Rawlinson, who joined Lucid in 2013 and held the role of the chief technology officer, will be replacing Sam Weng, who is also the company's co-founder.
Rawlinson, who will also retain his role as CTO, was the Model S engineering chief for three years from 2009.
Lucid, which has more than $1 billion investment from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, said Weng has retired following his 11-year long tenure with the company.
Based in Newark, California, Lucid Motors was founded in 2007 as Atieva by Weng and Bernard Tse, a former Tesla vice president and board member.