Rivera began his career with Atléticos de San Juan in his native Puerto Rico.

He participated in tournaments through England, South America, Spain with San Juan, and also represented Puerto Rico in the Caribbean and Central American Games Rivera signed with the Puerto Rico Islanders prior to their first season in the A-League in 2004, and has been a part of the team ever since.

He won the 2004 Athlete of the Year award from the Puerto Rico Soccer Federation, and was part of the Islanders team which won the 2008 USL First Division regular season title and progressed to the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Champions League 2008–09.

After the dissolution of the Islanders in 2012, Rivera continued play with local Puerto Rico teams as well as the national team, most recently earning the spot of Captain for the newly re-formed Puerto Rico Bayamon F.C., a team scheduled to commence play within the NPSL in its 2014 season and the CFU.

This biographical article related to Puerto Rican association football is a stub.