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It’s hard to miss Rivian in the mainstream news cycle these days.
The electric vehicle automaker just raised a further $2.5 billion from Amazon, Ford Motors, and T. Rowe Price in advance of the planned September deliveries of its long-anticipated R1T electric pickup truck and R1S SUV.
But did you know that Rivian just celebrated the one-year anniversary of it’s software engineering office in the Yaletown District of Vancouver?
Located in an old Mini dealership, Rivian has stealthily built up its workforce to 75 people and is aggressively hiring with plans to double that number in Vancouver by the end of 2021.
Techcouver sat down with Erhun Arkan, General Manager of Vancouver Operations, to learn more about their plans.
According to Arkan, Rivian is building their future talent pipeline locally with a focus on co-op and internship programs with local education institutions including UBC and SFU.
“Based on my experience, I think the talent level has been fantastic coming out of these institutions and right now we have a significant number of co-ops coming and joining us,” Arkan told Techcouver.
No longer a plucky startup, Rivian has grown to more than 7,000 global employees across multiple locations in California, Michigan, Illinois, Arizona, British Columbia, and the United Kingdom.
“In Vancouver, we’re building the end-to-end digital experience inside and outside the vehicle. That includes the consumer-facing mobile app and the applications on the vehicle’s infotainment centre, comprising the central display, navigation, connectivity, and multimedia functionalities. We are also ramping up the development teams for the end-to-end digital vehicle service network, fleet management, connectivity, and charging,” according to Arkan.
“That’s a lot of engineering jobs, and we’re also looking for the necessary product managers, program managers, and supporting functionalities that go along with that.”
Interested in working for Rivian in Canada? Check out their open roles now.