Rivian (RIVN) Founder/CEO to head up EV product development following staff reshuffle

Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe is adding another title to his resume, assuming the responsibilities of leading all product development as the American automaker’s current chief product officer begins a transition into platform development ahead of a future advisory role.

Rivian Automotive as we know it today, was originally founded as Mainstream Motors in 2009 by CEO RJ Scaringe, an MIT grad who studied engineering and lean manufacturing.

Since rebranding the company to Rivian in 2011, Scaringe has been the nucleus of a unique sustainability-forward mobility innovator that many would argue has not even come close to realizing its full potential yet.

After successfully delivering its first two flagship EVs, the R1S and R1T, Rivian appears to have hit its stride in scaled production, reporting continued growth on its assembly lines alongside a shrinking margin in losses.

During its Q3 call with investors, Rivian’s CEO explained the company had exceeded delivery expectations with 15,564 EVs sent to customers – up 24% from Q2 and more than double last year’s numbers. Overall, the automaker assembled 16,304 EVs during the quarter, representing 17% growth from Q2.

As Rivian continues to grow and progress toward developing encore technology to follow the R1 vehicles, its founder and CEO is taking an even larger role in ensuring the company’s products continue to meet its ethos of quality and leadership.

Filing says Rivian CEO to take over as chief product officer

Rivian submitted a regulatory filing to the SEC on November 20, 2023, outlining the shifting of responsibilities of product development, putting its current CEO at the helm. Per the filing:

On November 20, 2023, Rivian Automotive, Inc. (the “Company”) announced changes in the product organization with Dr. Robert Joseph Scaringe, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer (the “CEO”), assuming direct responsibility for all product functions. The product reporting structure includes Software, Autonomy, Design, Vehicle, Electrical, Propulsion, and Programs. The Company’s Chief Product Development Officer is moving to the role of Executive Vice President, Vehicle Engineering & Propulsion and will continue to report to the CEO.

The automaker’s outgoing CPO is Nick Kalayjian, who will become the new EVP in order to, according to Scaringe, focus on the development of Rivian’s next-generation “Peregrine” platform before transitioning again into an advisory role. In an internal email obtained by TechCrunch, Kalayjian wrote:

With this, the time has come for me to make a change. Over the last few months, I’ve taken time to Zoom Out and have been talking with RJ to understand how my involvement could continue to allow me to have an impact while letting me step back from my existing role. My desire to make changes aligns perfectly with RJ’s desire to redirect more of his time and energy toward Product leadership. I have never met anyone in my life or career who is a better mix of engineer and visionary product leader than RJ. I know that him spending more time working with our Product teams will create significant value for all of us and our shareholders.

Kalayjian’s move out of chief product development officer has had a ripple effect on other Rivian executives as well. For example, the automaker’s current vice president of propulsion, Richard Farquhar, will be stepping out of that role on December 11 and into a new position as the senior vice president of future R&D.

Paul Frey, who currently leads Rivian’s charging, energy, and adventure products, will take on battery development as well, working with Kalayjian. Silva Hiti, senior director of electric power conversion, and Henry Huang, senior director of power and thermal engineering, will now also report directly to Kalayjian.

Quality and reliability team leaders Brad Thacker and Georgios Sarakakis, as well as Farquhar, will report directly to Rivian founder/CEO/chief product officer RJ Scaringe in 2024.