Senior Software Engineer (Infrastructure & Backend)

Job description

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 As a founding member of our team in Belgrade, you will play a critical role in the evolution of our Cloud OTA (COTA) platform. We are looking for a Senior Engineer with a strong "Platform-First" mindset—someone who views infrastructure as a product and backend development as an extension of the platform itself. Your mission is to drive the technical evolution of our global COTA infrastructure by migrating existing systems to a Kubernetes-native control plane while simultaneously building the mission-critical backend features that power software updates for hundreds of thousands of vehicles globally. You will be the technical authority on how services are architected, deployed, and scaled, ensuring that our high-performance microservices—built on Java, Python, and Go—run on a "bleeding edge" infrastructure powered by Crossplane and Argo CD. RESPONSIBILITIES - Infrastructure Evolution & Migration: Lead the transition of our global Cloud OTA (COTA) infrastructure from traditional IaC patterns (Terraform/Terragrunt) toward a Kubernetes-native control plane using Crossplane. - High-Scale Backend Development: Design and develop resilient microservices primarily in Java, Python, and Go, focusing on distributed protocols and the orchestration of large-scale vehicle updates. - GitOps & CI/CD Modernization: Own the deployment lifecycle by implementing and optimizing GitOps workflows with Argo CD and GitLab CI/CD, bridging the gap between application code and global production environments. - Full-Stack Platform Ownership: Maintain deep technical ownership of the underlying AWS ecosystem, ensuring the platform is architected for maximum operational efficiency, scalability, and resilience. - Cloud Architecture Management: Support and scale a high-throughput environment across Compute (EKS, Lambda), Storage (DynamoDB, RDS, S3), and Streaming (Kinesis, EventBridge). - Engineering Excellence: Establish observability standards (Datadog/Prometheus) and operational best practices, ensuring high availability and zero-downtime updates for the global vehicle fleet. - Technical Authority & Mentorship: Provide guidance to the growing Belgrade team, establishing engineering standards that value both elegant code and robust infrastructure. QUALIFICATIONS - Experience: Five (5) years of experience in a role that blends Software Engineering and Infrastructure/DevOps, with a proven track record of supporting high-scale production environments. - Education: Four (4) year college or university degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience. - Software Engineering Proficiency: Strong experience in backend development using Java, Python, or Go, with the ability to build and debug in a polyglot microservices environment. - Infrastructure-as-Code Mastery: Deep experience in Terraform/Terragrunt and a strong interest or hands-on experience in Kubernetes-native providers like Crossplane. - Cloud & Containers: Extensive knowledge of the AWS ecosystem (EKS, IAM, VPC, Lambda) and Docker-based builds. - Orchestration & GitOps: Proficiency with Kubernetes, Argo CD, Helm, and Kustomize. - Systems Thinking: The ability to move fluidly between writing application logic and debugging networking or infrastructure bottlenecks. 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 https://rvtech.mybenefits.life/. 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 https://app.ashbyhq.com/internal/job-board/b10a9912-eb45-4a84-9a34-84b2a459923a. 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 candidateaccommodations@rivian.com. CANDIDATE DATA PRIVACY 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) record keeping; (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. If you provide a mobile telephone number as part of your application or during the recruitment process, Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies may use that number to contact you via SMS text message for recruitment-related purposes, including scheduling, logistics, and status updates. Message and data rates may apply. You may opt out of SMS communications at any time by replying STOP to any text message you receive from us. Consent to receive SMS messages is not a condition of applying for or being considered for employment. Please see our Candidate Data Privacy Notice (English) https://assets.ctfassets.net/2md5qhoeajym/53otRWdzXPzSdWPgiel5T/07c61b0eed2d91f2f403f788fd20d315/RVTech_Candidate_Data_Privacy_Notice_-_Nov_2024.pdf and Candidate Data Privacy Notice (Serbian) https://assets.ctfassets.net/2md5qhoeajym/40xUZMehbGToclkLqWXW0E/eb5b553bd8af7c607066253fbb227bda/RVTech_Candidate_Data_Privacy_Notice_-_Nov_2024_Serbian.pdf for more information. -- Please note this job posting represents an open, active vacancy. Additionally, we are not currently accepting applications from third party application services.