Rivian Software Engineer interview with robotics debugging

The process felt fairly straightforward from the beginning. The interviewers were friendly, and we spent a lot of time discussing my actual projects and what I worked on day to day. Early on, I realized the role had been described in a way that blended into a systems engineering focus in the autonomy space, and the questions matched that impression.

One round focused on systems thinking and how I would debug a robotics or autonomy problem. The interviewer talked through the problem with me as we worked, which made it easier to stay calm and reason clearly instead of guessing. I also went through the usual behavioral and fit questions, and the overall tone was constructive.

The part that stood out most was being told that I had cleared every stage and that an offer letter was in progress. That made the wait feel hopeful. A couple of weeks later, though, the role was filled internally, so I never received the offer. I was disappointed, but it felt more like a timing and management decision than something I had done wrong.

Location: Irvine, CA. Overall feedback: Positive. Offer status: No offer.