Staff Software Engineer, Backend (Manufacturing Systems)

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

This role requires expertise in architecting and developing robust manufacturing applications that bridge the gap between shop-floor equipment and enterprise systems. The Staff Software Engineer will play a pivotal role in engineering scalable applications, ensuring seamless data flow, real-time control, and intelligent production insights across the manufacturing ecosystem. This is a hybrid role out of our Palo Alto, Irvine, CA or Normal, IL locations, and the person will report to the Sr. Manager, Equipment and Execution Platform.

Responsibilities

• Technical leadership: Provide technical leadership and guidance to a team of engineers, driving architectural decisions and ensuring the quality of the team's output.

• System design: Design and architect complex backend systems for equipment integration, considering scalability, performance, security, and maintainability.

• Mentorship and collaboration: Mentor and coach other engineers, fostering a culture of collaboration and knowledge sharing.

• Problem-solving: Tackle complex technical challenges and provide innovative solutions to optimize manufacturing processes.

• Code quality: Champion code quality standards and best practices, conducting code reviews and ensuring the team's code is well-documented and testable.

• Performance optimization: Identify and address performance bottlenecks in backend systems, optimizing for speed and efficiency.

• Communication: Communicate effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders, clearly articulating technical concepts and decisions.

• Ownership: Take ownership of projects and initiatives, driving them to successful completion.

Qualifications

• Experience: 10+ years of professional software development experience with a strong focus on backend development.

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.

• Backend development: Mastery of at least one backend language: Golang (preferred), Node.js, Python, C, C++ and experience with frameworks and libraries for building cloud applications.

• Industrial protocols: Familiarity with industrial communication protocols (e.g. CIP, Modbus, MQTT) OPC UA and experience integrating with factory equipment (e.g. Programmable Logic Controllers, Robot controllers)

• Embedded design: Experience designing and developing firmware or software for resource-constrained embedded systems, including familiarity with hardware interfaces, real-time operating systems (RTOS), and debugging at the hardware level.

• API design: Experience designing and developing RESTful APIs, gRPC, including API documentation and versioning.

• Data processing: Strong understanding of data processing techniques and experience with message queues and stream processing (e.g.NATS, Kafka, RabbitMQ)

• Security: Knowledge of security best practices for backend systems and industrial environments.

• Databases: Proficiency in working with SQL and NoSQL databases.

• DevOps: Experience with CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and monitoring tools.

• Edge computing: Experience with edge computing platforms and technologies, including containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).

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 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 candidateaccommodations@rivian.com.