Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe has taken on one other role inside the publicly traded EV maker as chief product officer Nick Kalayjian strikes out of the job and finally into an advisory place, according to a regulatory filing and inside emails seen by TechCrunch. Scaringe will now be answerable for all product improvement — a essential place at an organization engaged on a next-generation platform that is alleged to ship extra reasonably priced EVs and assist catapult Rivian into the mass market.
Kalayjian will transfer to the role of govt vp of auto engineering and propulsion and can proceed to report back to the CEO. Scaringe mentioned in an an inside e-mail seen by TechCrunch that Kalayjian might be centered on “Peregrine” (the next-gen platform that might be used throughout all autos – R1, R2 and the electrical supply van) earlier than he in the end transfers to a product and know-how advisory role.
“You have heard me repeatedly state in our company updates, it is critical that quality plays a central role across our business – this not only drives how our brand is perceived but it is a major enabler for our continued ramp,” Scaringe wrote in his e-mail to staff.
In a separate inside e-mail, Kalayjian wrote:
With this, the time has come for me to make a change. Over the previous couple of months, I’ve taken time to Zoom Out and have been speaking with RJ to know how my involvement might proceed to permit me to have an effect whereas letting me step again from my current role. My want to make adjustments aligns completely with RJ’s want to redirect extra of his time and power towards Product management. I’ve by no means met anybody in my life or profession who is a greater mixture of engineer and visionary product chief than RJ. I do know that him spending extra time working with our Product groups will create important worth for all of us and our shareholders.
The transfer consists of another shuffling on the govt workforce, particularly on who studies to Scaringe and Kalayjian.
Richard Farquhar, who has been vp of propulsion, might be stepping away from his present role December 11 and into a brand new role as senior vp of future R&D. He will report back to Scaringe upon his return subsequent 12 months. Quality and reliability groups led by Brad Thacker and Georgios Sarakakis can even report on to Scaringe.
Paul Frey, who heads up the charging, power and journey merchandise, will now be answerable for battery as effectively and can proceed to report back to Kalayjian. Silva Hiti, senior director of electrical energy conversion, and Henry Huang, senior director of energy and thermal engineering, can even report on to Kalayjian.
