How is life at Rivian as an engineering manager
There seems to be quite a few engineering management positions available. How is the general feel of the company? Wlb, comp, challenges, etc? What are some of the challenges you see/have?
I'm not a manager, but from what I can tell Rivian is struggling with a lot of similar things that challenge high-growth startups. We have a ton that we're trying to do so a manager needs to be good at hiring and onboarding a team quickly, figuring out how the players on their team work with their greater org, defining roles & boundaries for them to work in, defining and managing business processes, etc. We have a lot of process that's described at a high level, but as you get further into the weeds there's definitely more to be done (this could vary a lot based on your team, though). Rivian is an exciting company to work for, it's very mission driven and ambitious. This does make it challenging, but I feel that my efforts are going to a company that will actually make a difference. Electrifying the auto industry and moving the grid to sustainable energy are two huge things that humanity needs to put our efforts into, and I'm glad that I'm tackling one of these every day.
Thank you. This is a great detailed reply, really appreciate it. Maybe I’ll hit you up for a referral at some point 😉
Do you know what is the remote policies? Does everyone need to be in office now (or going forward)
Everyone is not required to be in the office right now, however as a company Rivian is reasonably pro-office. Come Together is one of the Compass values, and there's an implication that a certain level of that will be in-person. That being said, most engineering roles are considered Flex (don't remember if that's the official term or not, but it's something like that) so starting sometime this spring you'll be expected to be in the office at least like 1-3 days per week. Official guidance on this has been pretty light, but the vibe that I get is that it can be a personal decision to maximize how you and your team work best. When my day is packed with external calls, I stay home. When I have meetings with people I'm co-located with, I do it in person. I'm usually in the office 4 days a week.
7 am to 9 pm Monday to Saturday. Sunday and vacations respond emails with 1 hr
That sounds rough. What is the time spent on? What are the challenges?
One manager I know said that's how they earn that stock compensation.