Staff IVI Simulation & Tooling Engineer

About Drivemode

Drivemode is a California-based division of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. We are a small, passionate

team of software product innovators helping Honda Automotive be competitive in the Electric

Vehicle market. We build application experiences for mobile devices. Are you passionate about

creating next-generation delightful digital experiences for automotive? Maybe you have worked

at some notable EV companies in this capacity? Would you like to work on new products and

product categories at Honda and help Honda invent the future of automotive? Then we would

like to hear from you!

 

Why Drivemode:

Drivemode is the new software and user experience subsidiary of Honda that is focused on

digital experience for new electric vehicles. You will be joining an exciting startup environment

that combines impactful work and competitive compensation. By becoming a part of our team,

you'll contribute to our crucial mission of changing the way people engage with vehicles and

help solve the world's environmental challenges. This presents an exceptional opportunity to be

at the forefront of innovation and drive Honda's success in the Auto market.

 

About the Role:

We are looking for an experienced Staff Software Engineer generalist to join the Drivemode IVI

Team as a foundational team member. Our goal is to assist Honda in delivering software

modules and tools in support of Honda’s broader initiatives in IVI, whether current or future

vehicles.

 

As part of this role, you help develop technical roadmaps, take a lead in implementing them,

along with initial bring-up of developer tools, environments, and approaches to validation, in

support of current Honda vehicles and future models. We are looking for someone who has a

strong sense of ownership, has experience with state-of-the-art approaches in the IVI space, but

is also enthusiastic about trying new technologies such as cloud-based virtualization of vehicle

ECU topologies and Agentic AI, and does not hesitate to do whatever it takes to get things

done, even if outside your usual responsibility area. This is a new team, so this is an opportunity

to be a foundational member.

 

Current focus for the team is building “shift left” tooling around a cloud-based virtual simulator of

the Digital Cockpit/Cabin, including Infotainment, Cluster, and other virtual ECU components

pertaining to Digital Cabin. You will be a significant contributor to this initiative.

As part of Honda, the candidate will need to interact closely with Honda counterparts in Japan.

 

What You Will Do:

● Help set up development environments and best practices.

● Work with Leadership/Manager and Product Owners to agree upon initial activities and

prioritized backlog.

● Collaborate to determine prioritized implementation plans for backlog items.

● Kick off the implementation of backlog items and see through to release.

● Help develop faster go-to-market approaches, including accelerated testing in virtual

environments.

● Take the initiative to explore how Agentic AI can be incorporated into our virtual rigs.

● Work with Honda vendors that are dependencies.

● Take a technical lead in the next IVI iterations and next-generation platforms.

● Occasional travel to Japan.

What We Are Looking For:

● Minimum 10 years of experience in HMI vehicle software development.

● Android Automotive Platform experience.

● Android Automotive

● Application layer experience.

● Experience architecting, building, and deploying IVI environments.

● Take a lead in evolving observability, logging and telematics best practices.

● Fluent in at least: Kotlin, C++

● A flexible attitude and entrepreneurial mindset. Be willing to engage outside of your

usual responsibility area, learn new technologies and tackle challenges beyond IVI.

Nice to Have

● Digital Twin and Software-Defined Vehicle Appreciation.

● Cuttlefish.

● Agentic AI experience.

● CarPlay / Android Auto

● Hardware Abstraction Layers

● Mobile application development experience.

● Rust, Golang.

● Experience working with Japanese vendors and OEMs.

● Rudimentary Japanese (not required).

$248,000 - $292,000 a year

This is the position's total compensation package including the company's bonus structure. This position also comes with full benefits. Actual compensation packages are based on a wide array of factors unique to each candidate, including but not limited to demonstrated skill set, years and depth of relevant experience, and some role-dependent factors. We welcome direct conversations with each candidate about compensation in all of our initial calls.

EEOC Statement

Drivemode is proud of a very diverse team with employees coming from 5 continents/11 countries as of today. Diversity in our workplace has played an important part in our success; we recognize each employee’s unique background, knowledge, experiences, ideas, and viewpoints, which are all critical in developing a product that has the greatest impacts on drivers all over the world.

 

Drivemode provides equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, religion, color, age, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or any other characteristics that make you unique.