Senior Field Applications Engineer Automotive

Sales Alameda, California, San Diego, California, Santa Clara, California, Seattle, Washington, Portland, Oregon

Location: US - Westcoast

WIND RIVER

In a world increasingly driven by software innovation, Wind River is pioneering the technologies to help the world's leading technology companies power mission-critical intelligent systems. Our software is enabling the new machine economy and accelerating digital transformation across industries, including aerospace, defense, automotive, industrial, medical, and telecommunications.

Join the leader in intelligent, embedded software solutions and work alongside some of the most talented engineers in the Automotive industry to solve cutting-edge technical challenges.

As automotive companies race to build next-generation vehicles in a digital-first world, Wind River is at the forefront — delivering the industry's first Cloud Native Environment for embedded, intelligent, and in-vehicle systems. This platform empowers developers to transform and optimize the entire device lifecycle — from development and deployment to operations and servicing.

As a Field Application Engineer, you'll play a key technical leadership role, working directly with customers to understand their business and technical needs. You'll act as both a trusted advisor and technical evangelist, helping customers design and build innovative automotive systems that lead the market.

You'll be an essential part of the Field Engineering team for North America's automotive business, collaborating closely with Account Managers focused on driving new customer relationships. This role is ideal for someone passionate about embedded systems, customer engagement, and shaping the future of automotive technology.

Responsibilities

• Act as a trusted technical advisor, partnering closely with Account Managers to guide customers on their Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV) journey — from concept to deployment.
• Understand customers' business and technical needs, and architect tailored solutions that align with Wind River's cutting-edge embedded software portfolio.
• Lead and deliver technical engagements — including product presentations, discovery and technical workshops, proofs of concept/value, and evaluations — to win the technical decision and drive customer success.
• Engage customers in a consultative, business-driven approach, helping them achieve transformational outcomes through Wind River's solutions.
• Design optimal technical architectures and strategies that create a win-win outcome for both the customer and Wind River.
• Demonstrate hands-on technical leadership by contributing directly to demos, product evaluations, proofs of concept, and customer pilot projects — showcasing real-world application and value of Wind River technologies.

Core Competencies & Required Skills

• Strong hands-on embedded software development experience, including RTOS, Linux, and Type-1 Hypervisors — ideally with VxWorks, Yocto Linux, Wind River Hypervisor (HVP), or similar competitive solutions (e.g., QNX).
• Experience with DevOps and CI/CD pipelines, including tools like GitHub, GitLab, Jenkins, Docker, etc.
• Ability to design and deliver use case–based technology demonstrations, showcasing real-world application of solutions.
• Excellent communication and technical pre-sales skills, including delivering presentations, demos, and proof-of-concepts — with a focus on driving technical wins.
• Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams, including Sales, Product Engineering, Services, Distributors, and Partners.

Preferred Qualifications (Nice to Have)

• Programming skills in C/C++, along with proficiency in common scripting languages such as Bash and Python.
• Familiarity with safety and security standards relevant to automotive (e.g., ISO 26262).
• Previous experience in the Automotive industry, including work with OEMs and Tier-1/2 suppliers, and an understanding of the full software development lifecycle (development, testing, deployment).
• Knowledge of Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV) architectures, including middleware, Adaptive/Classic AUTOSAR, and zonal/fusion architectures.
• Exposure to Cloud-Native technologies, such as Kubernetes, containers, microservices, etc.
• Understanding of AWS and Azure cloud infrastructures.

Qualifications

• BS/MS in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field, with a minimum of 10+ years of experience in embedded systems, ideally within the Automotive industry.
• Hands-on expertise in building embedded systems, with a deep understanding of the software development lifecycle, tools, and the ability to develop and present demos or proofs-of-concept that showcase Wind River's value proposition.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills — confident in engaging with senior technical audiences, whiteboarding complex solutions, and articulating technical and business value clearly.
• Strong ability to lead and facilitate technical workshops, including navigating challenging technical discussions and driving them toward outcomes.
• Proven problem-solving and analytical skills, with a proactive approach to understanding and addressing customer needs.
• Residency on the west coast required with ability to travel, as needed (average 25%).
• Must be legally able to work in the U.S. without requirement for any type of sponsorship or transfer, now or at any time in future.

BENEFITS

• We offer the flexibility of a hybrid work schedule.
• 100% Employee covered Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance.
• Flexible Time Off policy + 12 observed Holidays.
• 401K with company match.
• Health Savings Account (HSA) and Flexible Spending Account (FSA).

The OTE (salary plus commission) for this role's listed grade level is currently $225,000 to $300,000 for residents in the states of California and Washington. Salary ranges are determined through interviews and a review of education, experience, knowledge, skills, location and abilities of the applicant, and equity with other team members.

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY

Wind River is committed to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, national, social, or ethnic origin, age, physical, mental, or sensory disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital, civil union or domestic partnership status, past or present military service, HIV status, family medical history or genetic information, family or parental status including pregnancy, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. Wind River will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on these characteristics.

APPLICANT PRIVACY NOTICE:

Your privacy is of the utmost importance to us. At Wind River, we strictly adhere to all applicable data privacy laws. Please review Wind River's Applicant Privacy Notice, which can be found here.

Wind River is an Equal Opportunity Employer with a commitment to diversity. We prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation or any other legally protected status.