Top jobs in self-driving cars companies

Since June, there has been a staggering 700% increase in searches for the phrase “top jobs in self-driving cars companies 2020”. This means that job seekers are paying close attention to the autonomous driving trend that has only left the realm of the fiction world less than a decade ago.

General Motors, Google’s Waymo, Cruise Automation, as well as independents such as Argo AI have delved into the technology and have already made incredible strides. In fact, the legislation surrounding the legality of Autonomous Driving can barely keep up.

With more self-driving cars hitting the road almost every day, we are taking a look at the top jobs in self-driving cars companies 2020, the year autonomous driving industry is set to revolutionize the entire transport sector.

What are the top jobs in self-driving cars companies?

Most of the jobs in self-driving cars companies are related to engineering and tech but the scope of the careers is expanding day after day. Here are some of the top jobs in self-driving companies:

1. Remote Drivers

The appeal here is one of those tricky situations where a self-driving car comes across a tricky situation such as a construction site. For a lot of autonomous vehicles, that creates confusion, perhaps the reason why there have been a few accidents. Telepresence through a remote driver is the solution, where the vehicle or the passenger will communicate to a call center for help.

2. Autonomous Safety Steward

This job is more or less similar to that of a remote driver. An Autonomous Safety Steward is responsible for driving and evaluating cars in the field, conducting pre-trip inspections, performing specialized test procedures, and documenting findings in a concise manner.

3. Strategic account manager

Apparently, this is the most sought-after job in the entire industry. It is mostly focused on sales. The ideal candidate must be a high-energy, personable, fun, and self-directed person.

4. Mechanical Engineer

The Mechanical Engineer- Autonomous Cars will be in charge of vehicle design, developing vehicle components, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to ensure compliance with customer safety standards.

5. Mapping and Localization Engineer

The ideal candidate must be an expert in C++, have a Ph.D. Degree in Engineering, Robotics, or Engineering, and have at least one year experience in the development of Autonomous Vehicles.

Other top jobs in autonomous cars companies

Autonomous vehicle companies are currently hiring technicians, software developers, and designers to build these future cars. There has also been an increase in safety testing jobs as these cars prepare for the road—Safety & Training Program Manager- Autonomous Cars is an example of a job position that was introduced recently.

What are the top self-driving cars companies hiring the most employees?

To find out who is hiring the most jobs, our analytics team searched the companies with the most open jobs in the self-driving car sector careers page. Here’s what they found out:

General Motors

Unlike most competitors who are just tech startups, GM has a large hub North of Detroit capable of accommodating the workforce needed to crank-out self-driving cars.

Aptiv

Aptiv is focused on creating self-driving, connected vehicles. It operates out of the Detroit Metro Area and has other offices in Boston, Mountain View, California, and Pittsburg.

NVIDIA

NVIDIA programs every computer that goes into every Tesla Vehicle with self-driving capabilities. As of recently, they have also partnered with Audi on autonomous driving efforts.

Ford

Ford acquires its automated car tech from Argo AI, one of its acquisitions. When ford acquired the startup in 2017, it had very few employees, and Salesky, current CEO at Argo and former boss of what is now Waymo, is still in the process of staffing up.

Which cities can I find autonomous car jobs?

Car manufacturing has always been associated with Detroit (Motor City). Does the new wave of autonomous cars have a different major operations ground? To find out, our team set out to find out where most autonomous car jobs were based. Here’s what they found out:

San Jose, Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA tops our list with 30% of these jobs. Detroit is second on the lists lagging behind only by 2% of autonomous vehicle jobs. It seems like a battle is already underway to establish the lead city in the autonomous vehicle sector. Noteworthy, Silicon Valley has the obvious advantage because it hosts well-funded automotive industry giants who are ready to take on any challenge.

Coming in at number 3 with 12% is Pittsburg where Uber launched its law suit-tied self-driving car back in 2016. While number 4, San Francisco, has 11%. The not-so-popular autonomous car manufacturing destinations also have a remarkable 9% of all autonomous vehicle jobs.

What skills do autonomous car industries look for?

As you would expect, the skills required by the autonomous vehicle age are solely based on new tech and software capabilities never thought of in the traditional auto industry that was solely dominated by mechanics. For those engineers planning to make a transition to the new era, forget about toolboxes and say hello to bizarre programming software.

Aside from having a deep understanding of programming languages such as Python and C++, job hopefuls must also be well-versed in embedded software, image processing, artificial intelligence, machine learning among many others.

So there you have it—everything you need to know about the top jobs in self-driving cars. Of course, it is now clear that the industry is headed somewhere, and that there is a demand for workers. It is for this reason that you should continue keeping your eyes open for new top jobs in self-driving cars companies.