Staff Software Engineer In Test

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

We are looking for the Staff Software Engineer in Test in Serbia to establish and own the entire quality assurance function for our mapping and infotainment testing efforts. You will own end‑to‑end test and automation for Mapping and Infotainment system —from framework design to CI/CD integration, test benches, and on‑vehicle validation—while coordinating closely with site leaders, partner teams on the Belgrade site, and global stakeholders to ensure alignment on priorities, scope, and quality. You are acting as the primary bridge between Belgrade and our teams in North America and other regions.

This foundational role is pivotal for designing and driving end-to-end test automation and quality strategies for our mapping and location-based services, including core functions like map data pipelines, routing, navigation, and location APIs that power our vehicles and mobile applications. You will utilize automation, manual, or semi-automated methods for verification and validation, while also contributing to the development and enhancement of automated tools and infrastructure for scalability. If you are passionately driven to rigorously stress-test and "break" the product before it reaches our customers, and are committed to building scalable quality solutions and delivering high-quality consumer solutions, we invite you to join us in shaping the future of automotive technology.

RESPONSIBILITIES

- Own test strategy for Mapping & Location Services

- Define and drive the end-to-end test automation and quality strategy for Mapping and Location-Based Services (including map data pipelines, routing, navigation, and location APIs) across current and future vehicle platforms.

- Embrace a "shift-left" philosophy to maximize test coverage, balancing manual, exploratory, unit, integration, and system automation for early defect detection.

- Have a strong sense of ownership of the quality of our products.

- Design and build test automation frameworks

- Architect, implement, and maintain Python-based automation frameworks and tooling for Mapping and Infotainment system benches and vehicles (e.g., Pytest-based suites, internal tools, log parsers, and dashboards).

- Integrate automation into CI/CD pipelines (GitLab/Jenkins or similar) to ensure tests are reliable, repeatable, and visible to engineering and leadership.

- Scale system and end-to-end testing

- Develop automated scenarios that span mobile, cloud, and vehicle for key mapping and navigation flows (e.g., search, routing, guidance, map rendering, traffic, and charging network validation).

- Leverage test benches, HIL setups, digital vehicle twins (SIL), and real vehicles to validate behavior under realistic conditions (e.g., GNSS, network variation, map data updates).

- Own quality for feature and release cycles

- Partner with Mapping development, product, and program teams to define test plans, quality metrics, and release exit criteria.

- Use data from automated and manual runs (KPIs, defect trends) to drive clear release recommendations and continuous improvement of test suites (e.g., flakiness reduction, gap closure).

- Mentor and collaborate across locations

- Technically mentor and coach future local team members, sharing best practices in test design, coding standards, and debugging of complex, distributed systems.

- Work closely with cross-functional partners (navigation, mapping, data, UX, cloud, mobile, other infotainment and connectivity teams) across Belgrade, North America, and other locations to align on testability, logging, diagnostics, and lab infrastructure needs.

- Invest in tooling and process

- Help evolve the Mapping test strategy, metrics, dashboards, and reporting so that quality is transparent and actionable across the organization.

- Drive continuous improvement in QA processes and tooling, including leveraging AI for test authoring, triage, and regression management.

QUALIFICATIONS

Minimum Qualifications:

- Education & experience

- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical/Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, or a related field.

- 8+ years of hands‑on experience in software test automation or quality engineering, including system‑level testing of complex, distributed or embedded products.

- Prior experience in automotive, embedded systems, connectivity, or other safety‑critical domains is strongly preferred.

- Technical skills

- Strong programming skills in Python for test automation and tooling (Pytest or similar), including test frameworks, libraries, and utilities.

- Experience integrating automated tests into CI/CD (GitLab, Jenkins or similar), including pipelines for benches and vehicles.

- Solid understanding of hardware‑software integration and test environments (SIL, HIL, benches, vehicle bring‑up, diagnostic tools such as PCAP/Ride/UDS/CAN).

- Collaboration & leadership

- Proven experience leading test or automation teams, including setting direction, prioritizing work, and coaching engineers across locations.

- Ability to coordinate with multiple leaders and stakeholders on the Belgrade site (development, product, program, systems, lab) and keep everyone aligned on…