Senior Software Engineer (Infrastructure & Backend)

About this role

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…