Rivian‘s staff lead steering engineer, who led its steer-by-wire team, left the company on Friday after joining in 2020, his manager said in a LinkedIn post that also said the EV maker is hiring to replace him.
“A bitter-sweet day as our Staff Lead Steering Engineer, Niroj Nayak, leaves Rivian today after joining us back in 2020,” wrote Laurence Le Vay, Rivian’s Senior Manager of Chassis for Steering, Wheels and Tires.
Le Vay said he had managed Nayak for two years after taking over the chassis steering engineering team. “I’m incredibly grateful for our time working together, particularly on our Steer-By-Wire (SBW) program, and for watching him step up to lead the SBW team with such capability,” he wrote.
“We have some huge shoes to fill,” Le Vay added. “If you are a talented steering engineer looking to take the baton on cutting-edge vehicle development here in Southern California, please reach out directly. We are hiring!”
Nayak reposted the farewell without adding any details about where he is going after Rivian.
Six Years in Chassis
Nayak joined the EV maker in February 2020 as a Chassis Engineer in Plymouth, Michigan, became Senior Chassis Engineer in Irvine, California, in July 2021 and Lead Chassis Engineer in December 2023, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Before Rivian, he worked as a design engineer at Toyota North America, as a design release engineer at Optimal CA working on front suspension and subframe systems, and as a chassis engineer at SF Motors, according to the profile.
Le Vay said Nayak had “overdelivered on every single challenge” over the past two years. “He leaves us with the true archetype mold of what a Staff Lead Engineer should be,” he wrote.
The SBW Program
Steer-by-wire replaces the mechanical link between the steering wheel and the wheels with electronic controls, allowing the steering ratio to change with speed and freeing up design space inside the cabin.
Rivian has not publicly said which model will use the technology. Its work became visible in August 2025, when it advertised for a “Staff Technical Program Manager, Steering Actuator System” with “full cradle-to-grave ownership of the SBW subsystem.”
Le Vay himself has recruited for the work before. He advertised the steering actuator program manager role in August 2025 and a senior chassis steering mechanical engineer in April.
Rivian’s careers site currently lists a Senior Chassis Steering Mechanical Engineer role in Irvine. The posting says the engineer will own “clean-sheet engineering design of steering mechatronic and hardware systems,” from power-assist columns “and steer-by-wire actuators” to steering gears and tie-rods, and drive projects “from concept through production release.”
The listing does not name a vehicle program.
Other Rivian postings have referred to rear-wheel steering and a 48-volt electrical architecture, though the company has not said whether those technologies are meant for the same vehicle.
Rivian’s newer vehicles sit on its midsize platform, which underpins the R2 SUV now in production and the planned R3 and R3X. The company will hold its second Autonomy & AI Day on December 9 at its Palo Alto office.
Rivals Already Ship It
Several automakers already sell vehicles with steer-by-wire. Tesla uses it on the Cybertruck, which it plans to stop building in mid-2027, and said its new Roadster has a steer-by-wire yoke.
In China, all three versions of Nio‘s ES9 flagship SUV come with steer-by-wire and rear-wheel steering, and XPeng‘s GX is the first production model to carry a new steer-by-wire system from Bosch Huayu, a joint venture between Bosch and SAIC’s Huayu Automotive Systems.
Other Departures and Hires
Nayak’s exit follows two senior departures. Chief Financial Officer Claire McDonough left on October 30 to become finance chief at GE Vernova, and Chief Strategy Officer Dagan Mishoulam left after nearly 11 years to join chip designer Arm as Vice President, Strategy and Partnerships for Physical AI.
Rivian named Derek Mulvey Interim Chief Financial Officer from October 30. McDonough forfeited 730,292 unvested restricted stock units on her last day, worth about $8.9 million.
Jon Franklin, Rivian’s Vice President and Corporate Controller, left in September after four and a half years. Hims & Hers named him Chief Accounting Officer on October 7.
Rivian also eliminated jobs in its Title and Registration department on October 12, according to affected employees, at least the fifth reduction since June 2025. The company did not announce that cut.
Rivian continues to hire. It brought in Jody Kerns, who led general assembly for Tesla’s Cybercab at Gigafactory Texas, as Director of General Assembly for the R2 at its plant in Normal, Illinois, in October.
The departures come as Rivian ramps up the R2. It started a second R2 production shift in Normal in the third quarter, delivered a record 19,248 vehicles in the period and raised its 2026 outlook to 67,000 to 70,000 deliveries from 65,000 to 70,000.
This week, Robert Vennekotter, who spent a year at Lucid, said on LinkedIn that he was starting “a new chapter,” with his profile listing him as Manager of Service Support Operations at Rivian.
