Software Architect (Distributed Systems)

Tokyo
Partial Remote
Full-time
September 20, 2024

Our Mission:

Driving technology always feels old. Not by a little bit. We believe vehicles can be a thousand times smarter, safer, and more connected to the world around us, and our mission is to see it happen. In 2019, we joined forces with Honda as their first startup acquisition, and now we’re expanding our vision into building the future of electric vehicles (BEV) for millions of people around the world.

Why Drivemode:

Join Drivemode for an exciting startup environment and a vibrant culture that combines impactful work, competitive compensation, and excellent benefits. By becoming a part of our team, you'll contribute to a crucial mission that revolutionizes the way people engage with vehicles, addressing both business needs and the world's environmental challenges. This presents an exceptional opportunity to be at the forefront of innovation and drive Honda's success in the EV market.

About the Role:

Software Architect ’ll contribute to the architecture and technical vision for a line of companion apps and backend services for the new generation of electric vehicles for the Honda and Acura brands unveiled at CES this year. Target end-user systems include Android, iOS, Web, and In-Vehicle Info/Entertainment screens (Android Automotive OS). The position will report to the VP of Engineering in Mountain View, and support the mobile, backend, and QA teams.

Become a Part of Our Innovative Team:

Do you take pride in owning product features and ensuring top-notch quality? Excited about experimenting with new technologies and willing to go the extra mile, even if it means stepping out of your usual role? You could be the perfect fit for our team. Join us to make a real impact and be part of something innovative and exciting!

What You’ll Be Doing:

Advise and guide architecture and technology choices for engineering teams with the goal of improving the maintainability, flexibility, and scalability of systems, both current and future.
Lead software architecture reviews for products and features.
Create and maintain artifacts and documentation for architecture and technology decisions.
Promote adoption of common technologies and design patterns for both the US and Japan-based engineering teams.
Influence the technical decisions of non-Drivemode teams whose software we depend upon.
Work with safety standards to ensure the safety and security of software systems.
Mentor software engineers.
Collaborate with product teams, project managers, and 3rd-party developers to align on goals and guide implementation.
Participate in automotive software development, including embedded systems, real-time operating systems, and automotive software architecture.
Work with industry standards and compliance requirements for automotive software, ensuring that the developed software meets regulatory expectations.
Work effectively with cross-functional teams, including hardware engineers, control systems engineers, backend engineers, mobile engineers and other stakeholders, fostering an integrated approach to software development in the automotive industry.

What We’re Looking For:

7+ years of experience designing, building, and maintaining globally distributed software systems together with 3+ years of experience doing full-stack development.
Knowledge of cloud technologies with one or more providers (AWS, GCP, Azure)
Ability to design and architect complex software systems that integrate hardware components, backend services, and mobile applications, ensuring a holistic and efficient approach.
A passion for promoting new technologies and best practices.
Team player with a positive attitude who is committed to continuously improving the team, the product, and the company.
Experience working with 3rd-party firms and contract developers.
Strong collaboration skills.
Proficiency in both English and Japanese ,native level or at least JLPT N1 level, with the ability to fluently and effectively communicate technical software requirements, designs, and architectures in both languages.
Occasional travel, ranging from 5% to 10% of the time, within the US and Asia may be required, depending on project needs.

Nice to Have:

Experience with automotive communication protocols such as Controller Area Network (CAN), Local Interconnect Network (LIN) and Ethernet.

EEOC Statement

Drivemode is proud of a very diverse team with employees coming from 5 continents 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.

APPLY NOW ➜Japanese Required ⚠️

About Drivemode

Smarter, Safer, Connected driving in any vehicle.

We were founded in 2014 by entrepreneurs from Zipcar and Tesla Motors and acquired by Honda in 2019. In 2020, we released Honda RoadSync with Honda motorcycle team. In 2023, our CEO Yo Koga was named as Global UX Officer and Drivemode is set to expand further to transform Honda and win in the growing Electric Vehicle market with our expertise in software and user experience.

Our Current Work

Honda motorcycles
We are building a modern software platform for Honda's new electric motorcycles. The platform, including mobile app and infotainment system, will be deployed in many countries. Not only working with Honda's motorcycle engineers as one team, we also do our own in-house hardware prototyping to enable us to learn and move quickly. The goal is to provide seamless motorcycle rider experiences with deeply integrated software and hardware.

Honda/Acura vehicles
We are working on a vehicle companion app & platform for Honda's next generation electric vehicles. The app will be a critical part of connected service offering for any future Honda & Acura vehicles globally. We are working closely with Honda's industry-leading hardware and vehicle experts to design the software and hardware as one experience for users.

Our Future Direction: This is just the beginning for us; we expect to expand our scope into other software driven areas for Automotive while continuing to grow and build on more capabilities

Working at Drivemode
We’re a diverse group of Silicon Valley and Tokyo entrepreneurs who want to make driving better. Our approach focuses on speed, learning, flexibility, and data-driven decision-making. We aren’t just “coders” or “designers;” we are problem solvers who understand that why you do something is just as important as what you do. We love challenges: the bigger, the better.

Our organizational structure is flat and everyone has an opportunity to share ideas, regardless of manager or job title. Openness, transparency, and communication are always priorities. We trust our employees’ abilities to make decisions in the best interest of Drivemode and give them the freedom to do what it takes to bring out the best in themselves and others. We provide support, mentorship, and growth across all positions to help employees identify and reach career and developmental goals.

Japanese Language Policy
Although Drivemode's official language is English, Business level + fluency in Japanese may be required depending on a role that needs communication with Japanese-speaking stakeholders.
Visa Sponsorship
Drivemode provides visa and relocation support for certain positions, and for the roles where they have such support in place, they will clearly state that in the job description.
Paid Leave
- Weekends (Saturday and Sunday), Japanese national holidays, New Year’s holiday
- Annual paid leave (10 days for the 1st year)
- Sick Leave (5 days per year)
- Celebratory/bereavement leave
Benefits
🧡 Brand new office just opened in Nov 2020, 5min walk from Ebisu station!

🏥 Health insurance

🚃 Commuting allowance

👩‍🎓 Language study allowance for non-Japanese employees

🍻 Team lunch party (Every Friday)

🍬 Favorite snack allowance

💜 We also have education support for up to 15,000 JPY a month which are to be used to develop skills and acquire knowledge in the job area.
Engineer Interview Process
Interview process at Drivemode varies from position to position.
Here is an example of a process for our Software Engineer:
- 1st step: Resume screening and Screening online test
- 2nd step: 1st Technical interview with a hiring team
- Further step: 2-3 more interviews with the management
Remote Work
Drivemode was already a “remote team” before COVID-19, and they will continue to be with offices in multiple locations. However, due to the nature of work that happens inside Drivemode, there is a need to be at the office together from time to time when developing new products that involve hardware prototypes.
Work style
- Our standard working hours: 9:00 - 18:00
* We currently do not have flex time set up in our company.
* However we value and respect employees' work-life balance, and we provide an environment where employees feel comfortable enough to discuss his/her schedule with a reportline manager to prioritize a personal life, e.g. taking care of families.
* Also, we offer "holiday swap option" for employees to be able to move holidays to their non-busy time.
Tech Stack
Android: Android SDK, Kotlin, Java, Jetpack, Coroutines/Flow, Dagger/Hilt, Gradle, Android Studio

iOS: iOS SDK, Swift, SwiftUI, Combine (Async/Await), SPM, Xcode

Server/Infrastructure: Rust, PostgreSQL, gRPC, Docker, GCP/Firebase (Cloud Run, Cloud SQL, etc.), Kafka, Terraform

CI/CD: GitHub Actions, DeployGate, Fastlane

IoT: Raspberry Pi, Arduino board, M5Stack, C++/C

Communication: Slack, Google Meet

Project Management: Jira Software, Notion, Miro

Analytics: BigQuery, Firebase Analytics, Jupyter, Pandas, scikit-learn

Others: Google Workspace
Parents and Family
We offer maternity leave and child care leave.
Also, we offer money gift for childbirth.