Staff Software Engineer

About Us
Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is a joint venture between two industry leaders with a clear vision for automotive's next chapter. From operating systems to zonal controllers to cloud and connectivity solutions, we're addressing the challenges of electric vehicles through technology that will set the standards for software-defined vehicles around the world.

The road to the future is uncharted. By combining our expertise across connectivity, AI, security and more, we'll map a new way forward. Working together, we'll create a future that's more connected, more intelligent, more sustainable for everyone.

Role Summary
The Staff Software Engineer - OTA will play a strategic and technical leadership role in shaping the architecture, scalability, and security of Over-the-Air (OTA) software update systems for next-generation connected vehicles. As a Staff Engineer, you will drive the design and evolution of the OTA middleware platform, mentor senior and junior engineers, and serve as a key technical liaison across embedded, cloud, security, and product teams. You will set technical direction, solve cross-domain challenges, and ensure the delivery of resilient and performant OTA solutions at scale.

Responsibilities
Architecture & Technical Leadership:

• Define and evolve the end-to-end architecture for OTA middleware systems, ensuring modularity, extensibility, and long-term scalability.
• Set engineering best practices for system reliability, security, and performance.
• Make strategic technical decisions and conduct design reviews across multiple teams and domains.
• Lead proof-of-concept and R&D efforts for next-gen OTA capabilities (e.g., delta updates, predictive rollbacks).

Design & Development

• Design and implement core OTA middleware components and services, with deep consideration for fault tolerance, state management, and data integrity.
• Build APIs and robust communication frameworks between in-vehicle systems and cloud platforms.
• Ensure the OTA system meets high availability, uptime, and performance requirements in real-world automotive environments.

Collaboration & Influence

• Work cross-functionally with embedded, cloud, cybersecurity, compliance, and product teams to drive OTA integration and alignment across the stack.
• Act as a technical mentor and advisor for other engineers, guiding code quality, design decisions, and career development.
• Collaborate with product leadership to shape roadmap and prioritize features based on system impact and strategic goals.

Security, Compliance & Reliability

• Champion security-first design in all OTA communications, with robust authentication, encryption, and rollback protection mechanisms.
• Ensure systems are aligned with industry standards (e.g., ISO 21434, ISO and regulatory requirements.
• Drive observability and operational excellence through monitoring, diagnostics, and incident response improvements.

Documentation & Communication

• Author high-quality technical documentation including architecture overviews, API specs, and system diagrams.
• Communicate complex engineering trade-offs and proposals clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders

Qualifications
Education:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.

Experience

• 7+ years of software engineering experience, with at least 2 years in a technical leadership or Staff/Principal-level role.
• Proven expertise in building and scaling middleware, distributed systems, or connected vehicle software platforms.
• Experience with OTA systems in automotive, IoT, or embedded domains is highly desirable. Strong background in networking protocols (e.g., HTTP, MQTT, TCP/IP), OTA frameworks, and secure software update strategies.

Technical Skills

• Proficiency in Rust and C/C++ for systems-level development.
• Deep experience with Linux-based platforms and embedded operating systems.
• Familiarity with cloud services (e.g., AWS, Azure) and vehicle communication protocols (e.g., CAN, UDS, DoIP).
• Strong understanding of software security, cryptographic principles, and secure boot mechanisms.
• Experience with Bazel or other advanced build systems for managing large-scale, multi-language codebases.

Soft Skills

• Strategic thinker with strong system-level design and architectural skills.
• Effective mentor and technical leader with the ability to influence across teams.
• Clear communicator who can articulate trade-offs and align diverse stakeholders toward common goals.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience with automotive safety standards (e.g., ISO 26262, ASPICE).
• Knowledge of CI/CD pipelines tailored for OTA workflows and automotive-grade deployments.
• Exposure to machine learning or AI integration in automotive software systems

Pay Disclosure
Salary Range/Hourly Rate for California Based Applicants
: $186,000 - $232,500 (actual compensation will be determined based on experience, location, and other factors permitted by law).

Benefits Summary
: Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies provides robust medical/Rx, dental and vision insurance packages for full-time and part-time employees, their spouse or domestic partner, and children up to age 26. Full Time Employee coverage is effective on the first day of employment. Part-Time employee coverage is effective the first of the month following 90 days of employment.

Equal Opportunity

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information or characteristics, physical or mental disability, marital/domestic partner status, age, military/veteran status, medical condition, or any other characteristic protected by law. We are also committed to ensuring compliance with all applicable fair employment practice laws regarding citizenship and immigration status.

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is committed to ensuring that our hiring process is accessible for persons with disabilities. If you have a disability or limitation, such as those covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, that requires accommodations to assist you in the search and application process, please email us at

Candidate Data Privacy
Rivian and VW Group Technologies ("Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies") may collect, use and disclose your personal information or personal data (within the meaning of the applicable data protection laws) when you apply for employment and/or participate in our recruitment processes ("Candidate Personal Data"). This data includes contact, demographic, communications, educational, professional, employment, social media/website, network/device, recruiting system usage/interaction, security and preference information. Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies may use your Candidate Personal Data for the purposes of (i) tracking interactions with our recruiting system; (ii) carrying out, analyzing and improving our application and recruitment process, including assessing you and your application and conducting employment, background and reference checks; (iii) establishing an employment relationship or entering into an employment contract with you; (iv) complying with our legal, regulatory and corporate governance obligations; (v) recordkeeping; (vi) ensuring network and information security and preventing fraud; and (vii) as otherwise required or permitted by applicable law.

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies may share your Candidate Personal Data with (i) internal personnel who have a need to know such information in order to perform their duties, including individuals on our People Team, Finance, Legal, and the team(s) with the position(s) for which you are applying; (ii) Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies affiliates; and (iii) Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies' service providers, including providers of background checks, staffing services, and cloud services.

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies may transfer or store internationally your Candidate Personal Data, including to or in the United States, Canada, and the European Union and in the cloud, and this data may be subject to the laws and accessible to the courts, law enforcement and national security authorities of such jurisdictions.

Please see our Candidate Data Privacy Notice (English) and Candidate Data Privacy Notice (Serbian) for more information.

Please note that we are currently not accepting applications from third party application services.