Software Engineering Intern – Embedded Software

Job Description

Software Engineering Intern, Vehicle Controls – Fall 2026 | Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies

The Tone:
This is an internship at Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies, located in Palo Alto, CA or Irvine, CA. Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is a joint venture focused on defining the next chapter of automotive technology, from operating systems to cloud and connectivity solutions. The organization addresses the challenges of electric vehicles by developing technology that sets new standards for software-defined vehicles globally. This role is an integral part of the Vehicle Control Systems Organization, where you will implement and validate low-level embedded software for critical vehicle functions, contributing directly to the safety and reliability of electronic control units.

The TL;DR
• Role: Internship
• Type: Full-time
• Location: In-person, Palo Alto, CA or Irvine, CA

• Team: Vehicle Control Systems Organization (various teams within Vehicle Controls department)
• Mission: Implement and validate low-level embedded software for critical vehicle functions such as energy storage, power modes, or foundational motion control features to ensure system safety and reliability.
• Tech Stack: C/C++, Python

What You’ll Actually Do
• Implement: Implement and validate embedded software for vehicle systems, such as battery and energy management systems.
• Develop: Develop features for low and high voltage systems, including power and current distribution, DC/DC controls, or fault detection and recovery.
• Design: Design scalable software architectures with a focus on embedded system reliability and performance.
• Automate: Contribute to the automated testing framework by writing automated tests for software components, utilizing Unit, Software-in-the-Loop (SIL), and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) environments.
• Collaborate: Work with systems engineers to define feature requirements and collaborate with test engineers to test, validate, and debug algorithms before deployment.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Currently enrolled in a Bachelor’s or Master’s program in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, or a closely related technical field at an accredited US university, with the intent to return to school following completion of the internship.
• Experience: Student level pursuing a degree.
• Skills: Proficiency in C/C++ and/or Python.
• Bonus: Experience working in a Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) environment; experience working with CAN, LIN, UDS, DoIP communication protocols; experience with Microcontroller and PID (proportional–integral–derivative controller); experience working with advanced 32-bit multi-core microcontrollers.