Electric vehicle startup Rivian has hired General Motors engineer Alex Archer in just the latest instance of the EV manufacturer pinching rising talent from traditional automotive manufacturers.

The 27-year-old engineer graduated from Stanford University in 2015 and was immediately put to work by GM where she led the team that invented the intriguing power sliding console featured in the 2020 GMC Yukon and Yukon XL, Denali, Chevrolet Tahoe, and Chevrolet Suburban. Archer’s name is listed on the GM patent for the console.

Speaking with The Detroit Free Press, a Rivian spokeswoman said Archer will start on June 22 as a design and release engineer.

“We are always looking for talent that performs best in the tension between the excitement of building something new, and the important learning that comes from established products and processes,” Rivian chief people officer Helen Russell said. “We’re excited to have people like Alex coming on board because they represent the best of that balance.”

While working at GM, Archer and her team spent nine months devising a prototype for the sliding console and spent a further six months to get it greenlit for production.

While Rivian was hit by the coronavirus pandemic like all other car manufacturers, it is still in growth mode and aggressively expanding its workforce as it works on bringing the R1T pickup, R1S SUV, and the all-electric Amazon Van to the roads in 2021 and 2022.

According to Rivian spokeswoman Amy Mast, in April 2019 the company had 800 employees, and that number has now increased to 2,200 employees.

“Pre-COVID, we had about 50 people starting each Monday. We are now back up to just shy of 50,” Mast said. “That’s going to be the rate to finish the car.”

 

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