Staff Software Engineer, OTA Platform

The role

You will own architecture-level decisions for OTA features including firmware updates and configuration management. You will drive site development in Germany and mentor engineers while collaborating with the global team in Palo Alto.

What you will do

• Develop OTA features for firmware updates, ECU configuration, and mismatch detection
• Collaborate daily with the Palo Alto team on architecture and release planning
• Design update strategies like full-image, delta, and A/B partitioning
• Define software/hardware compatibility frameworks
• Drive interface discussions with cloud and backend teams
• Integrate OTA services with ECUs and cloud endpoints using communication protocols
• Ensure OTA processes meet automotive security and safety expectations
• Partner with QA, functional safety, and cybersecurity teams for validation
• Support root-cause analysis for field issues
• Lead architecture reviews and Germany-site development activities

Required qualifications

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, including embedded, systems, or automotive software
• Experience owning system or platform architecture for a production software product
• Track record of leading technical initiatives across multiple engineers or teams
• Experience interfacing with a partner engineering team in a different location/time zone
• Proficiency in C++ and Rust
• Understanding of embedded Linux / POSIX-compliant operating environments
• Experience with in-vehicle and vehicle-to-cloud communication protocols
• Experience driving technical interface discussions with cloud/backend engineering teams
• Experience with version control, code review workflows, and CI/CD for embedded or systems software
• Working knowledge of cryptographic concepts for secure software delivery
• Strong debugging skills across application, OS, and hardware layers
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Electrical/Computer Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience

Nice to have

• German language skills
• Prior experience in OTA/software update systems for vehicles or connected embedded devices
• Experience establishing or scaling a new engineering site or team
• Exposure to Machine Learning / AI techniques applied to edge compute
• Automotive middleware development experience on POSIX-based ECUs
• Familiarity with Yocto/embedded Linux build systems and board support packages
• Experience with functional safety practices (ISO 26262) and automotive cybersecurity standards (ISO/SAE 21434)
• Knowledge of software bill of materials (SBOM) tooling
• Experience with Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) test environments and automotive diagnostic tooling
• Familiarity with containerization or virtualization on embedded targets

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

Before you apply

• Willingness to travel occasionally to Palo Alto, CA or host virtual overlap hours

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 software-defined vehicles.