Staff Software Engineer, Backend (Manufacturing Systems)

Palo Alto, California, Remote. Posted a month ago

The role

The Staff Software Engineer will architect and develop manufacturing applications that bridge shop-floor equipment and enterprise systems. This role involves engineering scalable applications for data flow, real-time control, and production insights.

What you will do

Provide technical leadership and guidance to a team of engineers
Design and architect complex backend systems for equipment integration
Mentor and coach other engineers
Tackle complex technical challenges to optimize manufacturing processes
Champion code quality standards and conduct code reviews
Identify and address performance bottlenecks in backend systems
Communicate with technical and non-technical stakeholders
Take ownership of projects and initiatives

Required qualifications

10+ years of professional software development experience with a strong focus on backend development
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience
Mastery of at least one backend language: Node.js, Python, C, C++
Experience with frameworks and libraries for building cloud applications
Familiarity with industrial communication protocols (e.g. CIP, Modbus, MQTT) OPC UA
Experience integrating with factory equipment (e.g. Programmable Logic Controllers, Robot controllers)
Experience designing and developing firmware or software for resource-constrained embedded systems
Familiarity with hardware interfaces, real-time operating systems (RTOS), and debugging at the hardware level
Experience designing and developing RESTful APIs, gRPC, including API documentation and versioning
Strong understanding of data processing techniques
Experience with message queues and stream processing (e.g.NATS, Kafka, RabbitMQ)
Knowledge of security best practices for backend systems and industrial environments

Nice to have

Golang

Benefits

competitive base salary
annual company performance bonus program
equity in the form of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)
health coverage
retirement savings
time off
family planning programs

About the company

Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is a joint venture between two industry leaders. They address the challenges of electric vehicles through technology for operating systems, zonal controllers, cloud, and connectivity solutions.