Data Privacy and Technology

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.  

How We Use AI in Our Hiring Process: To ensure transparency, we want candidates to know that Rivian uses iCIMS Talent Cloud Artificial Intelligence (TCAI) and AI-enabled tools to assist with screening, reviewing, organizing and highlighting profiles and applications that match the key requirements for each role.

AI does not make hiring decisions: Qualified candidate applications are reviewed by a member of our team, and all decisions throughout the process are made by humans. We use AI to support efficiency and consistency, not to replace human judgment. We are committed to a fair, thoughtful, and equitable experience for every candidate.

Participation in AI profile matching is entirely voluntary. If you prefer that your profile not be used in this process, you can opt out at any time. Opting out means your profile will be excluded from automated matching and will not be surfaced for additional roles through this system. Your current application remains active and will not be affected in any way.

Interview Integrity & AI Policy 

Our interview process is designed to evaluate your personal technical foundation, real-time problem-solving logic, and structured capabilities. Therefore, the use of assistive generative AI tools to formulate or deliver your solutions during live interview sessions is not permitted. We care most about how you think — how you make sense of unclear requirements, weigh trade-offs, and explain why you chose one approach over another. We value your unique human perspective, your authenticity, and the journey it takes to reach a solution.

Please note that we are currently not accepting applications from third party application services.