Staff Software Engineer, OTA Platform

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 Over-the-Air (OTA) Platform team builds the software delivery backbone for the vehicle: firmware updates, ECU configuration management, and software/hardware compatibility validation across the vehicle's compute and ECU landscape. The Germany-based OTA engineering group works in close, daily collaboration with the core OTA development team headquartered in Palo Alto, California, extending platform architecture to European vehicle programs and regional ECU suppliers, and representing site-specific requirements back into the global roadmap. We are looking for a Staff Software Engineer to anchor and grow our Over-the-Air (OTA) engineering capability at our Germany site. In this role, you will own architecture-level decisions for OTA features spanning firmware updates, configuration updates, and software/hardware mismatch handling, working in tight lockstep with the OTA development team in Palo Alto. You will be the senior technical voice for OTA in Germany — driving site development activities, setting technical direction, mentoring engineers, and ensuring the Germany team's contributions integrate cleanly into a single, global OTA architecture. This role is based in our Berlin office and requires a minimum of three days per week onsite, with occasional travel to other company and partner sites as needed. Responsibilities Develop OTA features and services covering firmware update delivery, ECU/software configuration updates, and software-hardware mismatch detection and remediation. Collaborate daily with the OTA development team in Palo Alto on system architecture, API contracts, and release planning; ensure Germany-site work streams stay aligned with the global OTA roadmap. Design update strategies (full-image, delta/differential, A/B partitioning) that guarantee safe, resumable, and rollback-capable updates across heterogeneous ECUs. Define and evolve the software/hardware compatibility (mismatch) framework, including version dependency graphs, pre-condition checks, and campaign eligibility rules. Drive interface and contract discussions with cloud/backend teams (campaign orchestration, telemetry ingestion, update eligibility services) to keep vehicle-side and cloud-side assumptions in sync. Work with communication protocol stacks used for in-vehicle and vehicle-to-cloud data exchange (e.g., UDS/ISO 14229, DoIP, SOME/IP, CAN/CAN-FD, Automotive Ethernet, TLS/mTLS, MQTT) to integrate OTA services with ECUs and cloud endpoints. Ensure OTA processes meet automotive security and safety expectations: secure boot, cryptographic signing/verification, key management, and compliance-oriented practices aligned with ISO/SAE 21434 and UNECE R156 (Software Update Management System). Partner with QA, functional safety, cybersecurity, and vehicle integration teams to validate updates through bench, HIL, and vehicle-level testing. Support root-cause analysis and resolution of field issues related to update failures, mismatches, or rollback scenarios. Take a leading role in architecture reviews and design decisions for the global OTA platform, representing Germany-site needs and constraints while upholding overall system coherence. Drive Germany-site development activities end-to-end: technical planning, design reviews, code quality standards, and delivery execution. Mentor and provide technical guidance to Senior and mid-level engineers on the Germany team; review designs and code for correctness, performance, and maintainability. Identify architectural risks and technical debt early; propose and lead initiatives to address them across the OTA stack. Act as a key escalation point for complex, cross-cutting technical issues spanning firmware, middleware, and cloud interfaces. Qualifications Minimum Qualifications: 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, including significant time in embedded, systems, or automotive software. Demonstrated experience owning system or platform architecture for a production software product, ideally in automotive, IoT, or another safety- or reliability-critical domain. Track record of leading technical initiatives across multiple engineers or teams, including cross-site or cross-organization collaboration. Experience directly interfacing with a partner engineering team in a different location/time zone to align on architecture and delivery. Strong, hands-on proficiency in C++ and Rust — this is a core, non-negotiable requirement, as the majority of OTA services are implemented in these languages. Solid understanding of embedded Linux / POSIX-compliant operating environments and the constraints of resource-limited automotive compute platforms. Practical experience with in-vehicle and vehicle-to-cloud communication protocols (e.g., CAN/CAN-FD, Automotive Ethernet, SOME/IP, UDS/DoIP, TLS, MQTT, gRPC/Protobuf, or comparable). Comfortable driving technical interface discussions directly with cloud/backend engineering teams — defining APIs, data contracts, and failure-handling behavior across the vehicle-cloud boundary. Experience with version control, code review workflows, and CI/CD for embedded or systems software. Working knowledge of cryptographic concepts used in secure software delivery: digital signatures, certificate/key management, and secure boot chains. Strong debugging skills across layers — application logic, OS/driver interaction, and hardware/bus-level communication. Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Electrical/Computer Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience. Fluent English (spoken and written) for daily collaboration with the Palo Alto team; German language skills are a plus for local site interactions. Willingness to travel occasionally to Palo Alto, CA (or host virtual overlap hours) to support cross-site architecture and planning. Preferred Qualifications Prior experience specifically in OTA/software update systems for vehicles or other connected embedded devices. Experience establishing or scaling a new engineering site or team within a larger, distributed organization. Exposure to Machine Learning / AI techniques applied to edge compute — e.g., anomaly detection on update telemetry, predictive mismatch detection, or on-device inference constraints. Automotive middleware development experience on POSIX-based ECUs (e.g., AUTOSAR Adaptive, Linux-based domain/zone controllers, or similar middleware frameworks). 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 and dependency/version management at fleet scale. Experience with Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) test environments and automotive diagnostic tooling. Familiarity with containerization or virtualization on embedded targets (e.g., lightweight containers, hypervisors) for update isolation. Prior experience in a distributed/multi-site engineering organization, including asynchronous collaboration across time zones. Total Rewards We build the exceptional — and we believe the people doing that work should be rewarded accordingly. In addition to a competitive base salary, full-time positions may be is eligible to participate in our annual company performance bonus program. Payments are discretionary and not guaranteed; actual amounts depend on company results and the terms of the plan in effect, and require active employment at the time of payout. This role is also eligible for equity in the form of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), subject to board approval and the terms of our equity incentive plans, including applicable vesting requirements. In addition to our compensation programs, we invest in our people with a comprehensive benefits package designed to support the health, wellbeing, and financial future for full-time employees — including health coverage, retirement savings, time off, and family planning programs. Offerings vary by country. Learn more about our global benefit programs. External candidates can apply for this role through the Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies careers site (https://rivianvw.tech/#careers). If you are a current employee, please apply through our internal job board. 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. 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